Thai cuisine · Fish & Seafood

Pla Muek Pad Kai Kem

Squid rings stir-fried with crumbled salted egg yolk and curry powder into a sandy, golden crust.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 700 g squid tubes
• 4 salted egg yolks (or 4 hard-boiled egg yolks + 1 tsp salt as a substitute)
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 spring onions
• 1 red chili pepper
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 60 g butter
• 2 tbsp oil
• 300 g jasmine rice

Instructions

1. Start the jasmine rice, cut the squid tubes into 1.5 cm wide rings, pat very thoroughly dry, and coat in the cornstarch.
2. Steam the salted egg yolks for 8 min. or bake at 160 °C until firm, then crush with a fork into a fine crumble.
3. Heat the oil in a wok until hot and fry the squid rings in two batches for 1–2 min. each, until white and firm, then remove immediately – they turn rubbery if cooked longer.
4. Reduce the heat, melt the butter in the wok, and sauté the finely chopped garlic with the curry powder for 1 min. until strongly fragrant.
5. Stir in the crumbled egg yolk and fry for another 1–2 min. until the mixture puffs up foamy and looks like wet sand.
6. Return the squid, season with fish sauce and sugar, sprinkle with spring onion rings and chili, and serve immediately with the rice.