Tod Mun

       My favorite! Tod Mun is eaten as a snack or appetizer in Thailand. But as with most appetizers, Tod Mun can be eaten with rice as a main course.



       For kids, omit the curry paste. My grandmother made Tod Mun without the curry paste for us when we were kids. She added ground white pepper instead.




3 Servings
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sugar



Stack all the kaffir lime leaves and roll them tightly. Slice the roll of leaves into very thin strips. Slice green beans into cross-sectional pieces, 1/8 inch (1/4 cm.) thick.



       Mix all the ingredients, except for the kaffir lime leaves and green beans, in a bowl. Stir until the mixture becomes a paste with smooth and shiny consistency again. For some fish pastes, it takes 3 minutes to get the smooth texture. For other fish pastes, you may want to use a mixer on low power because you'll be churning it for 1/2 hour by hand. There's no way I've found to make sure that the fish paste is good before working with it. Then, add kaffir lime leaves and green beans and stir again to mix them in.



       In a flat bottom pan, heat up the oil on medium heat. Test the temperature by dropping a smaller piece of fish paste mixture in. When the oil is ready, the mixture should puff around the edge. Once the oil is hot enough, drop a tablespoonful in the pan. When the down side has cooked, use a spatula to loosen the tod mun, then flip the uncooked side down and push it down with the spatula to make it flat like a pancake. Flip again to get both sides brown. Drain or pat with paper towels to remove the oil. Serve hot with the sauce below.