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A hearty salmon stew, topped with brown and white rice.

A salmon filet with chopped onions and other items for garnish.

A hearty salmon stew, topped with brown and white rice.

There is something to be said about a vacuum sealer. Something practical and efficient. It’s still winter, though we had several dry days and the mood and my neighborhood turned exuberant. Even the moles awoke, attacking the bulbs with fervor.

A salmon filet with chopped onions and other items for garnish.

In the freezer was a chunk of summer chinook salmon, vacuum-packed. I cut the package, washed off the filet, and marveled at its bright orange mouthwatering appearance. I figured a fish stew would be perfect. I love the Mae Ploy curry pastes, available with different degrees of heat at most markets.

Mix this in a hot pan with a can of coconut milk and therein rests the base of a seafood stew, Thai style. If the salmon was fresh, I would cook it simply with an olive oil rub, lemon and fresh herbs. In this case, the spicy stew was the cat’s meow. An hour into the preparation, I served a hearty bowl of this stew with an ice cream scoop of steaming rice, a bullseye in the center of a pretty bowl. The salmon tasted like summertime.

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for sauteing

• Four stalks of baby bok choy, cut lengthwise in half

• Two stalks of celery, cut small on the diagonal

• Four cloves of crushed garlic

• Two sweet peppers, red and orange, medium sliced

• One 8-ounce can crushed tomatoes or a handful of grape

• 1 heaping tablespoon of Mae Ploy curry paste

• Splash of Vietnamese fish sauce

• 1/2 teaspoon of red chili flakes (adjust to taste)

• 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped fennel

• Salt and pepper to taste

Saute garlic, onion, celery and fresh ginger in olive oil for two or three minutes with moderate heat. Toss in the peppers and bok choy and saute quickly until just soft.

Deglaze with white wine. Add the crushed tomatoes, the stock, fish sauce and coconut milk with the Mae Ploy paste. The Massaman (red) version is a perfect heat with the delicate fish. Finish with the red chili flakes, fennel, kaffir leaves, salt and pepper.

If the stew needs thickening, add a bit of corn starch slurry. Simmer the stew but do not boil. Turn off the burner, and drop in the salmon chunks. Cover and let rest for five minutes. Serve immediately over a brown and white rice mixture, and with garlic bread peppered with Parmesan cheese. Garnish the stew with a bit of the fennel leaf. A semi-sweet riesling is perfect with the curry.

David Campiche is a potter, poet, writer and lifelong resident of the Long Beach Peninsula with a keen interest in adventure, fine and culinary arts. Find more about his work at davidcampiche.com.

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