Red curry with fish and bamboo shoots

I have been meaning to make this for a few weeks - since I visited Ms Red in Bunbury. I hastily scribbled down the recipe from one of her cookbooks, only to find that FSIL's partner has the same cookbook, noticed while he was recommending another fish curry recipe to me.


I'm not usually a big fan of Thai coconut milk curries, but this one may have won me over. It was tasty, and not overly rich or creamy, which is what usually turns me off this style of curry.

Red Curry with Fish & Bamboo Shoots
from the food of thailand: a journey for food lovers
serves 4

• 60ml coconut cream
• 2tbs red curry paste
• 440ml coconut milk
• 1.5-2tbs palm sugar
• 3tbs fish sauce
• 350g firm white fish fillets (skinless)
• 275g tin bamboo shoots, drained & cut into matchsticks
• 50g galangal (or ginger), finely sliced
• 5 kaffir lime leaves, torn
• Thai sweet basil and sliced chilli, for garnish

ingredients ready to go...

Put the coconut cream in a wok and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until it separates and a layer of oil forms on the surface. Stir if it starts to brown around the edges. Add the curry paste, stir to combine, and cook until fragrant.


Stir in the coconut milk, and add the palm sugar and fish sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the palm sugar has dissolved. add the fish and bamboo shoots, and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fish is cooked.

Add the galangal (or ginger) and kaffir lime leaves. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve with steamed rice and sprinkle with Thai basil and chilli.

NOTE: I used a 400ml can of coconut cream, and made up the rest of the liquid with water - we didn't have coconut milk, but even if we did, I wouldn't have been too keen to open two cans for one recipe.

-Alphie

PS. Exciting cooking related news - FSIL bought me a book on macarons!! So, there will be another post on macarons in the near future - stay tuned!