Mackerel Thai Curry

The Inspiration Behind – Mackerel Thai Curry

I’m a big fan of east Asian food. It’s one of my favourite regions for both food and culture. This Mackerel Thai Curry borrows heavily from Thai cuisine but also throws in some flavours from Korea too. I think some of it just happened to be that I had these spices and sauces available. The ingredients tend to blend a lot across this region though, so they work well together.

Lemongrass and Lime leaves particularly feature in a lot of Thai curries and they add a lot of aromatic flavour to the dish. Especially in the creamy coconut milk base to the sauce. I recommend learning some authentic curries from Thailand as a way to broaden your spice pallet.

Changes and Additions

I use Korean Chilli flakes in this recipe. Commonly used to make Gochujang paste, which is a key part of what gives Kimchi it’s distinct flavour. You could switch these for other types of chilli flakes really and most would work well. I like the mild heat and slight sweetness they add to the dish personally. Other flakes will add different types of heat and spiciness. I would try and stick to a chilli that is commonly used in east Asian cooking for the best results though. I also used a Korean Anchovy fish sauce but any fish sauce will do, it adds some umami flavour to the dish and helps complete it.

The Mackerel could also be switched for other types of fish. Cod and other white fish would work well in this dish. You could also try Swordfish or Salmon and make something equally as tasty with the same sauce.

Once again the vegetables are largely replaceable. I picked sweeter vegetables to help balance the dish but you could go for something more sour. The courgette could be switched for Aubergine for the same result. Ultimately a vegetable that’s great at holding the sauce. Broccoli would work well in this dish for the same reason. You want something in there that will hold all that flavour when you bite into it.

Mackerel Thai Curry – The Business Part

Mackerel Thai Curry

• Author: Recipe Drop

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Description

A mild aromatic Thai inspired curry borrowing spices from Korea

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Ingredients

Units MUS Scale 1x2x3x

125g Mackerel

1–2 tbsp Coconut Oil (Other oils would work too)

1 Medium Sweet Potato

1 Courgette

1 Red Pepper

4 Spring Onions

3cm Ginger

4 cloves of Garlic

1 piece of Lemongrass

3 Lime Leaves

1 tsp Ground Cumin

1 tsp Ground Coriander

1 tbsp Sugar (Honey or Maple syrup could be used to replace this)

2 tsp Korean Chilli Flakes

1 tbsp Fish Sauce

1 tsp Shrimp Paste

1 tbsp Coriander Leaves

400ml Coconut Milk

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Instructions

1. First start by prepping all the vegetables. Chop the Courgette and Sweet Potato into small chunks. Slice the Red Pepper into strips and dice the spring onions. Peel and dice the ginger and crush and dice the garlic. Roughly shred the lemongrass and lime leaves.
2. Heat a wok over a medium high heat, once hot add the oil. Once the oil is hot and nearly smoking, add the sweet potato, courgette and pepper. Cook this all until it starts to soften.
3. Add in the Garlic, Ginger, Lemongrass and Lime leaves and cook for a minute. Once fragrant add in the Cumin, Ground Coriander, Sugar and Chilli Flakes. Cook for a further minute.
4. Now add in the fish sauce and shrimp paste and mix in thoroughly and let it cook for another minute or two. Then add the coconut milk and stir until it is well mixed with all the spices and let it start to simmer.
5. Add in the Mackerel, spring onions and coriander leaves, stir together and lower to a medium-low heat. Now simmer the dish for about 10-15 minutes. Just enough time to cook some rice!
6. Stir throughout this cooking time mixing in the oils that come from the fish, shrimp paste and fish sauce. Once cooked serve over boiled rice.

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Notes

• You can replace the chilli flakes for any type of chilli flake for a similar result. I’d stick to a chilli commonly found in east Asian dishes to keep true to the dish.
• Any fish sauce will work in this dish but I used Korean Anchovy fish sauce
• Experiment with different vegetables! Try some aubergine or broccoli

Finally..

I hope you enjoy this Mackerel Thai Curry as much as I did. Please let me know how you got on with making this recipe. As well as any additions or changes you made!