Week 5, Day 1

Yeah, Waitrose came this morning !! I think I am going to invent a new perfume, and it is going to be called Eau de Désinfectant.

Everything disinfected, fruit and vegetables with food safe disinfectant, everything else sprayed and then wiped, plastic bags thrown away, hands scrubbed, towels washed. And I think the smell of disinfectant will be with me for a while to come, even though I have rose scented disinfectant, it still smells. I have a new trick for disinfecting our masks, ( Mark three) Milton sterilising tablets, remember those ? So I kill two birds with one stone, masks into Microwave, masks sterilised, microwave cleaned !!

Yesterday, being Saturday, that is if you can remember what day it actually is, it was the turn of Himself to cook.

He decided upon a Jungle Fish Curry, and so we scoured the asian books for a suitable recipe and for one that we had most of the ingredients. This is a very quick and easy curry to make, and as it is it Thai curry, it does not have the Ghee that Indian curries often have and which willowy brunette does not like at all. It also does not have coconut milk, which one often associates with Thai cooking.

Rick Stein has a version of this in his book ” Far Eastern Odyssey” as does Keith Floyd in his ” Far Flung Floyd” as do others, all variations on a theme. It is generally a fiery curry but you make it as hot or as mild as you like.

The bit I really liked ( given where we are with Bats and the like ) and given the fact the translation is ‘Jungle Curry’ it could out there in the jungle have some culinary surprises such as snake, frog, wild boar, assorted birds and unspecified furry creatures would often be used. We used frozen Tilapia, this is a firm white fish, which worked well as it did not fall apart. You could also make it with chicken.

You will need to make the curry paste, but it is easy.
In a blender put some red chilli, the amount depends on you, I always have chopped chillis in my freezer, a chunk of peeled fresh ginger, but frozen works as well , 3 fat lemon grass stalks cut into chunks, 1large onion cut into chunks,3- 4 peeled cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp each coriander seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric powder, 1tsp paprika and of shrimp paste. Blend all together, add a small amount of water or oil.
Then you will need a filet of fish per person ( or more if you are hungry)
some Kafir Lime leaves ( again this is something I have in the freezer, don’t worry if you do not have them)
2 tbs of vegetable oil
250 mls of stock ( a vegetable stock cube will do)2 Tbsp fish or oyster sauce
2 Tsp palm sugar 2 limes cut into chunks.

Cut the fish into chunks about 1.5 ” square ( or thereabouts). Heat the oil in a deep pan or wok, add the curry paste and fry for a couple of minutes until it smells Yummy. Add the stock, fish sauce, sugar and limes, if it looks too runny, reduce it by simmering until it is a bit thicker. Add the fish, spoon over the sauce and let cook for about 4 minutes, so that the fish is cooked.