Green Curry with Poached Prawns
Vibrant and fresh in both colour and taste, this curry highlights one of BC’s most coveted springtime ingredients: spot prawns. It’s sure to brighten any spring table. Cloudy Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc or Hakutsuru Dai Ginjo Sake make excellent pairings for this dish.Ingredients
Serves 6
1 × 14 oz (398 ml) can full-fat coconut milk
¼ cup (60 ml) Green Curry Paste, make ahead, recipe follows
1 cup (250 ml) Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc
1 large bulb fennel
6 oz (170 g) broccolini
2 tbsp (30 ml) liquid coconut oil
1 lb (450 g) whole fresh spot prawns
6 oz (170 g) baby bok choy, each cut in half
1 cup (250 ml) snap peas
⅓ cup (80 ml) toasted cashews, for garnish
2 Thai (bird’s eye) chilies, sliced into thin rounds, for garnish (optional)
¼ cup (60 ml) fresh cilantro sprigs, for garnish (optional)
1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve
GREEN CURRY PASTE
1 cup (250 ml) packed spring greens (such as spinach, arugula, watercress or dandelion greens)
2 to 3 Thai green chilies, to taste
6 green onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, outer leaves removed and inner stalk roughly chopped
2-in (5 cm) piece fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic
4 Makrut lime leaves
1 tbsp (15 ml) ground coriander
1½ tsp (7.5 ml) ground cumin
1 lime, zest and juice
2 tsp (10 ml) fish sauce
1 cup (250 ml) packed fresh cilantro leaves and tender stalks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C).
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, whisk coconut milk, Green Curry Paste and wine until mixture comes to a rolling simmer.
- Meanwhile, trim fennel bulb and cut into 8 wedges. Place fennel and broccolini into a roasting pan, drizzle with coconut oil and toss to coat. Spread vegetables into a single layer and transfer to oven. Roast until fennel starts to soften, about 20 minutes.
- Add curry sauce to roasting pan, then scatter prawns, bok choy and snap peas over roasted vegetables. Return roasting pan to oven and roast until prawns turn pink and bok choy is tender, about 10 minutes.
- Garnish warm curry with some toasted cashews and a sprinkle of chilies and cilantro sprigs, if using. Serve with lime wedges alongside. This curry is delicious served over rice.
- To make Green Curry Paste, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath by placing a couple handfuls of ice in a medium bowl and filling bowl about halfway with water. When saucepan of water comes to a boil, add spring greens. Blanch, 1 to 2 minutes, until wilted and bright green, then transfer to ice bath. Drain, squeeze out excess water and roughly chop. Set aside.
- In a blender, place chilies, green onions, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, lime leaves, coriander, cumin, lime zest and juice and fish sauce. Pulse until well combined and a chunky paste forms. You may need to scrape down sides of blender a couple of times. Add cilantro and blanched spring greens and pulse again until a thick, smooth paste forms, stopping to scrape down sides of blender as needed. Can be stored in an airtight container in refrigerator for up to 1 week. You’ll have more paste than you need for curry recipe, so try mixing it with butter and using it to baste meat, seafood or vegetables, or add a teaspoon to your next batch of scrambled eggs for a kick of flavour.