Saturday, January 20, 2007

Red Curry with Fish

Ingredients:

1 pound of firm white fish, such as halibut or haddock

2-4 tbs red curry paste

2 cups coconut milk

4+ slices of ginger (sliced into ‘coins’)

1 stalk of lemon grass, outer layer peeled, ends removed, chopped into ½ inch pieces

2-3 cloves of garlic, slivered

3 Indonesian lime leaves (also known as Kefir lime leaves)

1 lime

2 tbs fish sauce

1-2 tbs brown sugar

Cilantro, ¼ cup leaves

Thai basil, ¼ cup leaves

2 cups rice, cooked

Method:

Choose fish that is not too thin so that it will hold up throughout cooking. Briefly sauté fish on both sides in a small quantity of vegetable oil. Remove to a plate while you make the curry.

Add the red curry paste to the pan, and quickly stir-fry. Add 1 cup of coconut milk and blend well. As the curry sauce cooks, add ginger, lemon grass, garlic and lime leaves. (Be sure to know exactly how many ‘coins’ of ginger you add in case you wish to remove them prior to service.) Add the fish sauce, juice from one half of the lime, one tbs of brown sugar, and the remaining cup of coconut milk. Allow the ingredients to simmer a few minutes until the sauce is a consistency that you like.

Just prior to service, return the fish to the sauce and add the cilantro and basil. Serve over rice.

Cook’s notes:

This dish is quite flexible, and you can easily adjust the taste according to your own preferences. Add more coconut milk to reduce the spicy heat. Add more curry paste (a tiny bit at a time) if you like more heat. You can also add more lime juice, fish sauce, or brown sugar to fit with your own preferences.

Green or yellow curry pastes make a good variation of this dish.

Serve a lime and coconut salad as a refreshing side dish with this curry.

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