Australian Seafood and Coconut Curry Bake

About This Recipe

This casserole draws on Australia's coastal seafood tradition and its strong Southeast Asian culinary influence, baking firm white fish and shrimp together in a coconut curry sauce over a bed of rice, all cooked in one dish for an easy, mostly hands-off dinner. A simple curry paste of garlic, ginger, chile and curry powder forms the base, cooked briefly before coconut milk is added to mellow and round out the spice. Baking the seafood directly in the sauce over the rice means the rice absorbs the coconut curry flavor as it cooks, while the fish and shrimp gently poach in the same liquid, staying tender rather than drying out the way seafood can when exposed to more aggressive stovetop heat. Adding the shrimp partway through baking, rather than at the very start, is the key step that keeps them from turning rubbery by the time the dish is done. Finished with a scatter of fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime, this bake reflects the way contemporary Australian home cooking freely borrows Southeast Asian flavors and applies them to the country's abundant seafood, resulting in a dish that's become common well beyond its geographic origins.

Ingredients

Serves 5

• 400 gfirm white fish fillets(cut into large chunks)
• 300 gshrimp(peeled and deveined)
• 1.5 cupsjasmine rice(rinsed)
• 1 can (400ml)coconut milk
• 1.5 cupsfish or vegetable stock
• 1onion(diced)
• 4 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 tbspfresh ginger(grated)
• 1red chile(sliced)
• 2 tspcurry powder
• 2 tbspvegetable oil
• 1.5 tspfine sea salt
• 0.25 cupcilantro(chopped)
• 1lime(cut into wedges)

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the curry base

   Heat oil in an oven-safe pot or deep skillet over medium heat. Cook onion until soft, add garlic, ginger, chile and curry powder, stirring 1 minute until fragrant.

2. 2

   Add rice and liquid

   Stir in rice, coconut milk, stock and salt, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.

3. 3

   Add the fish and bake

   Nestle the fish chunks into the rice mixture. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 375°F (190°C) for 25 minutes.

4. 4

   Add the shrimp

   Uncover, nestle the shrimp into the rice, then re-cover and bake another 10 to 12 minutes until the shrimp turn pink and the rice is tender.

   Adding the shrimp partway through baking rather than at the start is what keeps them tender instead of turning rubbery by the time the dish finishes.

5. 5

   Rest and serve

   Let the casserole rest 5 minutes, then fluff gently around the seafood. Garnish with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

Variations

• •

  All-fish version: skip the shrimp and use a larger quantity of fish, added just once at the start of baking.

• •

  Extra vegetables: stir in sliced bell peppers or snap peas with the rice for more color and texture.

• •

  Spicier: leave the chile seeds in, or add a second chile for more heat.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 2 days in an airtight container; reheat gently covered in a low oven or on the stovetop with a splash of water, being careful not to overcook the seafood further.

Frequently Asked Questions