Ingredients

• 500g/1lb 2oz hake or pollock fillets
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• pinch of caster sugar
• pinch white pepper
• 1 thin slice of galangal
• pinch of kaffir lime zest
• 2 coriander root (not stalk)
• 2 garlic cloves
• peeled
• 4 bird's-eye red chillies
• 1 long red chilli
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp palm sugar
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 mandarin
• juice only
• 1 green mango
• peeled
• stone removed and thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp Thai shallots
• peeled and chopped
• large pinch sliced lemongrass
• pinch finely sliced Kaffir lime leaves
• large pinch chopped mint leaves
• large pinch chopped coriander leaves
• 1 tbsp roasted peanuts
• with skin on

Directions

• For the fish clouds
• preheat the grill to medium and preheat the oven to 100C/80C Fan/Gas 1.
• Rub the fish fillets generously with fish sauce
• sprinkle with sugar and a small pinch of pepper. Grill for 10-12 minutes
• until cooked through.
• Remove the skin and crumble the cooked fish over an oven tray. Bake
• fluffing and turning regularly
• until fluffy and somewhat dried. This will take around 1 hour.
• Pulse the fish in a food processor until quite fine.
• Preheat a deep-fat fryer to 170C (CAUTION: do not leave unattended. Hot oil can be dangerous). Deep-fry handfuls of the fish
• using a slotted spoon to pull them together into four clouds (you might need to do this in batches). Cook until golden-brown in colour
• this will take 1 minute. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm until ready to serve.
• For the dressing
• pound the galangal and kaffir zest in a pestle and mortar
• then add the coriander root
• garlic cloves
• chillies and lime juice. Continue to pound then mix in the sugar
• fish sauce and mandarin juice. It should taste hot
• sour
• sweet and salty. To check the balance is correct
• taste it with the green mango (for the salad) and tweak the ingredients if necessary.
• For the salad
• mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix with the dressing.
• To serve
• in four bowls
• break a fish cloud in half and stack it on top of itself. Place some dressed salad over the fish cloud. Pour any remaining dressing into the bottom of the bowls.