Fish with Coconut Curry Leaves Sauce

“Fish with Coconut Curry Leaves Sauce” does this sound a bit off piste?

Well when I started developing this recipe all I wanted to make is something South East Asian but something rather out of the box.

Since I have moved to Singapore I find all these fresh ingredients like curry leaves, pandan leaves, shallots and coconut everywhere. And somehow every time I develop a new recipe I feel this compulsion of using all these sublime ingredients, well because I love them.

So how did this fish recipe come about? As you lot know I am doing some recipe tastings and developing for Hai Sia Seafood company based in Singapore and they had this wonderful frozen fish, Hoki from New Zealand.  This fish is white, delicate but has a slight meaty flavour to it.

If you are based in Singapore then you can buy Hai Sia Seafood products on Redmart website and in Cold storage.

So because of its meaty flavour I didn’t want to poach it or steam it so I decided to pan fry it. But I wanted something new, something exciting, something which would scream of fresh flavours! So I decided to pair it with this wonderful sauce.

It’s a fairly quick recipe and if you have the sauce ready, then you can make this dish in a trice.

I posted the sauce recipe in my stories on Instagram and I got so many messages for the recipe so I decided to post it.

If you like This Fish with Coconut Curry Leaves Sauce and South Asian flavours then do check out this fish and chicken recipe.

Do give this simple and flavourful recipe a try! I am telling you will love this recipe.

Ingredients for the sauce:

• 1 or 20g small banana shallot or red onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 2 red chillies or red pepper finely chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh curry leaves
• 200ml coconut milk
• 50ml coconut cream
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp groundnut or cooking oil

Ingredients for fish:

• 4 pieces of fish fillets cut in rectangles
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper to taste
• ½ tsp chilli powder or cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp lime juice
• Oil for pan frying

Instructions:

For the sauce, heat oil and add in the garlic and shallot. Saute for 2 minutes, add in the curry leaves and red chillies. Cook for 2 minutes. Add in the soy sauce and cook for a minute.

Add in the coconut milk and cream, bring to a gentle boil while stirring it so it doesn’t break.

Blend it while the sauce is hot. Put it back in the pan and bring it to another gentle boil.

Marinate the fish pieces in mentioned ingredients. Heat oil and pan fry the fish for 3 minutes per side.

For plating: Pour the sauce in a plate and place the fish on the top. Garnish with fried curry leaves and coriander if desired.