Kedgeree

Late last night I decided I wanted kedgeree for Sunday lunch (it’s a good breakfast dish, and I don’t even normally eat breakfast), but I couldn’t find it on any menu, so I had to do a late night Instacart order for ingredients! Sigh.

Of course there were ingredients that just simply were not available in any store (like smoked haddock) or others that I would actually have to cook (like eggs), so I really had to improvise. It turned into dinner because I had to get the fish defrosted. I used soy milk because I don’t drink milk, but I do drink soy milk. I would have preferred oat milk, but the store didn’t have any oat milk.

The milkfish wasn’t very smoky and it was smishier (I know it’s not a word) than I would have liked, but that was the best I could do.

I thought I had curry powder but I only have turmeric, so I had to improvise the curry powder with turmeric, paprika, mimita, and five-spice powder. Yeah, it’s not the same, but it turned out fine.

The dish was actually quite good!

• 8 hard-boiled quail eggs, halved
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 lb smoked milkfish, skinned and filleted
• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 1 medium white onion, sliced
• 1 tblsp curry powder
• 1½ tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tblsp fresh chopped parsley
• salt and pepper to taste
• lemon wedges to serve

1. Pour the soy milk into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer with the bay leaves.
2. Transfer the fish to the simmering milk and top up with a drop of boiling water to almost cover the fish.
3. Bring back to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, bathing the fish in the hot milk with a spoon intermittently.
4. When the fish is cooked, remove it from the pan to a plate. Set aside. Save a couple of tablespoons to add to the dish at the end for extra moisture, if preferred.
5. Using a large frying pan, heat olive oil and gently sauté the onions until soft and just beginning to color at the edges.
6. Add the curry powder and lemon juice and stir well.
7. Add the rice and chopped parsley to the pan with plenty of black pepper and salt to taste. Fold it all together until evenly mixed and piping hot.
8. Break up the fish by gently flaking into pieces with a fork and add to the pan. Fold through, continuing to heat.
9. Season to taste with salt, pepper, lemon juice, etc. Add a drop of the reserved poaching liquid for extra moisture if preferred.
10. Fold through 6 of the 8 halved quail eggs.
11. Transfer the kedgeree to a serving bowl and garnish with the remainder of the eggs, extra chopped parsley, and lemon wedges.