Favourite Thai Seafood Chili

This is a serious-occasion seafood chili that earns its hour-long simmer. The base is built like a Mediterranean fish stew with a Southeast Asian heart: olive oil, leeks, onions and celery softened low and slow until sweet, then a generous half cup of red Thai chili paste stirred into a tomato-and-clam-juice broth thickened with dry red wine.

The overnight rest in the fridge is the move that makes the dish. The flavors marry, the broth deepens into something almost smoky, and you barely have any work the day you serve it. Reheat the next day, then drop in clams, mussels, white fish, shrimp, and scallops one type at a time so each cooks just to the moment it turns opaque.

Finish with a fistful of fresh cilantro torn over the top.

Chef Tips

• Toast the cumin seeds in a dry skillet for two minutes until fragrant, then crush them. Whole untoasted seeds taste muddy compared with freshly cracked.
• Sweat the leeks, onions and celery covered, low, for the full 15 minutes. Forcing the heat caramelises them, which throws the broth toward sweet instead of savory.
• Skim the surface foam during the simmer. Those proteins turn cloudy and bitter if you stir them back in.
• Add the seafood in the order given: shellfish first, fish next, scallops last. Each item has a different sweet spot, and overcooking scallops by 90 seconds turns them rubbery.
• Discard any clams or mussels that do not open after the cover comes off. They were dead before they hit the pot.

Variations

• Swap the dry red wine for white wine and use green Thai curry paste for a brighter, more herbal version.
• Add a 14-ounce can of coconut milk in the last 10 minutes for a richer, Thai-style broth.
• Stir in a handful of cooked rice noodles per bowl just before serving for a chili-meets-noodle-soup hybrid.