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Flathead green curry

Name: Green curry with fish recipe
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 80ml vegetable oil; 400ml can coconut milk; 700g skinless, boneless flathead fillets, cut into 8cm lengths; Steamed jasmine rice, coriander sprigs, roti and lime wedges, to serve; 3 stalks lemongrass, white part only, chopped; 1 bunch coriander with roots (reserve 1/2 cup sprigs to serve); 4 garlic cloves; 6 eschalots or 1/2 large red onion, chopped; 30g ginger; 60ml fish sauce; 6 makrut lime leaves, stems removed, thinly sliced; 2 each long red and green chillies, chopped; Juice of 1 lime, plus extra wedges to serve; 2 tsp ground white pepper

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by Merrick Watts

CONTRIBUTOR

Sep 21, 2023

“I came up with this idea one day at home when thinking about flavours I was craving. This recipe is so old that flathead was considered a well-priced fish!” – Merrick Watts

1/3 cup (80ml) vegetable oil
400ml can coconut milk
700g skinless, boneless flathead fillets, cut into 8cm lengths
Steamed jasmine rice, coriander sprigs, roti and lime wedges, to serve

Curry paste

3 stalks lemongrass, white part only, chopped
1 bunch coriander with roots (reserve 1/2 cup sprigs to serve)
4 garlic cloves
6 eschalots or 1/2 large red onion, chopped
6cm piece fresh ginger (30g), chopped
1/4 cup (60ml) fish sauce
6 makrut lime leaves, stems removed, thinly sliced
2 each long red and green chillies, chopped
Juice of 1 lime, plus extra wedges to serve
2 tsp ground white pepper

Method

1.

For the curry paste, place all ingredients in a food processor with a pinch of salt flakes and whiz to a smooth paste, scraping down side of the bowl regularly.
2.

Heat oil in a deep, medium frypan over medium heat until surface of oil is shimmering. Add curry paste and cook, stirring regularly, for 5-10 minutes until very fragrant, starting to look dry and slightly catching on base of pan but still a good green colour.
3.

Reduce heat to low and stir in the coconut milk until smooth. Add the flathead, making sure fillets are in a single layer and covered by the sauce. Cook very carefully, only gently shaking the pan occasionally to prevent sauce catching in spots, for 10-12 minutes, until the fish is just cooked. Remove pan from heat and stand for 2 minutes.
4.

Serve spooned over rice, sprinkled with coriander and with roti and lime wedges served alongside.

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Recipe Notes

There’s no need to stir the flathead in this recipe. Allowing it to gently bubble away in the sauce means you’ll be left with lovely large fillet pieces, not mushed-up flakes.