Amok-style ling, green bean and spinach curry

Name: Amok-style ling, green bean and spinach curry
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 400ml coconut cream; 30g palm sugar; 1 tbsp fish sauce; 1 banana leaf; 2 cups green beans, trimmed and cut into 3cm pieces; 2 cups baby spinach leaves; 600g ling fillets, cut into 5cm pieces; 1 red bird's eye chilli, finely sliced, to serve; 2 makrut lime leaves, finely sliced to serve; steamed rice, to serve

Adam Liaw

January 26, 2023

Amok-style ling, green bean and spinach curry.William Meppem

Time:30 mins - 1 hourServes:4

A traditional amok is steamed in a banana leaf basket, which can at times test your basket-making abilities more than your cooking. This version gives you all the flavour of banana-leaf cooking without the mess. It's great with steamed rice.

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
400ml coconut cream
30g palm sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 banana leaf
2 cups green beans, trimmed and cut into 3cm pieces
2 cups baby spinach leaves
600g ling fillets, cut into 5cm pieces
1 red bird's eye chilli, finely sliced, to serve
2 makrut lime leaves, finely sliced to serve
steamed rice, to serve

Amok paste

1 large brown onion
3 cloves garlic
3cm galangal (or ginger), peeled
2 tsp belachan
2 large red chillies, deseeded
2 makrut lime leaves
2 lemongrass
2 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp salt
steamed rice to serve

Method

Step 1
Combine the amok paste ingredients in a blender and blend to a smooth paste.
Step 2
Heat the vegetable oil in a small saucepan over medium heat and fry the paste for about 8 minutes, stirring frequently until very fragrant and the oil separates from the paste. Add the coconut cream (reserving two tablespoons aside for garnish), sugar and fish sauce and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Step 3
Heat a large bamboo steamer over a wok of boiling water. Use the banana leaf to line a serving dish that fits inside the steamer. Scatter the beans and baby spinach over the banana leaf. Stir the fish through the coconut mixture and pour over the beans and spinach. Steam for about 12 minutes until the fish is cooked through.
Step 4
Spoon the reserved coconut cream over the dish and scatter with the chilli and sliced lime leaf. Serve with steamed rice.