Nil fish recipes in honour of His Majesty the Great King Bhumibol Adulyadej

Nil fish recipes in honour of His Majesty the Great King Bhumibol Adulyadej

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE

In honour of the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol the Great - much loved Monarch of Thailand -- Chefs of Le Cordon Bleu Dusit Culinary School have prepared two dishes -- one Thai and one French -- in honour of His Majesty's extraordinary life.

The main ingredient in both recipes is the well-known NIL fish. An amazing story lies behind the NIL fishes' journey to Thailand.  In 1965, Crown Prince Akihito of Japan, before he became the Emperor of Japan, presented 50 NIL fish to His Majesty King Bhumibol to take back to Thailand to be raised and bred in specially made ponds at Chitralada Palace.

The King wanted to breed this high protein, tasty fish at a reasonable cost so that His people -- particularly those in the countryside, far from seas or rivers - could enjoy eating it. The NIL fish was easy to breed and reproduced quickly thereby allowing the King to realise his dream of providing his subjects with a new and tasty high protein food source.

Our Thai chef and French chefs have prepared two recipes using NIL fish in honour of His Majesty's extraordinary love and dedication for His people.

Rolled steamed herbal Pla Nil served with tomato sauce and seasonal vegetables

Ingredients:

Rolled steamed herbal Pla Nil 

1 whole piece Pla Nil
10 g dill
5 sprig lemongrass
20 g spring onion
10 g shallots
10 g lemon basil
50 g luffa
30 g Chinese cabbage
Salt

Tomato sauce

20 g bird's eye chili
20 g garlic
60 g shallots
100 g tomato
20 g lime
30 g fish sauce

Garnishing and condiments

Seasonal vegetables from the Royal Project e.g. baby carrot, japanese pumpkin, zucchini, bush bean, cucumber, Thai eggplant

Cooking methods:

1. Fillet fish from the skin and apply salt on both sides. Place vegetables and herbs on the fish, roll it, and then secure it with bamboo sticks to hold the shape.

2. Add in lightly-crushed lemongrass stalks, kaffir lime leaves, spring onions, and other vegetables in a flat-bottom saucepan with its lid. Add water just to cover the ingredients and let it boil about 3-5 minutes to cook the vegetables and to make the water absorb the aroma from the herbs.

3. Add in lemon basil and then the rolled fish. Put the lid on and use low heat for about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat once the fish is cooked.

Make tomato spicy dipping sauce. Grill bird's eye chilies, shallots, garlic and tomatoes until their skins are burnt. They have to be cooked and also get soft and aromatic. After that peel their skins before pounding then season with fish sauce and lime.

Recette poisson du roi

Tomato  Guimauve

250 g tomato
200 g water
4 pc gelatin
1 lemon zest
Salt, pepper, tabasco

1. Wash and peel the tomatoes, cut them into small dice; bring to boil and cook the tomatoes for 45 minutes.

2. Strain through a sieve.  Add the gelatin leaves and lemon zest season with salt, pepper and tabasco.  Use a stand mixer and blend until smooth.

3. Pour the Tomato Guimauve in a flexi-mould and set aside to cool in a chiller.

Zucchini cremeux

230 g zucchini skin
150 g cream
3 pc gelatin
Caviar

1. Blanch the zucchini skin in boiling water, drain and refresh in iced water.

2. Boil the cream and zucchini skin in a pot.  Add the gelatin leaves. Pour the Zucchini cremeux into the prepared mould.  Refrigerate until it is set and cool.  Roll the Zucchini cremeux around the cooked Pla Nil and decorate with the caviar.

Sweet corn Bavaroise

300 g yellow sweet corn
200 g cream

1. Boil the yellow sweet corn in a pot while boiling the cream in another pot. 

2. Strain the cooked sweet corn through a sieve.  Combine the cooked sweet corn and cream; blend until the mixture is smooth.

2. Strain and transfer the mixture into a piping bag, and pipe on the plate for decoration. 

Pla Nil

250 g Pla Nil -- Fish fillet

1. Fillet the Pla Nil and peel off the skin and bones; sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil.

2. Roll the Pla Nil with 2 layers of plastic film. Boil the Pla Nil in boiling water at 70 c for 12 minutes. Keep them for decoration before serving.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT