Is English a wasteful language? Profligate? I never used to think so, but now I am not so sure. What has caused the rethink? A recipe name. There is a great fish dish in the equally great Thai cookbook, Dancing Shrimp by Kasma Loha-Unchit. The Thai name is Bplah Pow. Two words. I have no idea what they mean but I am pretty sure they are not an exact match for the English name for the same dish - charcoal-roasted striped bass in banana leaf served with hot-and-sour dipping sauce. We do not get striped bass here on the east coast of Australia - but we do get reef cod and there was some really handsome (if fish can ever qualify for that monicker) examples at the fishmonger. The fish is coated with a paste of white peppercorns, garlic, coriander root, oyster sauce and light soy sauce. The dipping sauce (which in this case was spooned over the top of the fish) has tiny Thai chillies from the garden, garlic, coriander root, lime juice, sugar and fermented red soy bean sauce.
BPLAH POW
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