Cozy Soup & Cozy Socks: The Salmon Sister's Coconut Curry Fish Soup Recipe

The first brushstrokes of winter have appeared on the mountains in Alaska, and though we’re still waiting for our first big snowfall, we’re settling into colder days with less daylight and embracing the cozy season. The lakes have frozen enough to ice skate on and soon our cross country ski trails will be groomed and ready for fresh tracks.

After getting outside to enjoy the light in winter, we love coming home to a pot of delicious hot Coconut Curry Fish Soup. This is one of our go-to recipes for colder weather, because it’s comforting like a chowder but also light and fresh with bright ingredients and simple to pull together for a hungry group.

If you’re settling into the colder season and looking forward to cooking some cozy meals inside while wearing cozy, warm socks, try the recipe below for Coconut Curry Fish Soup from our cookbook, The Salmon Sisters: Feasting, Fishing and Living in Alaska. It’s a book full of our family’s favorite seafood recipes and stories from growing up in Alaska on a remote homestead and fishing boat.

You can also find recipes and stories from our cookbook and community on our blog, and we’re excited to announce a new cookbook on its way, fall of 2023!

How to Make Coconut Curry Fish Soup

Creamy, tangy, and bold – this Thai-inspired coconut curry soup is comforting like a chowder, but also light and fresh. Tasty with your favorite salmon, halibut, cod, or shrimp. Make a big pot that will last you all week and pre-cut garnishes to add on the spot. For a heartier meal, we like to serve this soup steaming over white rice.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• ¼ cup red curry paste
• 1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 2 cans coconut milk
• 2 ½ cups vegetable or chicken stock
• ¼ cup fresh lime juice
• ¼ cup thinly sliced, peeled fresh ginger
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 cups thinly sliced carrots
• 1 ½ cups 1-inch pieces of green beans
• ¾ cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 cups cubed salmon, halibut, rockfish, or shrimp (without skin or shells)

Instructions

Heat oil in a large saucepan over a medium high heat. Add garlic to pan, sauté 30 seconds or until lightly browned. Add curry paste, sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add brown sugar, cook 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk, broth, juice, ginger and soy sauce. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 1 hour.

Add carrot, cook 5 minutes. Add beans, and cook 5 more minutes until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add fish and cook 2 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and slices of lime.

Warm & Comforting

If we had to choose a pair of Darn Tough socks to wear while enjoying this soup, the Nomad Boot Hiking Sock would be first on our list. They’re warm, with full cushion, but soft with silky loft.

They keep our feet warm in our skates, ski boots, and snow boots without being too bulky, and transition inside beautifully, feeling almost like a soft, lightweight slippers.

Warming and comforting, but not too heavy – just like Coconut Curry Fish Soup!

About the Author

The Salmon Sisters, Emma Teal Laukitis and Claire Neaton, grew up on the remote Aleutian Islands of Alaska, working on their family's commercial fishing boat. Inspired by the sustainable fishing culture around them, they founded a fishery and clothing line to raise awareness of the role of wild sustainable seafood.

Emma and Claire fish in the Aleutian Islands, Copper River Delta, Prince William Sound, and Bristol Bay – along with their families in a wild and seasonal life. For every item sold through Salmon Sisters, the duo donates a can of wild salmon to the Food Bank of Alaska.