With a Thai twist

Chef Paithoon, Master Thai Chef at OKO, The Lalit Ashok, started his career at the age of 16. He has worked in all the areas of Thai cuisine like salads, chopper, soup and wok, the latter being his specialty now.

He joined OKO – The rooftop Pan Asian Restaurant in 2009. He shares the recipes of two of his signature dishes — Kung Phad Kaprao (traditional Thai style stir fried prawns with chilly, garlic and sweet basil) and Pla Laad Phrik (crispy fillets of basa in sweet sour and spicy sauce).  

Pla Laad Phrik
Heat the wok with a bit of oil. Add chopped galangal, onion, coriander, lemongrass and fresh red chilli. Toss the mixture till slightly mushy and all juices come out.

Add fish sauce, light soya, oyster sauce, garlic and long cut fresh red chili. Add deep fried fish fillets in mixture and toss and add a little water if too dry. Add the seasoning.      Mix sweet chilli sauce and sriracha Thai chilli sauce. Mix with diamond cuts of lemon grass and thicken the mixture.

Kung Phad Kaprao

Heat the wok with little oil. Add chopped garlic, chilli and sliced chilli as well with some basil afterwards. After tossing the mixture, add a bit water to prevent the mixture from drying. Add fish sauce, light soya, broth powder, sugar and sweet soya. Simmer once and toss with the deep fried prawns. Thicken the mixture by further cooking.