Salted sardines with tomato nahm prik

Name: Salted sardines with tomato nahm prik
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 4 (about 350g) whole sardines, cleaned; 2 cups (500ml) fish sauce; 8 small tomatoes on the vine; Olive oil, to drizzle; 1/3 cup (80ml) sunflower oil; 2 tsp white vinegar; 4 eggs; 4 thick slices sourdough bread, toasted; 1/4 bunch rice paddy herb (from Asian food shops – substitute Thai basil), leaves picked; Small green chillies (optional), to serve; 12cm piece (50g) turmeric, peeled; 750g tomatoes, chopped; 5 cloves garlic, peeled, bruised; 2 tbs belacan (roasted shrimp paste – from Asian food shops); 2 each red and green banana chillies; 100g skinless white fish fillet, pin-boned; 1 tbs sunflower oil; 50g pea eggplants (from Asian food shops or order from good grocers), picked; 1 1/2 tbs gapi Thai shrimp paste (from Asian food shops, optional); 2 tbs tamarind puree; Juice of 1 lime; 1 tbs fish sauce; 1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar

Instructions

Prep:15minCook:45min

“There are a few elements to this dish. Get extra sets of hands and assign jobs like frying the sardines. For a less salty dish, remove the fish sauce step at the start," says Ben. This is an edited extract from Chin Chin Feed Me by Benjamin Cooper, with photos by Adrian Lander. Published by Story Matters Most, $49.95, October 2017.

Updated at: Tue, 29 Sep 2026 03:34:02 GMT