Skip to main content

Kaffir Lime-Coconut Cod with Forbidden Rice for #FoodNFlix


Food‘nFlix
When I started talking about what to make for this month's Food'N'Flix which is a double feature with Cook the Books of The Hundred Foot Journey*, the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf really wanted to re-do his Spiced Coconut Sea Urchin Soup.

You can read the invitation by 
Deb of Kahakai Kitchen for the Cook the Books portion. Here's her invitation; here's what D and I made for that event: our version of Sungta ani Bende Kodi.

But, in our attempt to re-do the urchin soup, we were foiled in sourcing urchin locally. I heard buzzings about an echinoderm epidemic; I also heard it was due to the oil spill in Santa Barbara earlier in the year. Whatever the cause, there have been no urchin to be had. I did think we caught a break when a local seafood purveyor was taking advanced orders for urchin. I placed my order, but kept getting emails - "not this week, maybe next week." I was holding out, hoping that we would get ours before the deadline for this post. But, it was not to be. So, D and I will make urchin soup sometime soon. Just not for this.

So, this is a riff on that soup with another Southeast Asian inspiration: Kaffir limes. Do you know what a Kaffir lime is? It looks like a little green brain and tastes like a mix of a lime and lemongrass.


I also used Kaffir lime leaves which are oddly double leaves. I wanted to add in some cèpes, like they collected in the movie. Porcini mushrooms were the closest I could think of, but I couldn't find any fresh ones; I substituted some fresh local chanterelles.

Kaffir Lime-Coconut Cod with Forbidden Rice

Ingredients
  • 3 shallots, finely diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
  • 1/2 t minced lemongrass
  • 1 T thinly sliced Kaffir lime leaves
  • 1 T butter
  • splash of olive oil
  • 1 pound cod, cut into 2" pieces
  • 1 to 2 C thinly sliced chanterelle mushrooms
  • 1-1/2 C clam juice
  • 2 C fish stock
  • pinch of saffon 
  • 1 T Thai curry powder
  • 1 t ground paprika
  • dash of ground turmeric
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1 C raw whole cashews
  • freshly ground salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 C fresh cilantro, chopped
  • forbidden rice, steamed in coconut milk
  • dried shredded unsweetened coconut
  • grated zest from Kaffir lime
  • 1 t freshly squeezed Kaffir lime juice



Procedure
In a large souppot, melt butter in a splash of olive oil. Soften the shallots, garlic, lemongrass, and Kaffir lime leaves in the butter-oil mixture. Add in the mushrooms and saute for a few minutes.

Pour in the clam juice, fish stock; add cashews. Season with saffron, curry powder, paprika, and turmeric. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer again. Place the cod piece in the broth. Cook until the fish is firm and opaque. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh cilantro and remove from the heat.

To serve: fold shredded coconut into the steamed forbidden rice. Scoop into one side of a bowl. Spoon the cod into the other side of the bowl and add a bit of the sauce. Drizzle with a squeeze of Kaffir lime juice and a sprinkling of zest. Serve immediately.


*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.

Comments

  1. I have searched high and low for Kaffir. Where did you find it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your cod sounds delicious. Hassan would be proud.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks lovely. I've seen those limes before at the store and always thought they were just a bad batch, had no idea they were in fact a different type of lime.

    ReplyDelete
  4. OMG I love kaffir and love fish stews, awesome recipe. Yap sourcing stuff is hard sometimes. Thanks so much for this double fun movie/book experience.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great choice! Too bad you were foiled with the urchin!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sorry about the sea urchins, but you get so many unusual ingredients. I've heard of kaffir limes but I guess I had never seen one. They sound delicious, as does this dish. Thanks for hosting, Camilla. This was a lot of fun.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce

Aloo Tiki {Pakistan}

To start off our Pakistani culinary adventure, I started us off with aloo tiki - potato cutlets. I'm always game for tasty street food. I found a couple of different recipes and incorporated those together for this version. Ingredients 6-8 small red potatoes, scrubbed 1 T cumin seeds 1 T fresh chopped parsley 1/2 t ground coriander 1 t minced garlic Procedure Boil the potatoes until they are tender. Drain and let cool. Mash the potatoes. Traditionally they are mashed without their skins. I left the skins on. In a small pan, toast the cumin seeds on high heat until the begin to give off an aroma and begin to darken. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate to keep them from cooking any more. Blend all of the spices into the mashed potatoes, then shape into small patties. If you wet your hands, the potato mixture won't stick to them. Heat a splash of oil in a large, flat-bottom pan. Dip each patty into beaten egg and carefully place in the oil. P

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir