This Thai Fish Curry recipe is one of the quickest dinners you can make. It requires almost no prep but delivers fantastic flavor. Flaky cod is gently cooked in a vibrant sauce with flavors of red chilies, lime leaves, and coconut. Creamy coconut milk perfectly balances the sauce’s spice, which tastes best when absorbed by a bowl full of jasmine rice.
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Authentic Choo Chee Thai fish curry is made by cooking the fish and pouring the choo chee coconut sauce over the fish to coat it. The fish is usually fried, but it can also be poached, baked, or steamed.
You’ll love this recipe if you’re looking for amazing flavor with minimal work!
A good Thai curry requires quality ingredients. In my Instant Pot Thai Red Curry recipe blog post, I discuss my quest to find the right ingredients for Thai curries.
Thai curries are quick and easy, but this Choo Chee curry takes the least time of all the Thai curry recipes I make.
Thai curries taste best with Jasmine rice rather than long grain, basmati, or brown rice. Fluffy jasmine rice soaks up the irresistible sauce to deliver perfect flavor in every bite!
I’ve included stovetop and Instant Pot directions in the recipe card.
➡ Looking for other Thai recipes? Try red curry, green curry, massaman curry, yellow curry, or panang curry!
Ingredients and Tips
🧂 Thai Curry Fish – Ingredients
💡 Ingredient and Recipe Tips
🥣 Curry Paste: Maesri’s choo chee curry paste is excellent, but can be challenging to find. It is available on Amazon but is more expensive than red, green and the multi-pack curry pastes. If you’re unable to purchase choo chee curry paste, a good substitute is red curry paste. To make Thai green fish curry, use the green curry paste, with no other modifications.
🍶 Brand Recommendations: Maesri and Mae Ploy are superior Thai red curry paste brands. Find them at Southeast Asian grocery stores or on Amazon. In my experience, getting the Thai red curry paste brand available at regular grocery stores does not produce great flavor – it comes in a small glass jar (not naming names).
🐟 Fish: Use firm, fleshy white fish like cod, salmon or haddock. Fish pieces should be an inch or more thick for best results. I like red curry cod the best.
🌶️ Heat Adjustment: Add more coconut milk to balance the heat if your Thai red fish curry is too spicy.
🥥 Coconut Flavor: Choo chee curry should have prominent coconut flavor with visible oil separation on top. I add coconut oil to get this effect. For an optional flavor boost: Add 2 tablespoons of toasted coconut paste (takes up to 15 minutes).
📝 Toasted Coconut Paste (Optional):
- Toast 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes until golden brown (careful not to burn)
- Place toasted coconut in mini blender bowl
- Add just enough water to get the blender moving
- If the mixture is too thick, add water one tablespoon at a time, stirring before trying again
- If you add too much water, the coconut won’t blend properly
- Grind to a smooth, non-grainy paste
- Stir into coconut milk before cooking fish
🍃 Lime Leaves: Also known as k-lime, makrut or kaffir lime leaves, they’re available at Asian grocery stores and freeze well. Chiffonade into long, thin slivers for both flavor and an attractive garnish. Or just scrunch and bruise them up before adding to release oils. Substitute with 1-2 extra teaspoons of lime juice if unavailable.
🐟 Fish Sauce: I recommend Red Boat (premium). Tiparos is a more affordable brand. Thai curries are traditionally eaten with rice. If serving without rice, reduce fish sauce for a proper salt balance.
🥥 Coconut Milk: Use full-fat coconut milk. My recommended brands are Aroy-D, Chaokoh, or Trader Joe’s. Some widely available brands are just not as good!
💦 Consistency: This recipe uses less coconut milk than typical curry recipes to achieve choo chee’s characteristically thick texture. Add some broth, water, or extra coconut milk for a thinner curry.
🫙 Palm Sugar: Palm sugar is more authentic than brown sugar, but brown sugar works well without sacrificing taste.
🍃 Thai Basil: Not traditional in fish curry Thai style recipes, but feel free to add Thai basil – you’re the chef!
How to Make Thai Fish Curry
♨️ Stovetop Method
- Heat curry paste, ½ cup of coconut milk, and coconut oil in a large heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium heat until boiling.
- Cook until the mixture is thick and bubbly, about 1 to 2 minutes. The thicker and bubblier the sauce is, the better the flavor! If necessary, use a splatter screen to avoid splatters.
