This spicy curry soup is packed with aromatics like onion, garlic, and ginger and scented with makrut lime leaves. Thinner than a standard curry that you’d serve with rice, this soup is chock full of protein with hearty rockfish and mussels as well as vegetables, like sweet potato and spinach. Lime juice provides a dash of acid to balance the rich flavor of coconut milk. Serve with lots of cut limes to squeeze over soup bowl before eating.
Dealing with pin bones
fish can have large pin bones present, and it’s important to remove them prior to cooking. You can ask your fishmonger to remove pin bones for you, or you can do it easily yourself. Run two fingers along the thickest park of the fish to locate the pin bones just below the surface. Press the surface of the skin beside the bone. This will help the bone protrude up through the surface of the skin. Use needle nose pliers or a pair of tweezers to grasp the bone and firmly pull it to remove it from the fish.
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- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 onion sliced lengthwise into thin slices
- 3 or 4 makrut lime leaves
- 3 cloves of garlic peeled and minced or crushed
- 2 pieces of gingerroot each about 2 inches, sliced finely into matchsticks
- 2 Tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice plus 3 or 4 whole limes for serving
- 2 - 14 oz cans coconut milk
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 2 cups diced sweet potato
- 1 lb rockfish pin bones removed and cut into 1 inch pieces (see tip)
- 1 bunch spinach chopped to make about 4 cups
- 1/2 lb live mussels scrubbed, beards removed
- 2 green onions green and white parts sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 or 3 fresh Thai red chilis sliced, for serving
- In large saucepan, heat oil and onion and sauté on medium heat for about 3 minutes, until onions have softened but are not brown. With handle of wooden spoon, bruise makrut lime leaves to help release essential oils, and add to saucepan with garlic and ginger. Sauté on low-medium heat for about 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium, add curry paste, and fry for a minute or two. Add rice vinegar and, with wooden spoon, scrape up anything sticking to pan. Add lime juice, coconut milk, fish sauce, and sweet potato and stir to incorporate. Cook on low simmer for about 20 minutes, until sweet potatoes are tender when pierced with fork but still hold their shape. Add rockfish in even layer on top of curry mixture, and top with spinach. Cover with lid and cook for 5 minutes, allowing fish and spinach to steam and release liquid into soup. After 5 minutes, add mussels, cover again, and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes, until mussels have opened and rockfish is flaky.
- Spoon into bowls and top with green onions and cilantro. Cut limes into wedges, slice a few Thai chili peppers, and serve alongside. For extra heat, before eating, squeeze additional lime and add chili peppers.
