Pad Cha Plaa

is a wok dish with fish and various vegetables based on a spicy paste made from chilis, garlic and galangal. It is seasoned with Chinese keys, kaffir lime leaves, Thai basil and fresh green pepper as well as fish sauce, soy sauce and rice wine.

The name component “Cha” onomatopoetically describes the sound the dish makes when frying. The first part “Pad” means “stir-fry” and at the end is “Plaa” for “fish”. The whole thing can thus be translated as “Sizzling stir-fried fish”.

The dish is also known under the reversed name . According to the book “Thailand: The Cookbook”, there is also a variant from Northern Thailand that uses a simpler paste but more vegetables. It can be found on the same page of the book.

In addition, there are many other variations of the dish that use different ingredients, for example one with holy basil, king oyster mushrooms and heart of palm from the guest chefs chapter of the book “Thailand: The Cookbook”.

Recipes

• hot-thai-kitchen.com
• Thailand: The Cookbook P. 330
• Thailand: The Cookbook P. 330
• Thailand: The Cookbook P. 482

Recommended Thailand: The Cookbook at amazon.de¹