One more green tomato dish, this one a delicious and gorgeous Thai hot and sour stirfry that goes particularly well with fish, shrimp, or pork. The marinade is delicious on its own, but when you add chopped green tomatoes, it’s really quite something. Some folks have an issue with eating partially cooked green tomatoes because they can be a bit slimy, but I find chopping them into smaller pieces and using a strong sauce, plus the contrasting textures of soft cherry tomatoes and fleshy fish, make that issue moot.
Whew! My green tomatoes are done for the year, but here are all my ideas for green tomatoes. Try:
- pork/green tomato ragu with pinenuts and raisins
- green tomato mole
- Thai hot and sour green tomato stirfry with fish
- Punk Domestics’ collection of green tomato recipes for canning
- my fermented green tomato chowchow relish
- a collection of tested recipes from the Master Food Preservers.
Thai Hot & Sour Green Tomato Stirfry
Serves 4 with another dish. Great with grilled salmon — pour the sauce on top of cooked salmon and arrange tomatoes around fish for a beautiful presentation.
- 1 lb. fillet of fresh salmon to grill (fatty Chinook is best; substitute shrimp or pork)
- 1 lb. or as many green tomatoes as you like, cut into bite-sized chunks (err on the small side)
- a handful of cherry tomatoes for color and sweetness, halved
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 medium white onion, sliced pole-to-pole thinly
- A couple of red Italian frying peppers (the long skinny sweet peppers), sliced thinly
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- white pepper to taste
Prepare your ingredients before you start grilling the salmon (or shrimp or pork). Chop the green tomatoes in bite-sized pieces and halve the cherry tomatoes; mince the garlic; slice the onion and peppers. Mix together fish sauce, vinegar, and sugar in a small bowl, and use a bit to marinate your salmon.
Grill salmon. As it is cooking:
Heat wok until very hot on high heat. Add oil and wait a minute to pre-heat, then sear green tomatoes and onion. Add garlic and peppers after onions and tomatoes brown a bit, cook a moment longer, then remove from heat. Add fish sauce mixture and white pepper to taste. Let sit and marinate while the fish finishes grilling.
Plate the grilled fish, and carefully pour sauce over fish. Arrange tomatoes around fish and serve with jasmine rice and another dish for a complete meal.
Culinaria Eugenius 