Every home cook has one dinner that they can make in their sleep, out of ingredients they always have, and count on getting a result that will warm them up and make them smile, no matter how awful the day was, how many dirty dishes teeter in the sink, no matter how querulously the wide world whines at their doorstep.
This dinner is usually cheap to make, and in recent years I suspect that cooks' default dinners have become more "exotic" in focus, as we discover the delicious, inexpensive, easy, headswimmingly spicy and invigorating dishes of the hotter climes. Mine is no exception. If you don't cook a lot of southeast Asian-inflected food it won't be a staple meal so much as an event meal, one that requires a dedicated shopping trip. The good news is that it is impressive, and delicious, and rather beautiful, and extremely easy; it would make a great date-night dinner. It is also Ceej's favorite thing that I cook; he'd eat it four times a week if he could, and I think I would too, except for its being a bit of a calorie bomb. No dish is perfect.
I tweaked this from a recipe on Epicurious; the original recipe was very much For Party. My version is For Hangover and/or For After Double Shift and/or For Scarfing Down In Front Of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent". (Oh, that Vincent D'Onofrio!) I just call it red curry salmon, and here is how I do it for two people.
Step 1: Get the rice cooker cranking. Any kind of long-grain rice is fine, though jasmine is ideal and basmati sounds a bit reckless. Defrost a couple of frozen salmon fillets from Costco. (This would also work with shrimp or chicken if you don't like salmon.)
When the salmon is thawed, marinate it in some soy sauce for not very long -- fifteen minutes or so.
You will also want a green vegetable of some kind. Green beans are very nice, bok choy is lovely, spinach is just fine and plain old frozen peas will do the trick in a pinch. If the veg is frozen and needs thawing, do that now too.
Step 2: Heat up a nonstick skillet and sear the salmon in it, over very high heat for about three minutes a side. This will result in rare fish, but it will have some time to sit around and cook further on its own. Set fish aside and tent it with foil.
Step 3: In the same skillet, heat a tablespoon of neutral oil over medium heat. Add the zest of a lime and a tablespoon or so of Thai red curry paste. This will do for two people who like their food fairly hot; adjust accordingly per your tastes and the strength of your paste. Stir-fry zest and curry paste gently for three or so minutes. It's OK if the paste browns a bit. If it looks too dry, add some more oil (not too much).
The curry paste makes this meal, so do try to track down the good stuff; failing that, though, Thai Kitchen is totally decent in this application.
Step 4: To the pan, add half a can of coconut milk, the juice of the lime lately zested (two limes if yours is a dry little golf ball), a tablespoon of brown sugar (light or dark, it doesn't matter) and a tablespoon of Thai fish sauce. Whisk this until the curry paste is all incorporated, and leave it to simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it becomes a thickish sauce. How long this will take depends on your coconut milk; some start out fairly thick and some are watery. Either way, the sauce is done when it looks like sauce to you. Taste and adjust as necessary; it might need more fish sauce.
Step 5. While the sauce is composing itself, cook the vegetable of your choice, however you like to do it.
Step 6. Serve fish and vegetable over rice, with sauce, garnished with chopped cilantro, or scallions, or both, or nothing.
Without this recipe we'd probably starve.
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