Monday, August 17, 2009

Redfish and Shrimp with Coconut and Lime Sauce

I think we skipped spring cleaning this year which may be why we’re now doing summer cleaning. And, really, re-organizing may be a better word for what is being done. Either way, it’s always interesting to find things that have been stored away for several years that make you wonder why on earth you bothered keeping them. It’s fun to get those things straight into the trash and start filling up the space with something else. What’s even more fun is finding something you forgot you had and then putting it to use. This recipe falls into that last category. It was included in a booklet that was mailed by our grocery store, Central Market, and that was a booklet mailed several years ago. I cut out the page, filed it away, and then finally re-discovered it over the weekend. The original recipe included a pan sauteed fish, but I used grilled fish and shrimp instead. I wanted to use a light, flaky, white-fleshed fish and chose Texas redfish, and the shrimp were from the Gulf.

While the fish and shrimp were on the grill, the sauce was prepared in a saute pan on the stove. I was able to use some of my own lemongrass which I’ve been watering constantly this summer, and the peeled white ends were combined with coconut milk, lime juice, lime zest , sliced ginger, sliced serrano chiles, and salt. That was brought to a boil and stirred while boiling for five minutes. I left the lemongrass and sliced ginger in the pan as the sauce was spooned over the fish and shrimp. Then, I added some sliced, fresh serrano and chopped cilantro as garnish.

I pushed the chile heat in the sauce to the high end of the scale, but that can easily be controlled by removing the seeds and membranes from the chiles before chopping them and by reducing the amount of chiles. When I tasted the sauce, I thought it would also be great for steaming mussels or clams, and I can’t wait to try that. It’s a very low-effort sauce that delivers big flavor for a light, summery dish. I kept the meal simple by serving this with a fresh and crunchy Thai salad. This was proof that being a pack rat isn’t all bad, but why do we always think we’ll someday need those random scraps of wood and all those extra tiles?

Coconut and Lime Sauce


2 stalks lemongrass
1 c coconut milk
3 T freshly squeezed lime juice
½ t grated lime zest
8 thin slices peeled ginger
2 serrano chiles, thinly sliced (or to taste, or remove seeds and membranes and chop)
1 t salt
additional sliced serrano and chopped cilantro leaves for garnish if desired

-peel the lemongrass and trim to the white part; bruise the white parts of the stalks with the back of a knife; in a saute pan, combine the lemongrass, coconut milk, lime juice, lime zest, ginger, chile, and salt; bring to a boil, stirring frequently; boil for five minutes to reduce sauce slightly;



40 comments:

  1. Redfish is a new one. Surely we know about shrimp, and those flavors sound great with any seafood.

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  2. Coconut and lime, wow, just by hearing these two words we can be assured that this sauce pairs well with seafood!

    I have the same problem, I like keeping things for unknown reasons, hahaha.

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  3. That sounds really delicious! Love to combination of flavors!!!

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  4. Coconut and lime sauce sounds really fantastic.
    I wish I could reorganize the house as well. It's really hard to find the time to do that.

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  5. Wow, the coconut and lime sauce sounds terrific with redfish and shrimp! Excellent!

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  6. Your coconut sauce look tantalizing. being Asian, love everything that has coconut in it.

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  7. never heard of red fish before. Hmmm... I must search for the one. I like the coconut and lime sauce you pair with it. Yum!

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  8. nice combo, and the lemongrass lime coconut milk - icing on the cake

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  9. Love this recipe. I've only cooked w. lemongrass once (hard to find around here) - but loved it. We love this kind of dish!

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  10. Wpw, that looks incredible, I love the chilies, lemongrass = just all the incredible flavors I can tell are there.

    Central Market is one awesome grocery, store, as far as I know they never expanded out of Austin or at least Texas - what a place, and as I recall it puts Whole Foods to shame =)

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  11. Very tasty looking! An attractive dish!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  12. Beautiful! Love the serranos + lemongrass and fish. Tres Thai.

