Red Curry Rockfish Chowder

By lindsayvk

Ingredients

• 2 cups diced yellow onion (about 1 large onion)
• 3 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 celery ribs, diced
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste
• 1 tablespoon salt
• Pinch sugar
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/3 cup flour
• 6 cups fish stock or water
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 pound rockfish, cut into dime-sized chunks (or any fish really, salmon works great!)
• 12 ounces coconut milk
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• Cilantro or scallion for garnish

Details

Adapted from ruhlman.com

Preparation

Step 1

Make a quick stock by placing the fish bones and discarded pieces in a medium pot with the scraps from your vegetables, cover with cool water … about 6½ cups. Bring to just under a simmer and cook while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
Chop all your vegetables and assemble the rest of the ingredients near the stove where you will be working.
Heat a 6-quart soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté for 2 minutes.
Add the carrots, celery, ginger, garlic, curry paste, salt, and sugar and continue to sauté for another 5 minutes until onion is translucent and your husband comes in and asks what smells so good.
Pour in the white wine to deglaze the pan and cook off almost all of the liquid, about 1 minute.
Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables in the pan and stir thoroughly to coat.
Strain the fish stock through a sieve right into your soup pot, stirring well to incorporate and keeping the flour from sticking to the bottom.
Add the potatoes, reduce the heat to medium-low, and continue to cook, stirring very frequently, until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add a little water if it gets too thick.
Into the simmering soup carefully add the rockfish and return the soup to a light simmer for 5 minutes to thoroughly cook the fish.
Finish with the coconut milk, add a squeeze from half a lime, and top with a handful of fresh cilantro or scallion.