Salmon Red Curry

As soon as Mr. Fishmonger said "25 zl please!", I knew this would go waaaaay over budget. Ah well, there's a first time for everything and today's the day I'm blowing the budget out the water big style!

Serves: 4
Cost per person: 8.75 zl (1.70 UK, 2.10 Euros)

Here's a Thai-style dish which will make your mouth burn and water simultaneously. I say "Thai-style" because I have to admit that I approximated some of the ingredients to make the dish more accessible for the European shopper. I say "make your mouth burn" because it's bloody spicy! 

Here's what I missed out:

Galangale - used ginger instead (yeah, I know it doesn't exactly taste the same but... hey)
Kaffir lime leaves - used lemon zest for that background citrus feel
Lemon grass - used lemon juice 
Shrimp paste - used fish sauce

Here's what I didn't miss out:

- 10 large dried red chillies deseeded and soaked in water for around 10 minutes
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 2 cardamon pods
- 1/2 tsp black pepper corns
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 3 shallots
- 1 inch of ginger
- the zest of 1 lemon
- the juice of 1 lemon (the same lemon!)
- a glug or two of fish sauce
- a pinch or two of salt
- a can of coconut milk
- a tablespoon of coconut oil
- 500g of salmon
- some thinly sliced bell peppers

Let's get cracking!

1. Thai cooking is often based on pastes. So, let's begin with the ingredients for the red curry paste. Firstly, we need to get the dry spices prepped.

2. Prep the "wet" ingredients too: soak the chillies, peel the garlic, ginger and shallots. Zest the lemon.

3. Dry roast the dry spices in a frying pan for a couple of minutes until they start to brown.

4. Grind in a coffee grinder.

5. Grind the rest of the wet ingredients. Transfer to a bowl. Slug in some fish sauce and add a pinch or two of salt to taste. Taste it! Yeah, I dare you! Ha ha!

6. Remove any bones from the salmon and cut into largish chunks. Leave the skin on.

7. Add a tablespoon of coconut oil to a wok on high heat. Add the salmon pieces SKIN DOWN. Cook for around 3-4 minutes or until the salmon has turned pink 1/2-2/3 of the way up.

8. Flip the fish over and cook for a further minute or until the entire pieces have turned pink. Remove from the pan and rest. At this stage the salmon will be cooked on the outside but still slightly undercooked inside. This is what you want because you will transfer the salmon back into the sauce later on and cook through.

9. In the same oil, add the red curry paste on a medium heat. Cook through for around 2-3 minutes.

10. Peppers in. Cook for around 30 seconds.

11. Coconut milk in. Cook through for around 2 minutes.

12. Return the salmon pieces to the wok. As far as you can, place them SKIN UP so that the skin retains its crisp. Cook through for around 2 minutes - just enough for the fish to be cooked all the way through. That's the secret of cooking fish - do it till they're done and take off the heat.

13. Enjoy with rice!

Costing:

- salmon: 25 zl
- coconut milk: 5 zl
- rice: 2.40 zl
- lemon: 1 zl
- rest: 1.60 zl

Total: 35 zl
Serves: 4
Per person: 8.75 zl