>I spent the next three years in a POW camp, forced to subsist on a thin stew made of fish, vegetables, prawns, coconut milk, and four kinds of rice. I came close to madness trying to find it here in the States, but they just can't get the spices right.I want to make the stew skinner is talking about in these scene, how should I go about it? I'm thinking seabass or tilapia for the fish, and for the spices star anise and thai basil
>>22060022I can't imagine Skinner saying "prawns" like some filthy Australian bogan.
>>22060022The closest would be laksa although it only has two types of rice (thin and thick rice noodles)Look up curry laksa, nyonya laksa recipes. They match this description.Since he was supposedly in Vietnam you might want to look up the Vietnamese name for this dish: Bún KènOr Cambodian: Fish Amok
>>22060022>I'm thinking seabass or tilapia for the fishBoth of these fish are fine, but it could also be larger fish like tuna or mackerel, or very small fish like sardines or anchovies. In Vietnam the most common fish is Basa. >and for the spices star anise and thai basilYeah think like Thai yellow curry flavours. These fish curry dishes usually include garlic, ginger, turmeric, galangal, five spice, curry powder, dried shallots, lemongrass, pandan and fish sauce. Also thai chillis and fresh herbs like Vietnamese mint and coriander (and holy basil)
>>22060022SEAs eat a lot of catfish. tom kha is sometimes made with it, so you could use a tom kha recipe as a base (coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass, etc). any meaty white fish would work.
>>22060046idk what bún kèn is but if it's anything like laksa, then it's absolutely nothing even remotely like amok trey. Amok trey is a nearly solid steamed fish custard. Laksa is a soup/stew.
>>22060063Oh yeah he did say "thin stew" and Amok is usually thick. So maybe he means Nom Banh Chok, which is similar to Bun Ken.Everyone in SE Asia argues who made it first. It was probably originally a Hakka Chinese dish which got adapted by each region
>>22060022Fuck off babish think up your own recipes
>>22060022there's probably some kind of complex savory infusion with shrimp brains that the rural native Vietnamese did that stateside restaurants don't bother with.
>>22060074By thin stew he meant that it was sparse in nutritious items and meat, not the consistency
>>22060358The joke is that the "thin stew" isn't thin at all and is actually full of things.
>>22060022It's probably something similar to Cà Ri Gà.kop jai lai, come again!
>>22060502please stop it with the aislop, it's only proving how terrible itoddlers are at posting
>>22060074>Amok is usually thickNot usually. Always. It's semi-solid. At its absolute softest, it has a texture considerably firmer than chawanmushi. It's a steamed custard. It's pretty solid and not a soup at all.
>>22060022Skinner’s Vietnamese Seafood CurryServes 4-5For the rice:1 1/2 cups Thai wild rice (a mix of black, red, brown, and white rice)3 cups water1/2 teaspoon saltFor the curry:2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed, roughly chopped1 (1 to 2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and chopped1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped1 large garlic clove2 tablespoons Madras curry powder2 tablespoons oil4 large carrots, cut into chunks1 cup full-fat coconut milk1 cup water1 tablespoon fish sauceAbout 6-8 medium baby bok choy, ends trimmed and leaves separated1 pound tilapia fillets, cut into 1-inch chunksSalt and pepper1 pound peeled, de-veined, tail-on shrimp1-2 fresh limesCook the rice according to package directions. Keep warm.Meanwhile, add the lemongrass and ginger to a food processor or blender. Pulse 4 or 5 times to chop. Add the onion, garlic, and curry powder. Process until a fragrant yellow paste is formed, scraping down the sides as needed.Heat the oil over medium in a heavy-bottom pot.Add the curry-onion paste and cook, stirring, for a few minutes, or until the raw smell is gone.Add the carrots and stir. Add the coconut milk and water and turn the heat up to medium-high. Once simmering, lower the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.Add the fish sauce and bok choy and stir. Cover and simmer for a few minutes, or just until the greens are wilted. Add a little more water if needed.Season the tilapia with salt and pepper and add to the curry. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Add the shrimp and stir and cook just until the shrimp and fish are opaque and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes.Remove from the heat and let sit for about 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Serve with the rice and a big wedge of lime.
