Banquets of the nations

With the head and bones of the fish prepare a strong stock with the usual vegetables. Cut into dice two middling-sized onions, fry them in a stewpan with lard till of a fine colour. Fry in this one teaspoonful each of turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, and cardamoms, half a teaspoonful of ground green ginger, a pinch of cayenne, and a half teaspoonful of salt, then add the pieces of turbot, previously washed and drained. Fry them a few minutes, shaking them now and again. Sprinkle over them two tablespoonfuls of rice flour. Two minutes afterwards moisten gradually with the prepared broth, until covered ; add a tablespoonful of namphrik sauce, a blade of lemon grass, a bunch of parsley, and let it boil for twenty minutes. Now remove the pieces of turbot one by one, trim them neatly, and place them on a hot dish ; reduce the sauce quickly, and thicken with three yolks of eggs diluted with cream ; pass it through a sieve over the fish, and eat with rice. SIAM Pla Keng. (Roast Prawns.) Roast eight fresh prawns, remove shells and slice them. Shred two green chillies and one red one, keeping out the seeds, three button onions, and five shallots, and fry in lard. Stir in six stoned olives cut in quarters and a tablespoonful of minced mint leaves, add the prawns, a tablespoonful of lemon juice, and same quantity of namphrik. Mix thoroughly, and serve with boiled rice. Haw Mok Pla. (Fish Mayonnaise.) Fillet a small bream, and cut in neat pieces. Put some shred onion in a pan with some coriander and cumin seeds, a clove of garlic, a sliced chilli, a dozen peppercorns, and a little salt ; place the fillets on these with a teacupful of cocoanut milk. Simmer very gently for half an hour. Remove the fillets, and when cold cover with mayonnaise sauce. Keng Kai. (Curried Chicken.) Fry in four ounces of lard a sliced onion (two ounces), some minced parsley, a ground clove of garlic, the pulp of four tomatoes, half a teaspoonful of ground coriander, quarter teaspoonful of cinnamon, a pinch each of nutmeg and cayenne, a green chilli washed and cut in slices. When the onion is nicely browned, put in the fillets and the legs of two chickens, and four ounces of ham cut into dice, and fry quickly in the lard and condiments till a light brown colour, after which put in a 561 2 N blade of lemon grass, moisten with good white stock, and simmer very gently with the lid off the pot till the fillets are tender. Strain the stock, of which there must be little or none. Add two cupfuls of sauce similar to " Supreme," only using thick cocoanut milk in place of cream, and heat up. Serve with rice. Kroang mu Ping. (Curried Pork.) Fry some sliced onions in lard, and grind the following spices and condiments together into a paste, viz., two teaspoonfuls of turmeric, a quarter teaspoonful of caraway, one teaspoonful of coriander, half a teaspoonful of cumin seeds, half a teaspoonful of cinnamon, a teaspoonful of green chillies, half a teaspoonful of ginger, three cardamoms, a quarter of a teaspoonful of garlic, and a teaspoonful of salt.