I recently enjoyed a great Thai meal from a local restaurant. It reminded me how much I love Thai curries, so I set out to make a simple green curry dish at home. I don’t have much experience with fish, and a good friend challenged me to work with it today. So I picked up some halibut, and here is a my version of Thai Green Curry with Fish.

Note: I live in Montana, and several of the Thai ingredients can be difficult, if not impossible to find in our local grocery stores. If you live in a rural area similar to mine, and don’t have an Asian grocery nearby, I strongly recommend stocking up on a few of the base Thai ingredients when you’re in a larger town: keffir lime leaves, lemongrass and galangal, to name a few. I freeze these, and then have them handy when I need.

I served this up with some tasty Jasmine rice steamed in coconut milk, and a simple salad of mango, cucumber and strawberries. Let’s get cookin’!

Ingredients:

1 lb. firm white fish, cut into 1-inch chunks. I used halibut in my recipe
2 TBS. coconut oil
1-inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3 TBS fresh lemongrass, pounded and minced
1 TBS fresh minced galangal root, or 2 tsp. dry powdered galangal
1 red onion, chopped fine
1 13 oz. can coconut milk
4-5 TBS green curry paste (you can make your own, but convenience comes in a small jar!)
1 red bell pepper, cut into large dice
1 small can bamboo shoots
1 C. shitake mushrooms (reconstituted, if dried)
1 small head of broccoli, cut into small, bite-sized pieces
2 TBS fish sauce (or 2 tsp. kosher salt)
1/3 C. fresh basil or cilantro
1/4 C. diced green onion.
Sriracha, or other hot sauce to taste

Preparation:

In a large pot, heat the coconut oil to shimmering over high heat. While the oil is heating up, prepare your lemongrass, ginger and onion.

If you pound your lemongrass stalks with a meat pounder before mincing, more flavor will be released.

Add the lemongrass, ginger, onion and galangal to the oil, and stir-fry for about a minute.

Unfortunately, I can’t find fresh galangal where I live, so I’m resorting to the dried, powdered version. Sigh…

Now lower your flame to medium-high, and stir in the curry paste. Stir frequently, for about five minutes.

While cooking the curry paste, prep your veggies.

Stir in the coconut milk into the post and stir to combine. Lower head to medium, and bring to a gentle simmer.

Stir in the vegetables and heat through, stirring occasionally, for about 4 minutes.

Stir in the fish and fish sauce. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Serve over over rice, and top with fresh herbs. Add hot sauce to taste. Enjoy!