I have made this Fragrant Red Fish Curry with Rocking Red Rice a few times recently and it really does take me back to times I have spent in Thailand. I used lots of fresh lemongrass, ginger and coriander which makes this curry full of flavour with a lovely aroma.

The ingredients have many natural healing properties: for example lemongrass is known for it’s anti-fungal and anti-bacterial qualities, ginger is well regarded for aiding in digestive issues and coriander is a wonderful detoxifier, particularly for heavy metals (see 5 Ways to Detox from Heavy Metals)

A word on Red Rice

You may remember me writing about the health benefits of black rice some time ago? Red rice is also a highly nutritional rice (hence why I have called it rocking red rice!). It shares many of the same health benefits as brown rice in that it is high in fibre, vitamin B, iron, zinc and manganese. Like black rice, red rice contains the antioxidant anthocyanin (which creates the lovely red colour) that helps to fight free radicals in the bod), it is excellent for skin elasticity and is anti-inflammatory. Read more about how these blue, purple and red coloured foods transform your health.

What I love about this recipe is you can make the curry sauce the day before and then add the final ingredients before serving. This is particularly good when you have guests for dinner as the majority of the prep is done.

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoon of coconut oil
• 1kg of white fish (I use ling as it holds its form best in curry)
• 1 long red chilli (deseeded and chopped finely)
• 2 tablespoons of finely chopped ginger
• 2 tablespoons of finely chopped lemongrass
• 3 cloves of garlic (crushed or finely chopped)
• 3 spring onions (roughly sliced)
• 3 tablespoons of Ayum Red Curry paste
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons of tamari (or soy sauce)
• 2 tablespoons of Ketjap Manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
• 2 tablespoons of lime juice
• 2 – 2.5 cups of coconut milk
• 1 – 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar (optional)
• 1/4 of pumpkin of chopped pumpkin (about 2 cups)
• 200g of mange tout (or fresh sweet peas)
• Bunch of fresh coriander
• Bean sprouts, cashew nuts and lime to garnish.

PROCEDURE:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in large pan, add the fish and cook over medium heat until just cooked through. Remove from heat, cut fish into cubes for the curry and set aside.
2. In a large pot add one tablespoon of coconut oil, chilli, ginger, lemongrass, garlic and green onions. Cook over medium heat for about 1 minute then add the red curry paste and cook for a few more minutes. Add fish sauce, tamari, ketjap manis, lime juice, coconut milk and coconut sugar (if using).
3. Add in the chopped pumpkin and gently simmer until pumpkin is cooked through (don’t overcook). Approximately 10 minutes (you can refrigerate at this point and add the rest of the ingredients at a later time if you so desire).
4. Once the pumpkin is cooked, add chopped fish and mange tout and heat for a few minutes (again do not overcook). Stir in half the coriander leaves.
5. Serve the curry in individual bowls with red rice, garnish with bean sprouts, lime quarters, cashew and coriander leaves.