- Stir in the remaining coconut milk. Add fish, fish sauce, palm sugar or brown sugar, lime juice, and remaining coconut milk. Swirl the pan to coat the fish with the sauce. If the sauce is too thick, add a couple of tablespoons of warm water.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes or until fish is cooked. (Do not stir the dish, since the fish is very fragile). About 2 minutes before the fish is done, sprinkle in the lime leaves.
⏲️ Instant Pot Directions for Instant Pot Fish Curry
- In Saute mode, cook curry paste, coconut milk, and coconut oil till bubbly and thick.
- Stir in remaining coconut milk and fish pieces.
- Pressure cook on Low Pressure for 3 minutes and do a quick release of pressure (QR).
- Add in fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, and lime leaves.
See the recipe card below for detailed instructions.
Thai Fish Curry – Choo Chee Curry
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon Thai Choo Chee (Chu Chee) Curry Paste preferably Maesri or Mae Ploy brand [See Note 1]
- 1 ½ cups coconut milk (about ¾ can), preferably Aroy D or Chaokoh brand
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 ½ lbs. firm fish fillets (e.g. cod, haddock, mahi mahi, salmon) cut into 2-inch pieces – ⅔ kg
- 4 tsp fish sauce more to taste
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar or palm sugar (to taste)
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 4 lime leaves chiffonade cut (sliced into very thin slivers) [See Note 2]
Instructions
Stovetop
- Heat curry paste, ½ cup of coconut milk, and coconut oil in a large heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium heat until boiling.
- Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently. The mixture will be bubbly and fragrant. Use a splatter screen if desired.
- Add fish, fish sauce, palm sugar or brown sugar, lime juice, and remaining coconut milk. Swirl the pan to coat the fish with the sauce. If the sauce is too thick, add a couple more tablespoons of coconut milk or water.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes or until fish is cooked. (Do not stir the dish, since the fish is very fragile). About 2 minutes before the fish is done, sprinkle the lime leaves onto the curry.
- Taste and adjust with more fish sauce, brown sugar, or lime juice.
- Remove pan from heat to prevent the fish from overcooking.
- Serve with Jasmine rice.
Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
- Select Saute mode and stir in choo chee curry paste and ½ cup of coconut milk until mixture is bubbly, about a minute or two.
- Press Cancel. Add coconut oil and stir for about 30 seconds.
- Stir in remaining coconut milk. Add fish pieces and stir gently, coating the fish with the sauce.
- Close the Instant Pot and pressure cook on Low Pressure for 3 minutes. [See Note 3]
- Do a Quick Release of pressure (QR) and open the Instant Pot. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Add in fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, and lime leaves.
- Stir and allow the ingredients to heat in the residual heat or select Saute and heat through for about 30 seconds. (Be sure not to overcook the fish).
- Taste and adjust with more fish sauce, brown sugar or lime juice.
- Serve with Instant Pot Jasmine Rice.
Notes
- Use a splatter screen if necessary, in the first step, to guard against coconut milk splatters.
- Thai curries are generally eaten with rice. If you’re not planning on eating the curry with rice, you might need to adjust the salt by reducing the quantity of fish sauce.
- Choo chee curry is supposed to be thick. If you like more sauce, add more coconut milk. To maintain the same spice level, add more curry paste too.
- [Note 1] If you can’t locate choo chee curry paste, substitute red curry paste (Maesri or Mae Ploy brands preferred).
- [Note 2] Lime leaves are also referred to as k-lime, makrut or kaffir lime leaves.
- [Note 3] If your Instant Pot does not have the low pressure option, pressure cook on High Pressure for 1 or 2 minutes, depending on the size of the fish pieces.
- See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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itsratso says
really really good like all the thai recipes here. HOWEVER this dish is just screaming for some veggies. i will do it next time with a colorful mix of different colored bell peppers or green and yellow zuchinni. you can get away with less fish too, probably a pound would do.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! Yes, veggies would be a great addition – good suggestion!
Denise Feldman says
Omg! Another incredible recipe. I added onion to the curry paste, zucchini when I added the fish, and spinach when I added the fish sauce. I served it over cauliflower rice and topped with lime, thai basil, and cilantro. So delicious…
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Wow, Denise – that was quick. I’m super excited that you tried it out and loved it. I keep seeing comments from readers like you who use cauliflower rice and I’m determined to give that a try. Thank you for your informative and lovely comment.