From the fridge:
- One smoked fish fillet
- Onion
- Mushrooms
- Ginger
- Lime
- Courgette/Zucchini (depending on if you say it right or wrong...says the Brit)
- Garlic
- Celery
- Tomatoes
- Mixed Lettuce
From the cupboard:
- Dry noodles
- Coconut milk
- Honey
- Red curry paste
The process:
Step 1: Cut up your main spread of vegetables.
Step 2: Put a cast iron pan (you want to use one that can cope on the hob and in the oven) on medium heat and add a generous splosh of oil.
Step 3: Add the veg in to have a good simmer. Add the onions and garlic last again, apparently it's important (but I'm not sure I agree).
Step 4: Meanwhile in a small sauce pan, get your noodles on to boil as specified on the package...although they will get stewed so let them be undercooked.
Step 5: When the veg is looking all tasty and brown, add the fish (de-skinned and cut into chunks). Be sure to take all the bones out, they're tricky little suckers.
Step 6: Add 3 spooned dollops of red curry paste.
Step 7: Pour in the coconut milk...it can get all gloopy and satisfyingly fun to pour out!
Step 8: Leave the concoction to bubble and simmer gently for a few minutes. While this is happening drain the noodles - it's best to do this over the sink I find. Then add the noodles to the concoction in your cauldron.
Step 9: Grate some fresh ginger directly into the mixture, just add to your preference - personally I like ginger so I'm happy to be pretty heavy handed here. Also squidge in a generous amount of squeezy honey which adds sweetness and will really accent all the flavours.
Step 10: Give the whole gloopy slop a good stir then remove it from the hob and place into an oven preheated to 190C. Whack the lot in for at least 20 minutes to have a good stew, leave for 30 minutes if your grumbly stomach can bear the wait. If you don't have a clever hob-to-oven dish, keep it all in a hob worthy container and simmer on low heat for the same length of time.
Step 11: Serve with some salad-like items around bowls of the concoction and some nice juicy slices of lime. Oh and chopsticks, as these things have to be done properly!
Flatmates Verdict: I was really nervous about this one due to the ingredients. Smoked fish and ginger aren't my favourite flavours and thinking about them being added into a dish together had me put off just a bit. However, I am pleased to say that this dish was pleasantly surprising. It had a lot of flavour, but none was too overpowering which is what I was afraid of. This was a very tasty dish that was somewhat reminiscent of a Vietnamese dish I am quite fond of from a restaurant in New York City. I still need to work on my chopstick skills though!
