Seafood Pilaf, or, The best kind of fish is a well-cooked one

Between the ages of 14 anf 16 I worked Saturdays at Pyrmont Fish Markets in Sydney. My job was divided between serving self-consciously picky yet totally clueless wannabe-foodie customers ("oooh! it's not quite the right shade of turqoise! what star sign was it caught under?") and gutting buckets of baby octopus, the innards of which would slop down the front of my apron and into my gumboots where they would remain for all of my 8 hour shift. I never quite decided on which was the worst task, but it was clear from the start that octopus duty left me smelling more repulsive than any amount of brown-nosing tossbags ever could. Most of my attitudes to men, sex and hygiene can be explained by the long succession of Saturday nights on which, after dousing myself in industrial detergent and scrubbing myself frantically with a lemon, I would engage in some awkward fumbling with a blushing lad whose caresses would at some point inevitably taper off as he asked: "Um, what's that smell?" At that delicate age, there is simply nothing more harrowing than to realise you smell like fish, and - trust me - no convincing way of explaining that the source is not your fanny.

I still steer largely clear of fish markets, and delegate most of my seafood purchases to Fat Boy, who doesn't seem to mind nearly as much. That said, I love cooking seafood - no doubt in retaliation against their species for ruining my formative sexual experiences. Here is a gorgeous pilaf I made last night. It's spicy, creamy, fresh and colourful. I took the leftovers to work today and the aromas from the microwave made me some friends. I put Nile Perch and King Prawns in it, which were all Safeway had going at 10pm on a Tuesday night, but you can put in whatever takes your fancy.


Seafood Pilaf

3 tbsp peanut oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 birds' eye chilli, seeds removed and chopped finely
1 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 cups basmati rice
1 tbsp fish sauce
juice of 4 limes
400ml can coconut milk (you can substitute light coconut milk I suppose, but where's the fun in that?)
1 1/2 cups fish stock
400g fillet firm white fish, cut into large cubes
12 large green prawns, peeled and deveined with tails intact
handful coriander leaves

Heat oil in a saucepan and cook onion with garlic until softened but not coloured. Stir in ginger, chilli, turmeric, rice, fish sauce, lime juice, coconut milk and stock and bring to the boil. Cover tightly and simmer 10 min.

Remove cover and stir in fish and prawns. Cover and simmer gently a further 10 min to cook fish. All liquid should be absorned and the rice perfectly cooked. Scatter artfully with coriander and serve.