Steamed sea bass with griddled vegetables in a red curry sauce
Bring the spicy flavours of Thailand to a simple midweek curry dish.
Ingredients
For the red curry sauce
- 2 limes, juice and zest
- 2 lemongrass sticks, roughly chopped
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
- 1–2 tbsp palm sugar
- 1 tbsp crushed fresh galangal
- 4 red chillies, stalks removed and roughly chopped
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp Thai shrimp paste
- 1 tbsp chopped coriander root
- 3 Thai shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp white peppercorns
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 400ml tin coconut milk
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the steamed sea bass and griddled vegetables
- 1 whole sea bass, cut into fillets
- 6 Tenderstem broccoli heads
- 4 baby corn
- 3 baby carrots, trimmed
- 2 baby peppers, stalks and seeds removed
- 4 Thai shallots, peeled, blanched and refreshed
- 30g/1oz green beans, trimmed
- 1 green chilli, stalk and seeds removed
- 1 red chilli, stalk and seeds removed
- 3 kaffir lime leaves
- 2 tbsp fresh green peppercorns
- mixed herbs, such as chervil, Thai basil, tarragon, coriander, chives, to garnish
Method
To make the sauce, place all of the ingredients, except the vegetable oil and coconut milk, in a food processor or blender. Blitz until smooth. Pass through a sieve and set aside.
To make the steamed sea bass, wrap the fillets tightly in heatproof cling film and place in a steamer basket. Steam for 8–10 minutes, or until cooked through. To test whether the fish is done, insert a knife into the centre for 10 seconds; it should penetrate easily and feel hot when you remove it. Keep the fish warm.
Heat a large griddle pan over a medium heat. Griddle the broccoli, corn, carrots, pepper, shallots, beans and chillies until charred but still have a little crunch. Add the lime leaves and peppercorns and cook for a further minute.
Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the red curry paste. Stir in the coconut milk and season to taste.
Transfer the vegetables to a large serving bowl, pour over the sauce and top with the steamed fish. Garnish with the herbs and serve.