Dish of Green Curry with Fish
(click to enlarge)

Green Curry with Fish


Thailand   -   Gaeng Kiow Plah
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 2 main
***
1 hr
Part		 This is a classic Thai curry. While most often made with chicken, fish, beef, pork and shrimp are also popular. Because the method varies between versions we have prepared separate recipes - see Variations.

12
ar
ar
6
3
2
1/3
1
2
14 oz
1
1/4
1/4
oz


oz


c
T
T
can
T
t
c
Fish Fillet (1)
Rice Flour
Oil for frying
Eggplant, Thai (2)
Kaffir Lime leaves (3)
Chili red (3)
Thai Basil leaves
Oil
Green Curry Paste
Coconut Milk
Fish Sauce
Salt
Water
Prep   -   (35 min)
  1. Cut FISH into serving size pieces. Dust lightly with rice flour. Heat oil in an iron skillet and fry fish on both sides just until cooked through and a little crisp on the outside. Don't try to fry browned, rice flour doesn't brown much at all. Drain on paper towels and set aside until needed.
  2. Cut EGGPLANTS lengthwise into 6 wedges (if Thai eggplants - see Note-2 for options). Keep eggplants in cold water acidulated with some Citric Acid or Lemon Juice until needed.
  3. Roll up LIME LEAVES tightly and slice into fine threads. Chop the threads into smaller lengths.
  4. Slice CHILIS into thin strips.
  5. Remove BASIL LEAVES from stems and start soaking in cold water (this is so they stay green longer in the curry).
Run   -   (25 min)
  1. In a wok or spacious sauté pan heat Oil over moderate heat and stir in Curry Paste until it is well distributed and aromatic, but no browining.
  2. Stir in Coconut Milk, Lime Leaf, Fish Sauce, Salt and 1/4 cup Water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer about 5 minutes.
  3. Stir in Eggplant and continue to simmer until just tender but not mushy, about 12 minutes for Thai eggplants, a bit less for others. See also Note-6.
  4. Gently stir in the Fish and bring quickly to a simmer. Don't overcook - just long enough so it'd heated through.
  5. When ready to serve, stir in Red Chili for just a minute, then stir in Basil Leaves. Serve immediately with plenty of steamed Jasmine rice or with Asian noodles nested in a bowl.
NOTES:

  1. Fish:

      Weight is for skinless, boneless fillets. Select a fish that holds together well in cooking - Vietnamese catfish (Swai, Basa) is quite appropriate, easy to find as frozen fillets, and works well.

  2. Thai Eggplant:

      These are green and white and golf ball size. They cook significantly differently from other eggplants and are well worth searching out. If you don't have them use Indian eggplants which are purple and egg size, so cut them into more pieces and cook just a bit less. Lacking even those use Japanese or Italian eggplants split in half lengthwise and cut crosswise about 3/4 inch thick. Cook those even less. For details see our Eggplant Page.

  3. Kaffir Lime Leaves:

      These come 2 leaves to a stem, so this recipe needs 1-1/2 stems. For details See our Kaffir Lime page. If you don't have them, grate the zest of the limes before you squeeze them for lime juice.

  4. Chili:

      I usually use red Fresnos (moderately hot). You could use fresh red Thai chilis (much smaller but much hotter) or Holland Red (moderately hot) - your choice. For details see our Thai Chilis page.

  5. Green Curry Paste:

      This is one of the essentials of Thai cooking - and the hottest of the Thai curry pastes. It is available commercially (with a lot of variation between brands), but the amount in this recope is scaled for our recipe Green Curry Paste, which is fairly hot.

  6. Pea Eggplants:

      Thai cooks often toss in a handful of Thai Pea Eggplants along with the green eggplants. Unfortunately these are nearly impossible to get even in Los Angeles.

  7. Variations:

      Because methods differ somewhat, we have prepared separate versions for Beef, Pork, Shrimp, and Chicken Green Curries.
  8. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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