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Grilled Swordfish with Thai Chili Compound Butter

Grilled Swordfish with Thai Chili Compound Butter

Coastal Mains

Grilled Swordfish with Thai Chili Compound Butter and Red Curry Sauce

The Strategy:

This recipe commands authority on the grill by taking a massive, meaty swordfish steak and aggressively marinating it in a sharp, pungent blend of fish sauce, lime juice, and fiery red chili. Toiling over a deeply savory, white-wine-reduced red curry cream sauce provides an incredibly rich foundation, but crowning the hot, heavily charred fish with discs of sweet Thai curry and honey compound butter elevates it to absolute coastal luxury. Serving this thick, juicy swordfish heavily dolloped with melting compound butter and pooling with velvet curry sauce creates a spectacular, intensely aromatic main course.

Serves: 4 | Total Time: 30 minutes to cook (plus 30 minutes for marinating) till it’s ready

Ingredients

For fish

2 pounds swordfish steak
2 to 3 green onions, thinly sliced, about ¼ cup
juice from 1 lime, about ¼ cup
1 red chili, seeded, deveined, and finely diced, about 2 tablespoons
2 to 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced, about 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce

For compound butter

1 stick salted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon Thai curry paste
1 tablespoon honey

For sauce aromatics and base

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium shallot, peeled and finely diced, about 3 tablespoons
1 teaspoon ground curry powder
½ cup white wine
1 cup vegetable stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste

For sauce finishing

½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon coarse black pepper

Ingredients arranged: a massive, thick raw swordfish steak, vibrant red chilies, limes, green onions, bowls of dark fish sauce, brown sugar, garlic, a stick of soft butter, Thai curry paste, honey, white wine, heavy cream, and tomato paste around a heavy cast-iron grill pan on a marble prep board.

Instructions

Make fish and butter

Place the swordfish into a baking dish.
Mix together the green onions, lime juice, chili, garlic, brown sugar, and fish sauce.
Spread this marinade over both sides of the fish.
Cover the dish with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours.
Place the butter, curry paste, and honey into a food processor. Pulse to combine.
Spread the mixture onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Form into a log. Wrap the butter in plastic wrap and twist the ends. Place into the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Make red curry sauce

Heat olive oil in a deep skillet over medium heat.
Add the shallots and curry powder.
Cook for 2 minutes.
Pour in the wine.
Cook until the wine reduces by half, just a couple of minutes.
Pour in the stock and stir in the tomato paste.
Cook until the sauce begins to thicken, about 2 to 4 minutes more.
Stir in the cream and season with salt and pepper.
Reduce the heat to low to keep the sauce warm.

Grill and serve

Heat an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan to medium-high.
Remove the swordfish from the baking dish and season with salt and pepper.
Grill on one side for about 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and grill on the other side until the swordfish is still rare in the center but there are grill marks on the outside, about 8 to 10 minutes total cooking time. Transfer the fish to a serving platter.
Cut slices of compound butter and place on top of the fish. Tent with aluminum foil to let the butter melt and the fish to finish cooking.
Slice the fish and serve with a drizzle of sauce.

A cook's hand placing a thick, cold disc of golden Thai curry compound butter directly onto a thick, charred, smoking hot swordfish steak resting on roaring hot cast-iron grill grates.

The full recipe lives in the Vault

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The Heart of the Table

Mastering the art of the compound butter and serving a monumental swordfish steak establishes an atmosphere of undeniable, high-end coastal dining. Dragging a massive platter of charred swordfish—fragrant with melting honey-curry butter—to the center of the patio table instantly commands attention and guarantees a spectacular, high-energy dinner.

8 guests gathered around the table laughing loudly, eating, and drinking icy Gewürztraminer in long-stemmed glasses in a Palm Beach Estate dining patio under string lights. A massive board of smoking hot swordfish with melting butter anchors the lively coastal patio dinner party.

Neighborly Grace

THE PRESENTATION: Do not plate this delicately. Transfer the massively thick, heavily grill-marked swordfish straight to an oversized, heavy wooden serving board. Immediately place several thick discs of the chilled compound butter across the scorching hot fish so it melts intensely into the char, and flood the base of the board with the velvety red curry cream sauce.
THE POUR: The aggressive heat of the red chili marinade, the sweetness of the melting honey butter, and the richness of the curry cream require a fiercely aromatic wine with substantial structure. An icy, intensely fruit-forward Gewürztraminer or a vibrant, highly acidic Riesling slices perfectly through the heavy cream and spice.
THE VIBE: Sophisticated, highly energetic outdoor evening dinners. This is the meal you execute on a warm summer evening under patio string lights, when you want to impress a close circle of friends with incredibly complex, bold flavors and loud, unpretentious hospitality.

Chef’s Recommendations

The Rice Underneath: Cauliflower Fried Rice
Lemongrass, Chili, Fish Sauce: Spicy Thai Pesto Crostini with Pickled Radishes
The Sweet at the End: Caramel Toffee Cookie Dough Brownie Bars
The Glass Against the Heat: The Lucky Clover

The Estate Table

Build tonight’s menu around this dish.

✦ Set the Table

Grilled Swordfish with Thai Chili Compound Butter

Grilled Swordfish with Thai Chili Compound Butter and Red Curry Sauce

The full recipe lives in the Vault

The Heart of the Table

Neighborly Grace

✨ The Gilded Swaps