Red Curry Barramundi

Barramundi! Barramundi!! That's fun to say. (I feel like Will Ferrell in "Elf" when he keeps repeating "Frrrrancisssco!! That's fun to say!" Speaking of which, Christmas is less than 5 months away. Wow. And I have not posted a recipe since March. My sincere apologies, but I doubt if any of you feel bereft.)

Anyway. Barramundi! I had never heard of this relative of the Sea Bass (which reminds me of the "Kick his @, SeaBass" line from "Dumb and Dumber" ... okay, I'll stop with the movie quotes.)

So sea bass... Barramundi. I do have a point. I had never heard of this fish before, but saw frozen fillets at CostCo recently and thought I'd take a crack at incorporating it into my seafood rotations.  It's a mild, flaky, white fish, and it's considered a sustainable seafood variety. The fillets defrost quite fast in a bowl of cold water, and cook easily since they're evenly thick.

I've tried a few different twists on using it in Fish Tacos (I'll blog that some other night) and then last night I was jonesing for Red Curry, so I thought rather than chicken or pork, I'd put fish in it.  I had a few garden-fresh veggies from my yard, and incorporated some green onions, yellow zucchini, sugar snap peas, and then a few other things from my refrigerator. 

This is the link to the company that markets Barramundi: The Better Fish

Thai Swimming Rama (or Showering Rama)-- Chicken, steamed spinach and peanut sauce

While I’m not entirely sure of the first time I had Rama (or whether it was referred to as Showering or Swimming) it is one of my very favorite types of Thai food.  Basically, it’s steamed spinach, sauteed chicken, and a peanut sauce that is TO DIE FOR.  I seriously have to stop myself from eating half the sauce out of the pot with a spoon while I’m “tasting it” … Yeah, it’s so good. It’s almost like a dessert.  **Edited to say that since I first published this recipe many years ago, I have developed a nut allergy, so I now make this with sunflower-seed butter, and it is basically indistinguishable.** 

Thai inspired Mahi Mahi

I had mahi mahi in the freezer, and a variety of other Thai-ish ingredients like cilantro and coconut milk, so I thought to myself that there must be some good way to incorporate them all into a beautiful dish. I did find this recipe on Bon Appetite, Grilled Mahi Mahi with Thai Coconut Sauce , and decided it was a good base, but since I would never BUY clam juice, uh hello.... juice from a CLAM? Yuck!... I thought I'd make some tweaks and use what I had, plus added some veggies. This is what I came up with.

INGREDIENTS:

4 mahi mahi Fillets (fresh or frozen / defrosted)

2 cups uncooked sticky rice
1 can coconut milk
2-3 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce
1 bell pepper
1/2 yellow onion OR 6-8 green onions
2-3 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp fresh grated or powdered ginger
1 lime, juiced
1 bag or 1 can of Asian bean sprouts
1 cup fresh cilantro
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper

DIRECTIONS: Let’s start at the very beginning… a very good place to start.


So take the four Mahi-Mahi fillets and season them on both sides with some salt, a couple of squirts of lime juice and crushed red pepper, and set aside for now.

Make the rice in the meantime, by rinsing two cups uncooked sticky rice in a mesh sieve until water is fairly clear, and then follow directions on the package, but substitute 1 cup of the total amount of water with coconut milk, add about 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper.

Meanwhile, back at the Bat Cave...There's some sauce happening...

Slice up approximately 6-8 green onions
Mince 2-3 cloves of garlic
Julienne one bell pepper (color is better if it is red or orange or yellow-- green would be too bitter in this.)
And sauté all that in a skillet...
When the peppers start to get soft, add a cup of coconut milk (one can of coconut milk yields enough for the rice and enough for the sauce) and 2-3 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce, 2 tbsp lime juice, 1/4 tsp grated ginger and 1/4 - 1/2 tsp crushed red peppers

Now, fire up your grill on high, and when it reaches about 350 degrees, put your fish on there and flip when each side has nice blackened grill marks on it... Grill about 2-3 minutes on each side...

At last minute or two, while fish is grilling, put about a cup of fresh chopped cilantro and 1 bag or can of Asian bean sprouts into the sauce. . . Serve together in a bowl with grilled fish and rice.

And yummmm.