Recipe: Thai Green Curry Barramundi

After last week's blog portraying a night in the life of barramundi fisher Sienna Green (see https://www.tobinfishtales.com/post/fishing-for-a-living-how-hard-can-it-be), I thought it would be good to give you one of my favourite recipes for barramundi. While you can use any fish for this recipe (or even prawns), barra goes particularly well with thai flavours. I have cooked this one a few times and it's always delicious :)

Main Ingredients

· 4 portions of barramundi

Curry

· 1 tbsp coconut oil or peanut oil

· 4 tbsp Valcom Green Curry Paste (or whichever brand you prefer. Or make your own if you know how!)

· 4 kaffir lime leaves (torn)

· 2 long green chilli (deseeded and sliced) (pptional )

· 400ml Coconut Milk

· 60ml fish stock

· 1 tbsp fish sauce

· 1tbsp brown sugar

· 200g green round beans, topped, halved diagonally (though I often add whatever vegetables I have at hand or see fit (e.g. choose from beans, bean shoots, snow peas, etc)

· 1 carrot (peeled and finely sliced)

· 1 long fresh red chilli, halved, deseeded, thinly sliced (optional)

· 1/3 cup thai basil leaves

· Steamed jasmine rice (to serve) Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok over a medium heat, add the green curry paste, kaffir lime leaves and green chilli stir fry 1 min.

2. Add the coconut milk. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture thickens slightly

3. Add stock, sugar and fish sauce. Bring to boil.

4. Add the beans, carrots, red chilli and half the basil

A note here from my experience: The sauce should be very aromatic at this point – simmer longer if you wish. Or you can let it sit* to build flavour and reheat when you’re ready to add the fish. The main thing to remember is that the fish is the key – you don’t want to add the fish and then overcook it if you think the sauce is not yet ready.

5. Add the barramundi fillets to the sauce and continue to simmer for a further 5 mins. Test with a fork – it should break apart gently.

6. Serve hot, garnished with basil leaves, over the jasmine rice.

Recipe constructed from a combination of recipes from Taste.com.au and Asianinspirations.com.au *When letting food ‘sit’, remember your food safety rules. Importantly, let things cool before putting them in the fridge. But don’t leave anything perishable out of the fridge for more than 2 hours (still safe to eat immediately, but not for the next day) or 4 hours (throw it away). Let me know how you go!