Cooking in
New Zealand
Thai
Chu Chi Pla (Red Curry with Fish)
A thick, dry-style curry of firm fish (or prawns) in a concentrated red curry paste sauce — similar in technique to phanaeng but using red curry paste with a higher ratio of coconut cream to thin milk, producing a preparation where the fish sits in a rich, clinging sauce rather than swimming in a poured curry. Chu chi is specifically designed for firm fish that will not break apart in a thick sauce — snapper, barramundi, sea bass.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
800 g
firm white fish fillets
snapper, barramundi or sea bass, skin on, in whole fillets
Your own market
400 ml
coconut cream
thick, unshaken from the tin
100 ml
coconut milk
thin, from the same tin or a second
Origin · Sri Lankan coconut (Coconut Research Institute of Sri Lanka), Sri Lanka
3 tbsp
red curry paste
good commercial or freshly ground
2 tbsp
fish sauce
Your own market
1 tsp
palm sugar
shaved
Origin · Indonesia
For the garnish
2
fresh red chillies
cut into fine strips
Your own market
4
kaffir lime leaves
central rib removed, cut into fine chiffonade
II
The Method
1
Pour the coconut cream into a wok over medium heat. Cook, stirring steadily, until the cream separates and the clear oil pools visibly around a thickened, grainy mass — the cream has cracked. You are doing this because the freed coconut oil is what will fry the curry paste in the next step; cream that has not fully cracked will steam the paste rather than fry it, and the aromatics will never open properly.
From the canon — The making of a Thai curry paste in a granite mortar — the sequential pounding of aromatics from hardest and driest to most moist, each added only when the p… Curry Paste: Pounding Technique (Khreuang Gaeng) →
2
Add the red curry paste to the cracked cream. Fry in the coconut oil, pressing and folding, until the paste is thoroughly fragrant and darkens by one shade — the raw sharpness of the aromatics has cooked out. This is where the dish lives or dies: under-fried paste will taste raw and thin; over-fried paste will turn bitter and break the sauce.
From the canon — The foundational red curry paste of the Thai kitchen — built on dried long red chillies soaked and pounded with lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime zest, coria… Red Curry Paste (Krung Gaeng Phet Daeng) →
3
Pour in the thin coconut milk in a slow stream, stirring to incorporate, so the paste stays evenly suspended rather than seizing into clumps. Season with fish sauce and palm sugar, then reduce over medium heat, stirring, until the sauce thickens to a consistency that coats the back of a spoon and holds its shape at the edges of the wok — it should cling, not pool.
From the canon — Fresh coconut milk — extracted from freshly grated coconut flesh rather than purchased in a can — and the technique of 'cracking' it: heating the thick, fat-… Coconut Milk: Cracking, Frying, Reducing →
4
Lay the fish fillets skin-side up across the surface of the sauce and do not stir, so the fillets hold together as they cook rather than flaking apart in the wok. Spoon the sauce over the fish repeatedly, then cover and cook over low heat until the fish is just opaque through to the centre — a thin skewer meets no resistance at the thickest point.
5
Taste the sauce and adjust with fish sauce or palm sugar. Transfer the fish to a serving plate, spoon the sauce over, and arrange the red chilli strips and kaffir lime leaf chiffonade across the top — the garnish should be vivid and clearly distinct against the dark sauce.
From the canon — Fish sauce — nam pla — is the universal salt of the Thai kitchen. Fish Sauce (Nam Pla): Selection and Use →
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Whole skin-on fillets of wild-caught coral trout or red emperor; freshly ground red curry paste made to Thompson's recipe from dried long red chillies, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime zest, coriander root, shrimp paste and white pepper; fresh-pressed coconut cream from mature coconuts.
02
Estate — Farmed barramundi or sea bass fillets, skin on and intact; a quality fresh-ground paste from a reputable Thai supplier; good-quality canned coconut cream with a high cream fraction.
03
Market — Supermarket snapper fillets; a reliable canned red curry paste without excessive starch or stabilisers; standard canned coconut cream, unshaken.
04
House — Any firm white fish fillet that will not flake apart in a thick sauce; any available red curry paste; full-fat canned coconut cream used in place of both cream and milk.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. Coconut cream has visibly split — clear oil pools around a thickened, grainy mass before the paste is added.
◇Smell. Fried paste smells fully fragrant — cooked, rounded and deep — with no raw, sharp edge remaining.
◇Sight. Finished sauce coats the back of a spoon and holds a clean line when drawn through; it clings to the fish rather than running off.
◇Touch. Fish yields to a thin skewer at its thickest point with no resistance — just opaque through to the centre.
◇Where it lives or dies. The paste must be fried in the cracked coconut cream until fully fragrant and deepened in colour — neither raw nor scorched — or the sauce will be either thin and sharp or bitter and broken.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Sake
From New Zealand
Nothing from New Zealand holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
The working kitchen