There are two ways of frying the cat fish.
The traditional way is to place the catfish fillet on a cutting board and, using 2 forks, break up the fish into very small pieces. Heat up the oil in a wok or skillet on medium low heat and deep fry the fish until golden brown.
I recommend that instead of the traditional method, you bake it first and then drain the juices and then fry the whole filet on medium low heat. As you are frying the filet, break it up with your spatula into very small pieces.
It takes a few minutes to brown all the pieces to be very crispy. Drain the cooked fish on paper towel.
Mince the chili pepper. Mix the minced chili pepper, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice together.
Slice the shallot thinly.
Peel and grate mango with a large hole grater. In Thailand, as in the pictures, people sliver the mango by first chopping along the length of the mango many many times so that the blade goes just a little below the surface and then cutting the thin pieces away.
If your cashews are uncooked, toast them in a pan until golden brown.
Mix all ingredients together and serve.
Popular in Thailand, yum pla dook foo is a quick salad appetizer, but is meaty enough to be a main course. It plays all the core flavors of Thai food against one another; sweet, sour, salty, nutty and spicy hot. This dish is far from the famous Thai curries and is very very Thai.