Phatthalung Specialty · Fermented Fish Curry

Gaeng Tai Pla (Fermented Fish Curry)

Photo: Takeaway / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Its defining ingredient is tai pla — fermented fish entrails salted and cured for a period before cooking — making this arguably the most pungent curry base in Thai cooking, and southern cooks wear the smell as a badge of pride.

Salted, fermented fish viscera is simmered into a fiery curry base with lemongrass, chilies, garlic and shrimp paste, then loaded with catfish or snakehead fish, bamboo shoots, eggplant and yardlong beans. Southern market stalls ladle it over rice, often alongside a plate of raw vegetables to cut the intensity.

Why it's made this way: The curry has been documented in Thai records for over 200 years, back to the reign of King Rama II, and food historians trace some of its spicing techniques to centuries of trade and cultural exchange between southern Thailand and South Indian Tamil kingdoms such as the Chola.