Autumn has brought her crisp clear days and fallen leaves; our little household is starting to crave heavier dishes that are still light, like this Vietnamese Fish Curry. Vietnamese cuisine is full of fragrance and balancing the hot, sweet, sour and aromatics of each dish. The fresh dill lightens up the turmeric and coconut flavours, while the lime juice provides that sour hit Vietnamese is so famous for. This is an easy recipe to double or triple if you have guests for dinner.
I used fresh snapper but monkfish or trevally would be as equally beautiful here. You want a firm white fish that can hold up in the sauce. Oily fish like salmon or mackerel are not ideal. I chose to serve this Vietnamese fish with green beans and broccoli, but blanched pak choi or Thai eggplant would also work well. Serve with vermicelli noodles or steamed white rice for a complete meal that warms the soul.
Ingredients
- 300gm fish fillets, I used snapper
- 3 spring onions, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp coconut cream
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 handful fresh dill
- 150gm green beans
- 1/2 broccoli, cut into florets
- 1/4 cup stock
- Lime wedges to serve
Instructions
Chop the fish fillet into chucks and set aside. In a food processor, blitz the spring onion, garlic, turmeric, ginger, fish sauce, coconut cream and brown sugar until you have a kind of paste. Toss the fish chunks in the paste and half of the dill. Leave to marinate for an hour in the fridge.
Just before you want to cook the fish, bring a pot of water to boil. Quickly blanch the green beans and broccoli. Drain and set aside. In a pan, heat a little oil over a medium heat. Add the fish pieces and lightly cook for a minute or two. Turn the pieces and then add the stock. I used vegetable stock but fish stock would also be lovely here. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Toss the beans and broccoli through the sauce.
Scatter the remaining dill on top and serve with lime wedges on the side.
