Yum Pla Duk Fu translates roughly as crispy/fluffy fish spicy salad.
I’ve managed to have this a couple of times already in the short time I’ve been in Thailand. The shreds of green mango, crunchy peanuts and tart, sweet chilli dressing are enjoyable, but the star of the show is the fish. Catfish is commonly used, and through a magical process is transformed into crispy, fishy, crumbly clouds.
To achieve this, the fish is steamed and then finely shredded before being deep-fried into crunchy deliciousness. Admittedly this doesn’t make it the healthiest salad around, but it tastes divine and is surely no worse than something topped with cheese, mayonnaise or a battalion of croutons.
Is it coated in anything before being fried?
I don’t believe so, but was too busy eating to ask 🙂