Recipe: Smoked Salmon and Veggies in Coconut Milk Sauce

A budget friendly, no fuss, easy to prep Asian dish. Best and tastiest with white, short-grain or medium grain rice. Try with white first before partnering it with brown rice (etc.)

Time 15 to about 23 minutes cooking time
Ingredients:

• Smoked Salmon, shredded, ( Tasmanian Salmon is a good choice)
• 1 regular sized brown onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• Coconut Milk or Coconut Cream ( buy it canned or squeeze it from an old coconut yourself if you like)
• Fish Sacue ( Use Thai or Malaysian fish sauce for modest seasoning, Use Filipino fish sauce if you want it salty or pronounced)
• Pepper
• Cut- up chili
• 1 tbs or 2 tbs vegetable oil,
• Pumpkin, chopped (any variant)
• String Beans (sliced)
• little salt
• some sugar

(Quantity depends on how much you want to prepare. I like this dish saucy but not runny. I only add about 1/4 c to 1/2 c water. Here, I used about 10 string beans (use little if you arthritic conditions like me) and a half cut of butternut pumpkin (average size). I like it meaty so I used a 2-slice pack of hot peppered smoked Tasmanian salmon from Coles).

Steps:

1. On medium heat, saute garlic, onion, and string beans in some vegetable oil. About 3 to 5  minutes.

2. Pour in one can of coconut milk or coconut cream. Your choice. Coconut cream is thicker, you may need to add half a can of water. If using freshly grated coconut, you may use the fresh squeeze (which is coconut cream) or the second one (which is now coconut milk). Stick to 1 cup of water for each squeeze. Options?  Ayam brand is a basic choice. Premium brands of canned coconut milk/coconut cream are available.

3. Put in chopped pumpkin.

4. Season with fish sauce, pepper, maybe a little salt, some sugar, and freshly cut-up chili (For a tolerable kick, maybe use just 1 piece). Mix and make sure all pumpkin cubes are immersed in the simmering sauce.

5. Add smoked salmon. Blend all and allow ingredients to fuse. Make sure pumpkins are immersed in sauce. Blend About 2 to 3 minutes. Cover pan. Options?

6. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes of medium low heat. Dish is then ready ( Or when you can smoothly fork cut through a piece of pumpkin, whichever comes first.) I love extended simmering for a more tasty result. I use slightly larger cubes of pumpkin with extended simmering to avoid too mushy pumpkins.