Monkfish curry with lemongrass and lime leaf

In this dish, the delicate flavour of monkfish is wonderfully spiced with lemongrass and lime.

Preparation method

1. For the monkfish curry, heat the oil in a large wok until smoking and stir-fry the shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, lime leaves and green chillies for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the volume of the liquid has reduced slightly.

2. Add the coriander, monkfish and water chestnuts and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through. Stir in the fish sauce and lime juice.

3. Meanwhile, for the Thai jasmine rice, place the rice and lemongrass stalk into a saucepan, cover with the water and simmer gently for 12-15 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all of the water and is tender. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside for 5 minutes.

4. To serve, spoon some of the Thai jasmine rice onto each of 4 serving plates. Spoon some monkfish curry on top and sprinkle over the Thai basil leaves.

Required techniques

• Knife skills: how to finely chop
• Knife skills: how to finely chop
• Learning to chop: the ‘chiffonade’ or shredding technique
• Knife skills: how to finely chop