Monkfish is sometimes referred to as “the poor man’s lobster.” It is a really ugly fish but once filleted, the meat is clean and dense. When cooked, it isn’t flaky or steak-like and really does have a texture more like lobster or crab. It’s very good and though I won’t be making it every week after reading about some sustainability issues, it will probably show up in my kitchen again.
Monkfish is ideally cooked in liquid since it cooks fairly slowly and could easily end up overcooked by the time it is done in the center. I saw a lot of tomato-based, Italian dishes online but I wasn’t feeling it. When I thought about cooking with liquid, curry came to mind. I had been on an Indian food strike for a while (no reason, probably just ate too much) but the strike had gone on long enough and this seemed like the perfect way to cook this fish.
Ingredients:
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 yellow onion, chopped in large pieces
3-4 Tbs. prepared curry paste
2 lemongrass stalks, finely chopped
2 Tbs. fresh ginger, diced
2 medium carrots, cut in 1/2 inch sections
2 cans coconut milk
5 small, new potatoes, cut in half or quartered
1 tsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
3/4 lb. monkfish filet, cut into 1 inch pieces
Saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil and sesame oil until the onions start to lose their opacity. Add the ginger, lemongrass, carrots and curry paste and continue stirring over medium heat for about two minutes. Add the coconut milk, potatoes, fish sauce and salt and whisk all ingredients together. Simmer on low heat until potatoes begin to soften. Add the fish, cover and simmer another 10-15 minutes until fish cooks through. Serve with rice.
There are a few ingredients that you may have to go to an international market for depending on where you shop. Most groceries have some kind of curry paste available in their asian section. I’d make my own but it would just be for fun since I’ve never had any of the prepared stuff that I consider bad. Lemongrass can be a little hard to find but it adds a lot. The toasted sesame oil is amazing. I’ve had a very small bottle for years. It takes very little of it to change a dish completely since it is so strong. It’s well worth a trip to the store. The fish sauce is the only other ingredient you may have to search for. If you haven’t used it before, be warned. It smells wretched in the bottle. But every dish I’ve ever cooked that calls for it is enhanced by it. You can skip it if you want but you’re missing something.