SETH: And so these are the ingredients for the curry paste?

YAI: Yes.

For every dish of the Thai has their own unique flavor.

So, this is the curry paste that is good for do the catfish.

So we start with the galangal.

We add the lemongrass.

We're going to put the dried chili.

Going to add the fingerroot.

SETH: Fingerroot?

I don't think I've heard of that before.

SETH: All right.

Well, I like heat.

And then obviously even more with these Thai peppers.

YAI: Yes.

This is a Thai chili pepper.

We are going to add the red onion and the garlic.

SETH: All right, lots of flavor in here.

YAI: And not done yet.

We're going to have a black pepper.

This is a turmeric.

I'm going to add some water in the blender.

SETH: Once the curry paste is blended, it's time to slice the fish.

SETH: All right, so it's just getting a nice light dredge here, not a big, heavy wet batter.

YAI: Yes, also it'll make the catfish crispy when we deep fry.

SETH: While Prapai fries the catfish, she also finishes the curry paste.

Adding garlic to the blended ingredients, along with dried herbs.

A touch of coconut milk and fish sauce, and giving it all a quick flash in the wok.

YAI: After that we are going to put our curry.

Next, it's a fingerroot.

SETH: More fingerroot going in.

YAI: More fingerroot.

SETH: All right.

YAI: Next one is a kaffir lime leaf.

SETH: And kaffir lime leaf, that's going in a lot of Thai dishes, right?

YAI: Yes.

SETH: That curry paste is waking up my sinuses.

YAI: And this one is a Thai eggplant and a red pepper, young peppercorn and Thai basil.

SETH: Got it, beautiful.

YAI: It's more flavor.

SETH: I love those little baby peppercorns.

SETH: And I think I understand why this is called a dry curry because it's not swimming in curry sauce.

It's just enough to nicely coat that catfish right there.

YAI: Yes.

So after we blend everything, this is the final part.

SETH: It's amazing how fast things cook up in the wok.

YAI: We put the steamed rice on the side.

SETH: I cannot wait to eat it.

All right.

My favorite part of every shoot, the actual eating.

I cannot wait to try this catfish curry.

Of course, a little bit of rice.

And in Thailand, no chopsticks required, correct?

LISA: Correct.

YAI: Yeah, just fork and spoon.

SETH: I am hooked.

That is delicious.

The catfish is nice and crispy.

And the curry, I don't know if it's the fingerroot or the Thai peppers, but it does kind of wake you up a little bit.

It's a very, very vibrant bite.

LISA: It's two different types of heat.

SETH: And this is a Thai eggplant, this veggie here?

LISA: Yes.

So, it has some texture that you might not be familiar.

YAI: It has some little seed, so it's crunchy.

SETH: Oh, yeah.

And besides that crunch, a little bit of an earthiness as well.

YAI: Right.