Seafood dumplings in green curry with dill and wild ginger

Seafood dumplings in green curry with dill and wild ginger

Serves 6–8 as part of a selection of dishes
Green curry is always one of the most popular of the coconut curries. This curry can be simplified by using sliced seafood, though I think making the dumplings is worthwhile for a more impressive dish. I love using Atlantic salmon for this, although any fish can be used as long as it’s not too muddy flavoured.

When I was travelling in north-eastern Thailand a few years ago, I became aware of the use of dill in Thai cuisine and have since come across dill frequently used with fish or sometimes in stock-based curries. Thai food is never predictable and often surprising.

Seafood Dumplings 
6 white peppercorns
1 teaspoon coriander root, washed and scraped
1 clove of garlic
1 teaspoon ginger, peeled and roughly diced
250g (8 oz) boneless fish fillets, diced
125g (4 oz) green prawn meat, finely chopped
1 tablespoon rice or corn flour
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon thin soy sauce
pinch of white sugar

Curry
500ml (16 fl oz) coconut milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3–4 tablespoons green curry paste (see recipe below)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar
8 kaffir lime leaves
2 tablespoons dill, coarsely chopped
½ cup Thai basil leaves
1 tablespoon wild ginger (krachai), shredded

To make dumplings, grind the peppercorns in a mortar and then add the coriander root, garlic and ginger. Pound to a paste. Place the fish in a food processor and pulse to a rough paste. (The longer the fish is in the food processor the more bouncy the texture as the protein strands are stretched). Transfer fish to a bowl and add the garlic and coriander paste, prawn meat, rice or corn flour, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar. Mix well to combine and then with wet hands roll into 4cm dumplings. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and poach the dumplings. They are ready when they rise to the top. This should take about 4–5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a tea towel.
To make curry, open the tin of coconut milk without shaking and remove the thick cream from the top. Place in a wok or saucepan with the vegetable oil and simmer until the mixture looks curdled. Add the green curry paste and cook, stirring over a low heat until the paste smells fragrant. Add the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce, palm sugar and kaffir lime leaves. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to a simmer, add the poached seafood dumplings and cook a minute or so to warm through. Stir in the dill, basil and wild ginger, cook just until the basil has wilted and remove from heat. Transfer to a serving bowl.