![Roasted Salmon Glazed With Brown Sugar and Mustard](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/02/07/dining/sifton-brown-sugar-mustard-salmon-horizontal/merlin_142427754_87be060f-648e-4783-a9ab-dec1ff12b722-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Peanut Fish Stew
![Peanut Fish Stew](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/12/21/multimedia/19kwanzaa-rex3-1-839c/19kwanzaa-rex3-1-839c-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 2pounds skinless cod, mahi-mahi or other firm-fleshed white fish, cut into 2-inch cubes
- 2teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal), plus more as needed
- 1teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- ½cup unsalted raw peanuts, plus more coarsely chopped peanuts for garnish
- 1medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 1(14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
- 7large garlic cloves
- 1(3-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2small serrano chiles, halved, deseeded and deveined
- 1teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or vegetable
- 1tablespoon chicken bouillon powder (such as Maggi)
- ½cup creamy peanut butter
- 1(14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
- 1large red bell pepper, halved and thinly sliced
- 1large yellow bell pepper, halved and thinly sliced
- ½cup chopped fresh parsley
- Cooked rice, for serving
- Spiced Pickled Celery, for serving
- Lime wedges (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
Season the fish with 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and set aside. In a blender, combine the peanuts, onion, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, serranos and paprika, plus the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Blitz until smooth, 1½ to 2 minutes.
- Step 2
In a large high-sided skillet, heat the oil over medium until shimmering. Pour in the paste directly from the blender, sprinkle with the bouillon powder and cook until fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to ensure that the paste doesn't scorch. Add the peanut butter and coconut milk, using a whisk (or fork) to break up the peanut butter until smooth and well incorporated. Add the bell peppers and cook for another 3 minutes.
- Step 3
Gently place the fish into the sauce, nestling them so that there’s a good amount of space between each piece. Allow the fish to poach in the sauce until just firm and well-coated in the sauce, about 5 minutes; adjust seasoning as desired. Garnish with fresh parsley and chopped peanuts. Serve with rice and pickled celery, plus lime wedges, if you like.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Made this today with few adaptations (salmon instead of white fish, sweet potato instead of bell paprika, therefore no rice) - the paste is delicious, though very garlicky and intense, we definitely should've made some rice to balance it out. Also my blender didn't get it fine enough, so it had a bit weird texture. Boyfriend liked it and it's versatile, so we'll definitely have this again.
Can you substitute unsalted roasted peanuts for the raw peanuts?
Made for dinner last night, and five hungry people gobbled it up entirely, no leftovers. Used a Nutribullet to blend the sauce, but needed to add a little water to get it going, then it worked perfectly. (Not sure why it says to drain tomatoes?) Didn't have paprika, didn't miss it. Was worried I wouldn't have enough sauce, so doubled the (low fat) coconut milk and 1.5X peanut butter. Should have doubled the tomatoes. Added thinly sliced mushrooms and a little fish sauce for kicks. Yum!
I did not have serrano peppers so I used a few dashes of Crystal and I did not miss the peppers. Dry roasted peanuts worked great. I found it necessary to blend for longer than 3 minutes- closer to 5. Be generous with the smoked paprika- it enhanced the depth of flavor. Most of all, DO NOT miss this recipe- one of best from the NYT this year!
Made this for lunch today with two adaptations; half chicken and half mahi-mahi & also replaced peanuts for extra tbsp of peanut butter. At first it was overly peanut-y but after adding the peppers and the protein it mellowed out. The lime at the end is a must! I would also recommend being a bit more generous with salt. Happy life!
My New Year resolution is to not get suckered into this type of recipe again. Minds-eye looks/sounds wonderful. In reality, lots of ingredients & time consuming prep work ending in mediocre (at best) results and a sink full of dirty utensils. Followed this one exactly and ended up with a skillet full of sticky, amazingly bland pink glop. 1 star because it at least filled my belly. I’m torn between freezing the remainder and heaving it in the compost pile.
Delicious. My blender couldn’t handle the ingredients as they were so I had to chop them pretty finely in a food processor first and then transfer to the blender to make into a paste. The sauce had a nice gentle heat and wasn’t overly flavorful but more subtle. Sure you could beef up any of the spices but I liked it as is and would be happy to use it paired with any protein.
I followed the recipe very closely. I used unsalted dry-roasted peanuts because that's what I had. Had no serranos so added some powdered hot pepper. Served it with brown rice. Delicious -- family loved it. It took a bit longer than it said to get the fish cooked -- more like 10 minutes. I recommend the spiced pickled celery, which I made about a week earlier. It adds a nice flavor and crunch as a condiment. If I make this again, I will try adding in more veggies such broccoli and/or zucchini.
