Steamed Fish Curry

[helenas]

For thai steamed curry hor mok pla i'm thinking of using a bain-marie instead of steaming (and also using ramekins instead of banana leaves). Neil Perry (in his Rockpool book) uses this technique to cook some fish mousse. Do you think it will work with this type of curry? Or it will puff/dry out?

and btw, intended to be served at room temperature.

thank you.

[Pan]

Pardon my ignorance, but what's a bain-marie?

[helenas]

Oh, i'm sorry:

Bain-Marie (Mary's bath) refers to the method of placing a pan of food in another pan with water in it to stabilize the heat reaching the food (water bath).

(BAIN MARIE)

[Stupid_American]

Ramekins should work fine.

The leaf isn't so much used as a wrapper, but a cup (ramekin?)

I've even heard of it being prepared in "bulk" and portions spooned out.

[Pan]

Oh, i'm sorry:

Bain-Marie (Mary's bath) refers to the method of placing a pan of food in another pan with water in it to stabilize the heat reaching the food (water bath).

(BAIN MARIE)

I call that using a double-boiler.

[helenas]

I've even heard of it being prepared in "bulk" and portions spooned out.

Yes, this is what Thompson says in his book: use one ceramic bowl, although it's still steamed and not put in the oven.

The oven method btw is suggested in Thailand, The Beautiful Cookbook, as an aletrnative to the steaming.

[Stupid_American]

You might want to tent it.

[Shiewie]

Hi helenas

Still slightly confused here ...duh. When you say bain-marie - do you mean using a water bath in the oven or a double-boiler on the stove top?

If it's the water bath in the oven, I think it should work fine as it's approximately the same as steaming in a wok - we steam sweet and savoury custards in a wok and also use a water bath in the oven for creme caramel and they both work fine.

There is a similar Malaysian dish called otak-otak - a curry custard with pieces of boneless fish in it. There a few variations of otak-otak - it can be steamed in banana leaf parcels, grilled over charcoal fire in smaller banana leaf parcels or steamed in a dish with betel leaves lining the bottom of the dish.

[helenas]

Shiewie, i mean in the oven: about 20 minutes in 150C/300F. Small 3/4 cup ramekins.

[SG-]

Call me crazy but I find that banana leaves impart a subtle but pleasant vegetal aroma that you will not be able to replicate with ramekins. Ideal if you can get your hands on some but not a total loss otherwise.