To serve four you will need 500g of skinned fish fillet -- firm white fish or salmon are ideal, groundnut oil for frying, 6 shallots finely sliced, 3 kaffir lime leaves (easily available from your local oriental supermarket or world foods store), 2-3 tbsp of Thai Red Curry paste, 1/ 2 tbsp of palm sugar or soft brown sugar, 2 tbsp of fish sauce (Nam Pla), 2 tins or 800ml of coconut milk, 400ml of fish or chicken stock, 6 round baby Thai aubergines halved, 12 cherry tomatoes and a good handful of Thai sweet basil or coriander leaves.
Diversity of texture is also important, toasted peanuts being a very common garnish to Thai noodle dishes, and creamy coconut milk giving many Thai dishes a silky richness. Herbs such as Coriander and sweet Thai Basil are often used to complement such ingredients The Thai influence began to find its way on to our menu about two years ago and has since become a regular. We were immediately fascinated by its contrasting and yet subtle flavours, and continue to derive great enjoyment from using it to reinvigorate many old favourites