SUMMARY

Thai cuisine and western cuisine are both different styles but with a bit of imagination you can enjoy the best of both.

Here, I've married the exotic panang curry* flavour with a pan fried salmon steak, two strong flavours that combine most perfectly.

I've served my dish with sugar snap peas (microwaved for 1 minute with a tablespoon of water) for a contrast of taste, colour, and texture, and also with rice. As another serving suggestion, the dish also goes well with peppers and courgette sitting on a bed of crushed new potatoes.

( * contains nuts )

 

Click to watch video

 

METHOD

1. To prepare the salmon: We are shallow frying individual steaks. If you’ve bought a side of salmon, wash off any slime, remove any scales with the back of a knife, and cut the fish into steaks with a very sharp knife.
   
   
2. Personally I like to remove the skin from the salmon for this dish as, not only does frying the skin stink out the kitchen, but also I think it detracts from the flavours of the salmon flesh and the panang sauce. I lay the steak, skin side down, on a board, and, using a sharp flexible knife, I run it along the steak between the skin and the flesh, with the blade tilted very slightly towards the board so as to keep the flesh in one piece and all the while holding onto the skin in my other hand. (Perhaps your fishmonger could prepare your fish exactly how you want it?)
   
   
3. To cook the salmon: Season your steaks with a little salt and ground black pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil to a frying pan or wok and turn up the heat.
   
   
4. Add the steaks skin side (outer side) down, neatly in the pan, and leave on a medium heat sizzling gently - don’t be poking, prodding, stirring or otherwise messing the steaks about. You will see the flesh changing colour, from the bottom upwards, as the salmon starts to cook. After about 3 minutes, the steaks should be half cooked and ready to turn over to the other side for a further 3 minutes or thereabouts – the colour of the side of the steak will be an indication that it is cooked and ready to serve.
   
   
5. To make the panang curry sauce: ( I use a 400ml can of coconut milk in this recipe and in practice I might not need the entire can for 4 portions, for example, I wouldn’t make the sauce too thin just for the sake of using the last drop. I would therefore advise to give the contents of the can a good stir to ensure that it hasn’t all settled in the bottom. )
   
   
6. Pour about 100ml of the coconut milk into a pan and heat to a gentle boil on the hob. Add two heaped tablespoons of panang curry paste to the pan, and stir with a wooden spoon until the paste has dissolved. The paste might be stubborn but you need to be patient. Add a further 100ml or so of the coconut milk and keep working the paste to break it down and then repeat with a further 100ml.
   
   
7. Add the 2 teaspoons of soft dark brown sugar and stir. Finally keep adding extra coconut milk until you have a nice creamy consistency. Have a taste of the curry sauce. I normally find that it is salty enough and doesn’t need extra seasoning, but that’s a personal choice. The sauce is now ready to be served, gently poured over the fish.