Crispy garlic deep-fried trout with lime chili shallot sauce

Smash the garlic cloves in a mortar and pestle, slip off the skins, and rough chop; do not mince.

For the sauce, combine lime juice, fish sauce and sugar, then add Thai roasted chili flakes and finely diced shallots; let the shallots infuse.

Skin the trout from the tail, holding it with a towel and angling the knife down, then cut into chunky pieces so they form a crust without drying out.

Heat plenty of oil in a big wok to 250 and fry the garlic, stirring, until golden and no longer bubbling; golden, not brown, which is bitter.

Remove every bit of garlic with a fine mesh skimmer so none burns at the higher heat.

Raise the oil to 400; pat the fish dry on paper towel once more.

At about 395, drop the pieces in one at a time, well apart, in batches; fry about two minutes plus 30 seconds until a golden crust forms, without prying stuck pieces apart.

Drain in a paper-towel-lined bowl; let the oil come back up to temperature before each batch.

Optional: fry the fish bones and head and use them as a base to recompose the whole fish on the plate.

Pile the fish over the bones, drizzle with a little sauce without tossing, top with a mountain of fried garlic and a little cilantro, and serve the rest of the sauce on the side with rice.