Sea Bass with Red Curry Noodles


I was craving Thai food again the other night, and came up with this dish on the spur of the moment, and Mr. HP was delighted.  I was a little worried he would frown at the cooked spinach I snuck in for a healthy element, but I got no complaints so my plan worked well!  This is actually very simple and quick to make, so it works great for a weekday meal.  I happened to have all of these ingredients in my pantry/fridge, probably leftover from the last time I was craving Thai!


Also, we happened to find some sea bass on sale at the grocery store the day before I made this, and it went great with this meal.  If you've never had sea bass, you should definitely try it sometime: it is a rich and moist fish, and doesn't taste too "fishy" in my opinion.  However, it is usually quite pricey if you don't get lucky and find it on sale like we did.  So feel free to substitute another type of sea food or chicken if that works better for you.

Ingredients:
brown rice noodles
extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 cup frozen spinach leaves, or 2 cups fresh
1 14oz can lite coconut milk
3 tablespoons red curry paste
2 sea bass fillets
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper


Cook the rice noodles according to the directions on the package.  Drain the noodles.

Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a sauté pan and add preheat to medium-high.  Add the sliced onions and spinach and sauté for about 5 minutes.  Add the cooked rice noodles, 1 cup coconut milk, and the red curry paste.  Stir to combine and coat all the rice noodles in the sauce.  Turn the pan down to low while you cook the fish, and add more coconut milk to reach the consistency you want for your sauce.  Season to taste with salt, pepper, and sriracha sauce if you want more heat.

Preheat another sauté pan over high heat and add a few tablespoons olive oil.  Season the fish generously on both sides with salt and pepper.  Cook the fish for about 2-3 minutes on each side to get a nice sear on each side.  Reduce the heat to medium-high and continue cooking for about 5 minutes more, until the fish is slightly firm.  (Overall cooking time depends on how thick your fish is.  The fillets we used were about 2 inches tall, so if your fillets are smaller, reduce the cooking time accordingly.)

Serve the fish atop the curried rice noodles.  Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!