Made this with salmon and shrimp instead of white fish. Added some cayenne to kick up the spice a bit, and used fire roasted diced tomatoes rather than regular. It makes an amazing dish. Fantastic flavors and rich enough that a little goes a long way, serving wise, so it feeds several people or can stretch for leftovers
For all the effort here, this should have been tastier. I followed the recipe exactly, though I only had half of a bell pepper, so I subbed in a little eggplant. Otherwise, no changes. As another cook commented, something about the pink color was off-putting.
This was so good! I used tilapia, which held its shape nicely. I also jazzed things up with a hefty dose of gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes), which gave the dish some added complexity, fruity spice, and mild heat. I served over rice to cut some of the heaviness of the sauce, as suggested. The recipe makes a lot. Leftovers the next day were even better! This isn't a usual rotation meal, but once in a blue moon it will be just the ticket.
Delicious! I used Better Than Bouillon instead of powder - worked fine. I also added a dash of maple syrup, a bit of baby spinach, extra smoked paprika, and substituted wild Argentinian red prawns for half the cod. Worked out great! I agree with other posters who stressed how important the lime juice is to cut the richness and add brightness. And the crunch of the chopped peanuts is also really nice. Note: This makes a lot!!!
I blended the sauce in my old Robot Coupe. It came out a bit granular, but that wasn’t the problem. The sauce was dull and bland, heavy and dry. I kept adding tomatoes (and ended up adding the whole 24 oz box of Pomi), water and wine. It came out all right, but won’t make this again. Might try something akin, but without the peanuts and peanut butter.
I love the combinations of flavors, though technically I haven’t eaten it yet. Been sampling the sauce often and love it. Came to the notes to see if others had to cook the fish longer than 5 minutes—my cubes are maybe too big. Longer than ten minutes cooking so far. Next time I’ll cut the fish into smaller pieces. And also the peppers would look better in similar size pieces rather than slices imo.
I have to say this, at least for me, was disappointing. Followed recipe. I even used raw peanuts. (And very good haddock from my fish man.) Luckily husband liked it. Among other things, something about the color put me off. Maybe that could have been remedied by tomato paste. But I can’t think of solutions for its other faults. Too bad, since I didn’t find it difficult to make and, unlike another negative commenter, I didn’t find it made too big of a clean up. Maybe it’s a matter of taste…
Personally prefer peanut sauce with chicken rather than fish. The pickled celery make the dish better for my friend. For me it was just so-so. Blending the ingredients worked, only needed about 4 minutes to make smooth. I agree with Trish, no need to drain the tomatoes. Not going to make again. Liked the coconut fish and tomato bake or Blackened Fish with Quick Grits (even without the grits) much better.
Made this with a few substitutions based on what I had on hand: - Swordfish used and worked well - Added a few splashes of fish sauce - Used regular paprika - Cilantro instead of parsley - Pickled garlic scrapes The recipe was perfect for a weeknight dinner. Threw everything in a high speed blender and then into a Dutch oven.
Quite a wonderful dish, easy to assemble, and kid-friendly in our house. I didn't make any changes to it aside from using the peanuts I had on hand (roasted, salted).
I don't know how anyone (Lane) could find this recipe anything but incredible. My only suggestion that another reader commented, not to drain tomatoes. Immediately jumped into our "favorites" folder.
Re:as written, blah! As cooked, great! You can’t make a stew in 25 minutes. Paste cooked 1 hour before it tasted toasted, yes cherry tomatoes, yes fish sauce, no Maggi. After an hour, I added the coconut milk and peanut butter and turned off the fire to let the flavors blend. I seared the fish with Berbere seasoning and finished in the slowly warming sauce. Much better than bland boiled fish! I also ditched the raw peanut garnish and fried peanuts with garlic and West African spices. Sweet pots
Took SO much more time than.described, but family did enjoy it. This is not a “weeknight” meal IMO.
I tried this with chicken tonight instead of fish and I think I prefer the chicken. I used a can of rotel, and a jalapeno instead of a serano and the canned tomatoes. I seasoned my chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and I sautéed the chicken before I did the paste step. I let the chicken finish cooking in the sauce and it turned out great. I definitely recommend making the pickled celery too.
Absolutely delicious. Added touch of fish sauce and spinach for green contrast. Easy and delicious.
Advertisement