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  13. The sauce looks really good. And yes I also think that it'd be great for steaming mussels. Yummy.

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  14. yummy combo!! dish look tasty.. i love seafoods :)

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  15. always, always without fail, the old harry nilsson song pops into my head when i see lime and coconut together. it's a sickness. :)

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  16. LouAnn: Central Market has eight locations in Texas now, and it's owned by HEB. HEB grocery stores are only in Texas and Mexico, I believe. The Central Market stores have great variety and good quality. The one thing about Whole Foods that I always appreciate is their standards. I don't even have to read labels at WF because there are no hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup in products. I still have to check labels at CM.

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  17. I love seafood with coconut, it goes so well! I also love rediscovering "lost" things. It's like shopping hehe!

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  18. This looks so fresh and delicious.

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  19. Love the Asian style of your dish! Your picture looks so culinary like being served in restaurant : )

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  20. What a beautiful dish! Love the combination!

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  21. That looks totally delicious and so good of you to have grown your own lemongrass!! I have trouble keeping the basil alive...lol

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  22. Absolutely love these flavors - lime, coconut, ginger and serranos with fish. I'm not sure if I've tried Texas redfish... I'm a bit of a pack rat too and forever collecting scraps of things because I'm sure I'll need it at some point. Moving a lot in recent years has made me question my ways, but usually I just keep hauling things to my parents home. They have graciously let me keep my room even though I haven't lived at home in over 10 years.

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  23. What a great combination of coconut and lime. Perfect for the summer. I love anything that has shrimp in it.

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  24. I always love the combination of coconut and lime! Your dish looks so good!!

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  25. Coconut milk adds such a great flavour to everything!That combined with lime is simply out of this world :)

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  26. Coconut milk, lime and ginger -- one of my favorite trifectas of flavors. If they made a perfume out of that, I'd be sniffing it all day. Hah!

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  27. You grow your own lemongrass?? I have never even seen them grow anywhere. There's nothing better than using herbs or veggies that you planted. Also, I love Thai food, in fact, both last night and tonight I made Thai food for dinner. Your dish looks so appetizing.

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  28. Marvelous sauce and I love the sound of Texas redfish! It's great to find these gems that have been hidden away; I've been cleaning up my study and the piles of recipe clippings are almost out of control. Many of them have elicited a 'Why did I save this' reaction but even more have been 'Ooo, I want to make this!' It's like going through Aladdin's cave!

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  29. This looks absolutely beautiful...wow.

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  30. I'll admit you had me worried there. I thought you were going to launch into a recipe with food items you'd been storing away for years.... I never get tired of the bright flavor of fresh lime -- use it constantly. This is one of my favorite ways, and I hear that we're finally going to get some grilling weather later this weekend! I see a plan forming..

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  31. Lisa, what a lovely recipe, I know I can always count on you for inspiration.

    BTW, I seriously need some de-cluttering, can you come to my house too?

    I wanted to let you know that my blog got a little award and I wanted to pass it to your blog because you deserve it.

    CIAO!

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  32. How delicious this looks with the coconut and lime sauce, one of my favorite combos. And 'pushing the spiciness' really appeals to me!

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  33. What a beautiful sounding sauce! I am sold big time.

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  34. Fantastic dish and I love the fish and shrimp combo! Wow lime and coconut milk makes an amazing sauce. Lovely lovely dish!

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  35. Coconut, lime, lemongrass, seafood ... You make this Thai reader very happy! :)

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  36. This sounds really lovely, such a delicate dish. I have never cooked with lemon grass before.

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  37. This looks and sounds AMAZING! Lovely flavours!

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  38. Wow, this meal is a real winner for sure! So succulent!

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  39. omg! what a gret combination of shrimp and fish! just terrific with asian flavours!

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  40. I'm a big fan of sauces with lime and coconut, this looks fantastic! We so need to reorganize too... :)

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