Gulai Pakis/Paku (Fiddlehead Ferns Curry)

The fiddlehead curry served with cubed rice cake, reminds me of my childhood. I often ate this thing as mid morning breakfast, bought from a stall in the marketplace.
I haven't had the fiddlehead ferns for over 20 years, though the memories linger, I can't really recall the exact taste.
Since we moved to New England last year, I've been looking forward to find this curly ferns, as they say, fiddlehead ferns is a delicacy of New England.
I've been searching the internet for sometimes to find some information on where to get them. I even thought of hiking on the wooded area across the street of our house to find them. The idea that my husband thinks as a dangerous one, because I could end up picking up some poisonous ferns.



Yesterday morning, to my delight, I found them in my local grocery. I almost jumped with joy to find this treasures. The fiddlehead fern that I'm familiar with, is slightly different from this one. Back home in Indonesia they are more leafy, and sold in bunches. But here, they only sell the curly tips of the fern. Anyway, for $3.99 a pound I think it's a bargain.

My husband never tried fiddlehead fern before, but when he tried that, he said, I need to buy more of this stuff (he's not a big vegetable eater, but he likes it).
For those who never tried this, the taste just like a very tender asparagus tips. Try it...if you like asparagus, you will definitely love this. Other than curry, you can cook them just like you cook asparagus.




the following is my version of fiddlehead fern curry (I don't have rice cubes, don't feel like making them today, but serve it with rice for an equally delicious dinner)

Ingredients:
1 lb fiddlehead ferns
1/2 lb shrimp, cleaned, leave the tails intact
1 can coconut milk (400ml)
1 stalk lemon grass, bruised
5 pieces kaffir lime leaves
4 pcs kokum (asam kandis)
1-2 tbs sambal oelek (depending on the heat tolerance)
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp galangal powder
1 tsp shrimp paste
1 tsp sugar
3 cups chicken broth
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbs vegetable oil for stir frying

grind to paste:
1 small onion
4 garlic

Method:
1. Heat 1 tbs of cooking oil, toss it onion & garlic paste, stir fry for 1 minute.
2. Bring in shrimp paste, sambal oelek, all the powder ingredients, lime leaves, lemongrass stalk & kokum. Stir fry for another minute.
3. Pour the coconut milk & chicken broth to the pot.
4. Bring in fiddlehead fern & shrimp.
6. Season with salt, pepper & sugar.
5. Let them simmer until fiddlehead fern become soft.