1 piece of pa leum (a large catfish), free of bones, the size of a hand-wash it, slice it thinly, put it in a pot with water barely covering it, sprinkle it with salt and fish sauce (it should be quite salty), boil it until cooked, then take the pot from the fire

6 sweet young round eggplants

2 (small) heads of garlic

4 (small) shallots

3 fresh chilli peppers

These four ingredients above are to be cooked in the embers of a charcoal fire, then peeled and pounded together to constitute the kheuang hom

1 straight-bulbed spring onion-chop both the bulb and the leaves finely

1 sprig of coriander, chopped

2 Kaffir lime leaves, chopped

salt and fish sauce

Method

Combine the boiled fish with the kheuang hom in a mortar and pound together finely. Then add the water in which the fish was cooked and stir until the mixture is thick (i.e. like a thick soup). Add the spring onion and chopped Kaffir lime leaves. Do not let the mixture become either too thick or too runny. Taste, and check the saltiness.