Red Thai Curry for Fish or Veggies

Sorry this is a bit late today. We had some trouble with the car that was unanticipated. I think it’s my fault. Luckily it seems that The Husband still loves me—for now, until the mechanic checks the car tomorrow and finds I’ve killed the transmission.

But, back to the food. That’s the important thing, right? So, a week or so ago, we had some rain here in Laguna Beach. Not unseasonal, by any means, but we’ve had so little this year thanks to a La Niña weather system. I’ve lived through an El Niño, and at this point I think I prefer the latter to the former–a little too much rain is always good for California, even if a few movie stars’ houses fall off the Malibu coast.

Along with the rain, we had some fresh salmon from Sam down at our farmers market which was too delicious to go to waste. It was quite stormy outside—we even had hail!—and The Husband was looking for alternatives to grilling. Grilling is our preferred method of salmon preparation, but not that night. The hail was quite insistent.

I thought back to the days when I lived in London—there was little grilling going on while I lived there, and I remember eating salmon from my local Sainsbury’s. Quick to the Internet for a Thai recipe that I could use to poach the salmon in some decadent and coconutty sauce.

And here it is—you can just use red Thai curry paste mixed with coconut milk in a pinch, but if you have these other ingredients on hand, adding them really does make it extra special. I served it with some stir-fried Chinese broccoli with some garlic and ginger, and splashed some soy sauce on towards the end. I even used a wok—get me, eh?

Vegetarians: you can use this delicious sauce and throw in a bunch of fresh veggies and have a yummy curry over rice! But please omit the fish sauce to make it vegetarian.

1 lb. fresh salmon, center cut filet
1/4 cup shallots or purple onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
3 tsp. red Thai curry paste
1 thumb-size piece ginger, peeled and sliced
1 can good-quality coconut milk
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves and stems
1 Tbsp. freshly-squeezed lime juice

Blend shallots, garlic, paste and ginger with a little coconut milk in a blender or small food processor until well blended. Add the rest of the coconut milk and the rest of the ingredients; blend.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Put the sauce into a Le Creuset or other enameled cast-iron pot and heat up on the stovetop. When it boils, turn off the heat and add the fish in one piece. Put into the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and let rest for 5 minutes more.

Serve topped with sliced green onion and freshly chopped cilantro.

Tags: coconut milk, La Niña, red thai curry salmon, red thai curry sauce, Sainsbury, salmon in thai curry sauce, Thai curry paste, vegetarian red thai curry