Meal Monday
Spicy, sweet, salty, complex. Yes, these words describe me (ha!), but they're also what makes the cuisine of Thailand so utterly irresistible. I don't know what combination of ecological and cultural factors came together over the milennia to gift the world such delicious eats, but I'm sure glad it did.
A couple of months ago I shared a recipe for Tilapia with Southeast Asian Flavor. This week I want to share another meal standard from my kitchen, Thai Green Curry. This meal is simpler (although it requires more chopping), more flexible and creates many fewer dirty dishes. The combination of spicy complex curry paste, sweet coconut milk and brown sugar and salty fish sauce make it equally addictive, however.
The ingredients list looks kind of long, but it's mostly veggies and you can never have too many of those! However, they are also completely flexible. You can add or exclude them as you see fit.
You might have to make an effort on the sauce ingredients the first time around, but I promise you you will be using them repeatedly once you find a curry paste you like and get over the smell of fish sauce. They should be available in any grocery store with a well-stocked international foods section. But if not, it's worth the trouble to find your local small Asian grocer. Yummy foods, low prices, and always a fascinating cultural experience.
Finding the perfect curry paste has posed a challenge for me. In fact, I have yet to find a store bought curry paste I adore. The Whole Foods brand green curry paste had good flavor but no heat (this could easily be remedied with the addition of a hot pepper or two--have I mentioned that I froze my summer bounty of hot peppers and am still using them! They are so much easier to chop frozen-for real!) I've also tried a couple Asian market brands (Mae Ploy and Maersi). They're adequate, but not spectacular. I'm thinking about trying to make my own, which I could freeze in ice cube trays.
In any case, every cook's repertoire should include a tasty curry dish, so I hope you like this one. ขอให้เจริญอาหาร! (koh hai cha-roen ar-harn)!
Thai Green Curry Recipe
What you need:
2 c. uncooked rice (jasmine would be the classic here, I often use short grain brown)
1 tbsp. peanut or vegetable oil
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 c. red cabbage, chopped (I use red cabbage because it is prettier, more nutritious, and smaller than its green counterpart)
1 large red or green pepper, chopped
2 c. broccoli florets*
3 c. chopped spinach or kale
1 package extra firm tofu, drained and cubed
1 15 oz. can coconut milk
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3 tbsp. fish sauce
1-2 tbsp. green curry paste
1/4 c. chopped basil (optional but tasty-- try using purple or thai basil, it has a much more authentic flavor than sweet or Genovese)
*Other vegetables that would be yummy could include sweet potato, peas, zucchini, mushrooms green beans, corn or potatoes (be aware that potatoes take a long time to cook and should be added to the pan first. Treat sweet potatoes like the carrots and the rest like the broccoli.)
What to do:
Cook the rice. Heat the oil in a wok or large pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and cabbage. Cook, stirring, for one minute, then cover and let cook for 2 minutes.
Add broccoli and pepper to the cabbage and carrots and recover. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 3 minutes. Add tofu and greens, recover and cook for 3 more minutes.
Make a well in the middle of the vegetables and pour in the coconut milk. Add the curry paste, brown sugar and fish sauce and mix into the coconut milk until dissolved. Then mix into the rest of the vegetables. This is just to make sure you don't end up with chunks of curry paste in the food.
Continue cooking until the vegetables reach desired tenderness, not more than a couple of minutes. Mix in the basil, if using.
Serve over rice. Makes fabulous leftovers.
A note for kids: I add everything except the curry paste and then scoop out a portion for my son. He loves the flavors, but not the spice. Although, as I am writing this he is chowing the fully spiced dish. Who knows!
Comments