Tomato Ginger Salmon Curry with Spinach

This salmon curry with spinach is the perfect weeknight dinner to cozy up with a bowl of rice. It’s packed with aromatics like ginger, shallot, and garlic, and made super creamy and decadent with coconut milk.

Chef Tips:

• Halve the recipe to make this for 2 people – I like to make this fresh (vs meal prep or eat as leftovers), so it’s best to make this 2 different times for the best taste!
• You want the fish to be mostly submerged in the coconut milk / liquid as it cooks. Depending on the size of your pan, add more water or coconut milk in order to ensure the fish is submerged.
• Once the fish is added to the liquid, cook on medium high heat and check the fish doneness after 7 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to check the fish at the thickest part. The thermometer should read 135 when it’s ready to move to the next step. If it needs more time, check again after another 2 minutes.
• Remove the fish before adding the spinach and cooking down. This ensures that the fish doesn’t overcook, and because spinach shrinks significantly, it’s easier to maneuver in the pan and wilt without the fish in the pan.
• Feel free to substitute cod, halibut, or even chicken thighs instead of salmon in this dish.
• Don’t skimp on the coconut milk here, and use full fat coconut milk. The diced tomatoes add a nice depth of flavor, but can be a bit sour without the balance of the fat from the coconut milk. If you don’t like coconut milk, feel free use just 1/2 can of tomatoes, 1/2 cup of heavy cream, and then add enough water or broth to cover the fish.

Ingredients for the Salmon Curry:

• 1 shallot
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 4 slices garlic
• 1 tablespoon red thai curry paste
• 14 ounce can diced tomato
• 14 ounce can coconut milk
• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 1 lb salmon
• 8 ounces spinach
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper 
• Lime wedge (optional) for garnish
• Cilantro (optional) for garnish

Ingredient Notes:

• Thai red curry paste is an important ingredient to enhance the aromatics and curry flavor in this dish. If you don’t have thai red curry paste, green curry paste also works. If you can’t find either, you can also substitute 1 teaspoon of ground cumin and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. It’s a different flavor profile than the thai curry, but it’s also very delicious.
• If you have kids, or want to avoid chunks of aromatics in the curry, you can mince the ginger and garlic vs slicing them.

Directions

Slice the shallot, mince the ginger, and smash the garlic. 

Season the salmon with salt and pepper on each side.

Heat a pan on medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of oil, then add the shallots and a pinch of salt. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the thai curry paste, ginger, and garlic. Cook for another minute until you smell all the aromatics, then add the diced tomatoes, coconut milk, soy sauce, and vegetable broth. Bring up to a simmer, then add the salmon and reduce the heat to medium. 

Cover and cook the salmon for 7 minutes, or until the thickest part of the salmon has reached 125F. Remove the salmon from the pan. 

Add the spinach to the sauce, cover, and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir to combine the spinach with the sauce, garnish with cilantro and lime, then serve the salmon curry over rice.

Other easy weeknight dinner recipes:

• Vietnamese Inspired Shaking Beef Bowl
• Bulgogi Beef Rice Bowl
• Early Summer Salmon and Quinoa Bowl

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