Smoked salmon kedgeree

Kedgeree is one of those curious dishes to come out of colonial India, with European ingredients (in this case smoked fish, usually haddock) alongside Indian spices and rice. There’s an Indian dish called Khichri which is a close cousin of our kedgeree, made from rice, lentils, onions and spices.

Here in the UK it’s a (now rather uncommon) breakfast dish. When I was a kid, our neighbours used to invite the whole street round for a New Year’s breakfast, in which kedgeree played a starring role. Kedgeree is a good idea if you’ve a lot of people staying in the house; you can prepare it the day before and microwave it for a very rich and delicious brunch.

This kedgeree is a bit more delicate than the traditional smoked haddock version. It uses barely cooked smoked salmon and fresh, sweet and juicy king prawns, and instead of strong onion, I’ve used spring onions. The salt used in curing the salmon is sufficient for the whole dish; you will not need to add any extra.

It’s important that the rice is chilled before you cook; if it is warm or hot, the grains are prone to break up and become mushy in cooking.

To serve four, you’ll need:

100g basmati rice, cooked and chilled
10 spring onions, chopped
1 inch of ginger, grated coarsely
1½ tablespoons Madras curry paste (I used Patak’s)
10 raw, peeled king prawns
1 pack smoked salmon, torn into shreds
1 egg per person
½ pint chicken stock
¼ pint double cream
1 handful coriander, chopped
1 knob butter

Carefully slide the eggs into boiling water and boil for six minutes; the yolk should still be soft, and the white just set. Peel, halve and set aside.

Stir fry the ginger and spring onions in a wok until soft, then add the curry paste and prawns and stir fry until the prawns have turned pink. Add the rice to the wok and stir fry. After five minutes, add the stock and salmon, and continue stir frying until the salmon has turned opaque.

Remove the wok from the heat and add the cream and coriander. Stir well, and serve with a segment of the soft, creamy egg.

This dish is inextricably associated with New Year in my head, so I served it this evening with a glass of toasty, nutty champagne. Delicious.

7 Replies to “Smoked salmon kedgeree”

  1. Nice one. I think kedgeree is an underrated dish and should be eaten more for breakfast. How could you not want a curried fish dish for breakfast? Yours looks like a good recipe, I might well try it out. Do you think it would be hideous with brown rice?

  2. It’s the Malaysian Chinese in me coming out – I *love* curry for breakfast. I’ll try to do a nasi lemak recipe some time in the next month or so.

    Brown rice – should taste fine (and more than fine; nutty and delicious), but I often find it’s very hard to stop the grains bursting even when they go in cold, so your texture may be a bit mushy. I don’t think the dish would be any worse for it, though; just make sure you chill your rice first.

  3. This looks great! I’ve never liked kedgeree, because whenever I’ve eaten it it has normally consisted of over-dyed haddock and sulphurous hard-boiled eggs… Very tempted to try this version, though, especially if the champagne is an integral part of the meal.

    I’ve decided to stop lurking and be sociable, although I’m sure most of my comments will be based around ‘yum…’, or, in the case of the kittens, ‘aww…’. Will do my best to un-stultify my brain and sparkle!

  4. oh boy, oh boy!
    Just yesterday we went to our local gourmet, or as we call it, “rip off” market and saw that the salmon are coming, and we are ready for it! It’s still a little early, but as soon as we start getting the hell-of-fresh fish, we’re trying this recipe. We’ve even decided we’ll go fishing for our own this summer for Halibut and Salmon. How much fish does a man/woman need? A lot.

  5. i am a fan of the kedgeree, but haven’t had it for a while. it’s been so unassuming, i’ve forgotten all about. your photo is a sexy reminder. nice egg 🙂

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