Crispy Fish with Chili Sauce (Pla Rad Prik)
A whole fish fried until the skin shatters like glass, drenched in a glossy, sweet-sour-spicy tamarind chili sauce. One of Thailand's great restaurant classics, easy to recreate at home.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Score and season the fish
Rinse the fish and pat it completely dry with paper towels — a dry surface is essential for a crisp, non-splattering fry. With a sharp knife, cut 3–4 deep diagonal slashes down to the bone on each side; this lets the heat reach the thickest part quickly so the fish cooks evenly without curling. Rub salt all over the skin and into the slashes.
- 1 whole (700 g) fish
- 1/2 tsp salt
✅ Done when: the fish is dry to the touch and the cuts gape open slightly
Dust with cornstarch
Spread the cornstarch on a plate and roll the fish in it, pressing gently so it coats the skin and works into the slashes, then shake off any excess. This thin, even coating is what turns the skin into a crackling shell once it hits the hot oil.
- 60 g cornstarch
✅ Done when: the fish is covered in a thin, even white layer with no thick clumps
Deep-fry the fish
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Build the sauce base
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Simmer the sauce
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Assemble and serve
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Score and season the fish
Rinse the fish and pat it completely dry with paper towels — a dry surface is essential for a crisp, non-splattering fry. With a sharp knife, cut 3–4 deep diagonal slashes down to the bone on each side; this lets the heat reach the thickest part quickly so the fish cooks evenly without curling. Rub salt all over the skin and into the slashes.
- 1 whole (700 g) fish
- 1/2 tsp salt
✅ Done when: the fish is dry to the touch and the cuts gape open slightly
Dust with cornstarch
Spread the cornstarch on a plate and roll the fish in it, pressing gently so it coats the skin and works into the slashes, then shake off any excess. This thin, even coating is what turns the skin into a crackling shell once it hits the hot oil.
- 60 g cornstarch
✅ Done when: the fish is covered in a thin, even white layer with no thick clumps
Deep-fry the fish
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Build the sauce base
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Simmer the sauce
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Assemble and serve
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The Story Behind the Dish
Pla Rad Prik belongs to a family of Thai dishes built around deep-frying a whole fish, a technique shaped by Chinese cooking traditions that settled into Thai kitchens generations ago. The result is dressed in a distinctly Thai sauce, where sour tamarind, salty fish sauce, sweet palm sugar and fiery chilies are balanced together, the way almost every savory dish in Thailand aims to hit all those notes at once.
It became, and remains, one of the most ordered dishes in Thai restaurants both at home and abroad, prized for the contrast between the crackling fried skin and the warm, tangy sauce poured over it at the last moment.
⭐ Why It's Famous
The dramatic presentation of a whole crispy fish under a glossy, fiery-sweet sauce makes it a showpiece dish, while the balance of sour, sweet, salty and spicy captures the heart of Thai cooking in one plate.
💡 Fun Fact
Serving fish whole, head to tail, is considered auspicious in Thai dining — a symbol of completeness and good fortune, which is part of why it so often appears at celebratory meals.
Central Thailand
13.76°N, 100.50°E
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