Admittedly, this one isn't a hit the first time most people taste it. But remove a southern Thai from their cuisine for too long and gaeng tai pla is likely the first thing their mouth will demand.
It's a thick fish soup, more like a multidimensional stew with layers of complex flavor. The ingredients are a combination of fish viscera, grilled fish, fermented shrimp paste, eggplant, pumpkin, string beans and bamboo shoots.
Just like in a lot of southern Thai food, it's the dried chilies, garlic, red onions, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal and turmeric that give gaeng tai pla that invigorating push.