Twinkle in the Eye: Thai Seafood Chowder

Monday, 14 January 2013

Thai Seafood Chowder

Week 7 of the Great American Cooking Challenge rolled around and brought with it Clam Chowder. This really was a challenge as I had no idea what a clam actually was. I had to Google the image and I think what I saw is what we in Australia call a pippy. As I was not prepared to stand on the beach for hours sinking my toes into the sand to find half a kilo, and to my knowledge you can't buy canned pippy's and pippy juice as American recipes require, I went to the next best thing - mussels.

I also took to Pinterest to find a suitable recipe and as many good looking Chowder recipes as there were, the one which turned me on the most was one that used Thai flavours and had a coconut milk base. In saying that they made a real chore of it, so I experimented and what a triumph! This dish could have won me the title of Masterchef - I kid you not *takes a bow*.

Ingredients

500g fresh mussels (for essential preparation instructions click here)
1 400g can coconut milk
2 tablespoons of crushed garlic
1 tablespoon of red curry paste
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
5 spring onions, roughly chopped
1 large potato, peeled, diced and boiled until cooked
1 fresh lime
Olive oil

Method

1. Prepare mussels as per instructions in the link above (allow time to soak)
2. Peel, dice and boil potato until cooked, set aside.
3. In a large saucepan, heat a small amount of oil and gently cook 1 tablespoon of garlic and 2 spring onions until tender.
4. Add four cups of boiling water to the pan and bring to the boil, add mussels then turn to a medium heat and cover. Cook for a few minutes or until mussels open. Discard mussels that are cracked or which fail to open.
5. Remove mussels from the pan, place in a bowl and set aside.
6. In a clean fry-pan, heat a small amount of oil, add 1 tablespoon of garlic and 1 tablespoon of red curry paste and remaining spring onions. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes until aromas’ are released and spring onions are tender.
7. Add coconut milk and fish sauce and simmer for a few minutes, add the juice of half the lime.
8. Pour mixture into a blender, add potato and blend until smooth.
9. Return mixture to the pan, add mussels and stir gently until just warm.
10. Serve in a wide bowl and garnish with the remaining lime.

Serves 2 for a main or 4 as an entree.

Do you have a good Chowder recipe to share? You can link it up here:
Next week the challenge continues with Pecan Pie. Do you want to make Pecan Pie with me? You can come back next Sunday and share your creation. If you don't have a blog to link up but you want to participate, you can join Cookin' the Books on Facebook and share your photos there or you can post your photos to Twinkle in the Eye on Facebook. Alternatively, you can share your photos on Twitter and use the hash tag #americancook and tag me @twinkleite.

Labels: Great American Cooking Challenge, Recipes