The Gourmet Gent’s Thai Curry

on By

35805494_2100122450231672_6202344697147424768_n35740991_2100122543564996_6727978621786390528_n35728705_2100122613564989_9072440821579513856_n35646505_2100122300231687_4279714840634720256_n35853362_2100122900231627_6551731894310928384_n35812647_2100122740231643_5904277115016052736_n35882993_2100122530231664_1151966982485049344_n35682373_2100122340231683_242204836592877568_n35733492_2100122863564964_5894802868132642816_n35746963_2100122780231639_3483847784254144512_n35842437_2100122846898299_8984509556696547328_n35049194_2100122770231640_947066084341579776_nAromatic fragrant base:

  • 2 large shallots – peeled and sliced finely
  • 1 thumb sized peel of Galangal – peeled and sliced finely
  • 1 thumb sized pieced of ginger – peeled and finely sliced
  • 2 lemon grass sticks – smacked, and chopped finely
  • 3 cloves of garlic – peeled and finely sliced
  • 2 green birds eye chillies – sliced finely seeds left in
  • 1 large red chilli – sliced finely seeds left in
  • Coriander stalks finely sliced
  • Half a bunch of coriander leaves torn
  • Zest of one lime
  • Juice of one lime
  • Kaffir lime leaves

Place all of the ingredients above into either a food processor or my chosen item a pestle and mortar. You want to bash the ingredients until they form a coarse paste, if needed you can add a little water into the ingredients once completed.

Spice, spice baby…

  • Whole cumin
  • Cloves
  • Black pepper corns
  • Coriander seeds

To make the fish stock:

  • 1.5 kg washed and cut turbot bones
  • 500 grams white wine
  • 1 tablespoon of white pepper corns
  • 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
  • 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds
  • 60 grams of thyme
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 2 white onions
  • 1 leek
  • 1 head of celery
  • 2 garlic bulbs sliced in half
  • 1 fennel bulb
  • 1 lemon sliced
  • 500 grams parsley stalks

Turbot bones are considered to be the Rolls – Royce of fish bones when it comes to making a fish stock, as they are packed full of flavour and result in a deep and flavoursome stock.

  1. To make the fish stock firstly cut the vegetables in the same size so that they colour and cook evenly.
  2. Place a medium sized pan onto the heat, once the pan is gently smoking add your vegetables. Allow them to cook until they are al dente without any colour, as you want this to be a white clear stock.
  3. Once the vegetables are ready add your white wine, allow for the alcohol to cook off and reduce away as this helps to intensify the flavour of the wine.
  4. Add your washed and cut fish bones. Cover with enough cold water so that the bones are submerged.
  5. Add your aromats, allow to simmer for half an hour. Ensure that you skim off any scum from the top of the stock as this will result in a mercy and unclear stock.
  6. Once the fish has boiled for half an hour add your parsley stalks along with one lemon which has been sliced
  7. Allow to stand for one hour to cool. Once cooled pass with a fine muslin to remove any impurities, you should be left with a clear stock.

N.B. Any stock which you have left over, decant into freezer proof container and freeze for up to one month as this means you have the stock ready for your next recipe.

The aromats…

  1. Begin by toasting them, place a small pan onto a medium heat once the pan begins to gently smoke add in your aromats, careful not to burn them, rather you want them to gently warm and release their natural perfume and oils.
  2. Once toasted remove from the pan as soon as possible and then place into a pestle and mortar and smash them.

To the good bit…

  1. To form this fragrant curry place a large saucepan, onto a medium heat, once the pan is up to temperature add a little low flavoured oil – toasted groundnut oil works best.
  2. Cook the paste out for two / three minutes to release all of the perfume from the aromats,
  3. Once the paste is cooked off, add one tin of light coconut and one tin of fish stock, next add 1 cinnamon stock.
  4. Reduce the liquid by half.

For the fish firmer flesh fish works best such as hake or its Asian equivalent

  1. Cut the fish into manageable pieces as this means they cook evenly and thoroughly.
  2. Once the fish is cooked the way to test is that it should flake apart.
  3. To finish add some tiger prawns and fresh coriander leaves. Cook the prawns until they go a beautiful blushing pink.
  4. Next hit the curry with some fresh lime juice.
  5. At this point add in some lovely seasonal greens as they are packed full of important vitamins and minerals.

Serve alongside, some beautiful rices…

Aromatic infused rice

  • 1 cup of basmati rice
  • 1 cup of boiling water
  • Ginger skins and cloves

To cook this rice use the absorption method meaning that there should be no water left in the pan, leaving you with light fluffy rice.

Ensure that you always wash rice before cooking it.

For this dish I served the GG Thai curry alongside a mixture of wild and basmati rice, as I wanted to increase the fibre. To cook this rice follow the absorption method, for 4 people I used two small cups along with three small cups of boiling water, which I infused with half a lime.

Drink Pairings:

Light Zesty Larger:

  • Sol
  • Corona Extra
  • Brew Dog IPA

Each of these lagers and IPA will help complement the dish with their citrus and botanical notes.

Or… Ginger Beer paired with Mint

This will obviously complement the dish, as there is a lot of ginger being featured in this dish offering a light-refreshing hit.

Leave a comment