Red curry and peanut noodles with fish

I was browsing through some food pictures online the other day and found this blog that had 6 or 7 Asian dishes all on one post, all of which I've never had and desperately wanted to try. Today marks the first day of experimenting with these recipes with red curry and peanut noodles with fish (it was originally named noodle with fish and peanut sauce, but I didn't think this name did it justice). With a few minor changes, this dish came out to be fantastic. It's been awhile since I had a dish that was THIS tasty!

Red curry and peanut noodles with fish

Recipe from tesathome.com

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

Rice noodles - cooked as per package instruction

1 medium size fresh mackerel - scaled and cleaned

1 1/2 tbsp Thai red curry paste

1/2 cup ground roasted peanut noodles

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp fish sauce or to taste

2 cup vegetable stock

few spring onion or scallion sliced into 1 inch long

2 tsp oil

Directions

1. Cook noodles according to directions on the package. Drain and set aside.
2. Boil 2 cups of water in a medium pot over high heat. Add the mackerel and cook for 2 minutes or until the fish turns opaque and flakes easily. Remove from the water and cool, discarding any fish bones. Using a wooden spoon, mash the fish into a rough paste.
3. Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Saute the red curry paste until aromatic, about 45 seconds. Add the fish paste and peanuts, cooking for another minute.
4. Add the vegetable stock, sugar, and fish sauce. Season according to taste, adding more fish sauce as a replacement for salt. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the spring onions on top and remove from heat. To serve, portion the noodles in 4 bowls and top with the fish and peanut sauce. Serve with fresh mint or basil on the side. 

Nutritional Analysis:
per serving: 493 calories, 14g fat (2.7g saturated, 3.8g polyunsaturated, 6.2g monounsaturated), 72.2g carbohydrates, 5.1g fiber, 17.5g protein

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

The first change I made to this recipe was to use egg noodles instead of rice noodles. I'm sure rice noodles would taste perfectly fine with the sauce, but I thought the heaviness of the egg noodles would match up well to this thick sauce. 

I've never boiled fish before, one, because it takes out all the nutrients, and two, because it takes away the flavors. I decided to bake the fish instead. Using tilapia filets instead of mackerel, I seasoned both sides with salt and pepper, drizzled some olive oil on top, and sprinkled 2 sliced garlic cloves and 1 sliced shallot on top (for 4 servings, use 3 filets). Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until the flesh easily flakes apart.

I wanted to have chunks of fish on top of my noodles so I omitted the process of grinding the fish and adding it to the sauce. I simply made the peanut sauce without the fish, doubled the amount of the red curry paste, doubled the amount of fish sauce, and added an additional 2 tbsp of sugar. The first time I tasted the sauce it was a bit bland so I added more of everything. I also seasoned the sauce with a little salt.

To take it an extra step and add some vegetables to the dish, I blanched baby bok choy and added it to the noodles. 

Garnish with some chopped peanuts and you have your dish!

I know I always say that the dish was tasty, but I really truly mean it for this one. Trying something new that has such a fantastic outcome is enough to make me want to try all of the other noodle dishes on the found blog! The sauce may not have been as thick as the original dish since I omitted the fish but the flavor was still there. I served the noodles with baked spring rolls, which also came out wonderfully. Check out the recipe for those next week!