Crispy fish with sweet chilli tamarind sauce (Pla rad prik)

1. Clean the fish, pat it very dry and score both sides closely down to the bone; coat it inside and out with the cornflour.

2. Heat the oil to 180 °C in a wok or deep frying pan and fry the fish for 6-8 minutes per side until crisp and golden brown; drain on kitchen paper.

3. Pound the chillies and garlic to a coarse paste in a mortar.

4. Fry the chilli paste in 1 tablespoon of oil for 1 minute, then add the tamarind paste, palm sugar, fish sauce and water.

5. Boil, stirring, for 3-4 minutes until you have a thick, glossy, sweet-sour-hot sauce.

6. Place the crispy fish on a platter, pour over the hot sauce and serve immediately with jasmine rice.

Tip: "Rad prik" means chilli topping: the contrast between the crispy fish and the sticky sauce is the whole point, so only pour it over just before serving. Instead of a whole fish, you can use thick pieces of fish fillet; these only need about 3 minutes per side.