Name: Choo Chee Salmon
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 4 x 225g (8oz) salmon fillets with the skin on; 2 tbsp rapeseed (canola) or coconut oil; 2 tbsp finely chopped coriander; (cilantro), to garnish; 1 red spur chilli, thinly sliced,; to garnish; FOR THE SAUCE; 600ml (21⁄2 cups) thick coconut milk; 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste, homemade or shop bought; 5 lime leaves, stalks removed and leaves finely julienned; 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce*; 2 tsp grated palm sugar or honey

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Every tried a choo chee curry? This choo chee salmon is a great place to start.

Choo chee curries are very similar to red curries. Red curry paste is used to make the sauce and, just like red curries, coconut milk is a key ingredient.

So what makes them different? The choo chee sauce is normally served over seafood, it is thicker than a normal red curry and also a bit sweeter. This time I made my choo chee with salmon but you can use your seafood of choice in this delicious sauce.

Photo by Kris Kirkham for ‘The Curry Guy Thai’ cookbook.

About this choo chee recipe.

Choo chee curries are also not usually as spicy as a red curry. I have used salmon here but you could use any seafood.

This sauce is just as good served over sea bass, scallops, prawns (shrimp) and it’s often served over vegetables as a vegetarian option at many restaurants. In this recipe I have used a cooking method called ‘cracking the coconut milk’. It is a traditional cooking style which can be used to cook coconut sauce curries without having to add oil.

What is cracking the coconut milk?

Coconut milk has coconut oil in it. This is especially so when you use fresh, not tinned (canned) coconut.

When you add a little coconut milk to a hot pan, it will begin to simmer and shortly after that, you will see the oil separate from the milk. You can then add other ingredients and fry them without adding other oil.

Try the choo chee sauce and experiment.

If you like seafood, you will know from the first taste of this choo chee sauce that it is perfect for seafood. I recommend trying this salmon choo chee first but feel free to experiment and try other seafood.

The choo chee salmon sauce is delicious as written but you can and should try it and perfect the sauce to taste. Add more fish sauce if you like it saltier, more red curry paste for heat, sugar or honey for sweetness and lemon or lime juice to give it a tarter flavour.

If you like this choo chee salmon, you might want to try some of these Thai favourites too.

THAI SOUPS

CURRIES

THAI NOODLE RECIPES

FRIED THAI

STIR FRIES

THAI BBQ

Have you tried this choo chee salmon recipe?

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Yield: 4

Choo Chee Salmon

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

4 x 225g (8oz) salmon fillets with the skin on
2 tbsp rapeseed (canola) or coconut oil
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander
(cilantro), to garnish
1 red spur chilli, thinly sliced,
to garnish
FOR THE SAUCE
600ml (21⁄2 cups) thick coconut milk
2 tbsp Thai red curry paste, homemade or shop bought
5 lime leaves, stalks removed and leaves finely julienned
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce*
2 tsp grated palm sugar or honey

Instructions

I like salmon cooked with a nice crispy skin. To do this, take a sharp knife and scrape it across the skin of each salmon fillet. As you do this, moisture will come out of the skin. Use a paper towel to dry this off your knife and continue scraping until the skin is paper dry.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium–high heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, place the salmon fillets in the pan and fry for about 3 minutes, pressing them down with your spatula so that the skin fries evenly.
Flip the fillets over and cook the other side for a couple of minutes. I prefer my salmon pink in the centre but you could fry yours for longer if you prefer the salmon cooked through. Keep warm while you make the sauce.
Pour about a quarter of the coconut milk into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over a medium–high heat. As it simmers, the oil should separate from the milk. This is called cracking the coconut milk, a technique used a lot in Thai curries, but if yours doesn’t separate don’t worry too much.
Stir in the red curry paste and the remaining coconut milk and reduce down for a couple of minutes until it is much thicker.
Stir in the lime leaves, the fish sauce and palm sugar or honey and continue simmering until the sugar dissolves into the sauce.
Taste the sauce and add more sugar if you want it sweeter, more curry paste if you want it spicier and/or more fish sauce for a saltier flavour.
Place each salmon fillet, crispy-skin-side up, on four plates. Pour the sauce around the fish and also drizzle some over the top. Garnish with coriander and red chilli slices to serve.