Jun 24, 2007
Flawless Red Curry
I’ve been cooking a lot lately, and one thing that I’ve started cooking recently and mastered (I do mean mastered. If you’ve had it, you know I’ve mastered it. Just call me when you want it again.) is Thai Red Curry. I’ve got a simple, impossible to mangle recipe. Every ingredient I use is easy to find, at either your local super target, Wal-Mart, Albertsons, Dillons, Save-a-lot, Super Value, &c. you get the idea.
Better yet, find a local Asian Market to support and go there. They generally have BETTER prices (on the things you’ll need for this recipe, anyway). If you’re in Wichita, I recommend the Asian Market located at I-135 and Central. It used to be an Auto Zone, but I’m sure the people who live in that particular neighborhood stole everything off their shelves (basically, make your visit quick, and make sure to lock your car). The people who own/run the place are INCREDIBLY friendly and amazingly helpful- they’ve got me as a dedicated patron.
Thai Red Curry has two things that you absolutely must have: Those two things are Red Curry Paste, and coconut milk. Without those two things, you’re finished. In fact, they’re so important you might as well go kill yourself if you don’t have them.
The Red Curry paste is a blend of things, red pepper, garlic, and who knows what else. When it comes to red curry, I cheat- I run down to Super Target and buy myself a little container of Thai Kitchen (that’s a copyrighted brand name) Red Curry paste. It can be found in the foreign/oriental foods section. It’s probably near the canned goods.
In addition to the Curry paste and coconut milk, you also need Fish sauce (or thin soy sauce, I’ll get to that later), Brown sugar (you Americans will probably want to use brown sugar- if you’re a brave person you can use palm sugar instead. Just add about 30% more palm sugar than you would brown sugar), and basil. Basil is very important, but the dish will still work if you can’t find it. Absolutely do NOT buy the basil at Wal-Mart or target if you can help it! They generally don’t have Thai Basil, which is what you need, and they are generally MORE expensive than your asian market. Local small markets are your best friend. Help support them!
Let’s start with a list of ingredients-
1 or 2 tablespoons of Red Curry paste (I like it hot, I’ll go with two. Go with one if you are unsure.
1 can of coconut milk (around 14 oz, I hope)
2 tablespoons of fish sauce (you can use less if you want to. Use at least one tablespoon)
2 tablespoons of brown sugar (again, you can use less)
1 can of sliced bamboo shoots (a 19oz (unopened) can will do nicely for a double recipe. Otherwise, find something about half that size)
1 red or yellow bell pepper (if you’re going to double it, go with one of each!)
½ or 1 cup of frozen green beans, peas, or sugar snap peas- or, if you want to go fresh, do so.
1 or 2 chicken breasts
Fresh basil leaves (I use 5-8, maybe more if I’m feeling crazy)
I think that’s about it. This isn’t a particularly picky recipe, and you can pretty much throw in the kitchen sink if you want to. I generally ALWAYS use some chicken, bell pepper, and bamboo shoot. The green veggie however, I change around at will. You can omit the chicken and go with an approximately equal amount of tofu (Make sure you know how to cook it, though), shrimp, or steak. Or, you could just do a vegetable medley. It doesn’t matter. Whatever you want.
Start by preparing all of your ingredients in separate bowls, cups, or ramekins. I use some old blue and white china tea cups that were my grandmothers. They work perfectly for staging my tableau.
A wok will be your weapon of choice for this meal (If possible. If you don’t have one you’re gonna need a really big sauce pan of some kind). Let’s start by cooking the chicken (in a large saucepan- not your main pan, if it can be helped) toss a tablespoon of oil in your pan, and cook the chicken until it is white all the way through.
While you’re doing that, heat the coconut milk in your wok over medium heat. Once it starts to bubble a little bit, throw in your red curry paste. You’re probably going to have to mash it around, so make sure to stir thoroughly. Let that cook over medium heat for 5 or so minutes. Add the fish sauce and brown sugar, stir that, and let it sit for another 2 or so minutes. Or not. It doesn’t matter that much.
Assuming the chicken is now done, throw it into a bowl. Now to the bell pepper- throw a tad bit more oil into the saucepan you just cooked the chicken in, and cook the bell pepper. I cook bell pepper over high heat, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes, maybe 3. you want it to stay crisp, so if you’re doubtful it’s all the way done, don’t worry about it. Just pull it off the heat, and throw it into ANOTHER bowl.
Add the vegetable you chose and the bamboo shoots to the coconut/curry mix. Stir it around a bit. Let it cook for another couple minutes, and then throw in the chicken, bell pepper, and kitchen sink. Set it to a medium low heat (or whatever), add the basil, and let it be. Or eat it. You’re done.
This is the kind of dish that needs to be served over rice. I prefer Royal Basmati, which you can find at sams (in a 10lb bag) any rice will work, though. If you plan on using minute rice, please step in front of a car instead. Otherwise, cook the rice.
If you don’t know how to cook rice… well, it’s easy. I only know one person who could screw up rice on the stove top, and he was from Bangladesh. You’re probably not from Bangladesh, so don’t worry about it too much.
Throw your rice into a large pot. Two cups should do. Get some water in there, and swish it around, vigorously. The rice should be completely covered in water.
Drain it, and then repeat. You’re doing this to clean the rice- It probably has sediment in it… Anyway, do that a couple times, and then add just under TWICE as much water as you have rice (if you have two cups of rice, add 3 and ¾ cups of water.
Throw it onto the stove at very high heat (cover the pot!) and bring it to a boil. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat to low. When the water is gone, and your rice begins to stand on end, it’s probably done. If it’s a little gooey, don’t sweat it too much. It’s still going to taste delicious under your red curry!
Note: I’d cook the rice WHILE you cook the curry. If you ever decide to try this, please enjoy it!
Oh, right. If you want to make this vegetarian friendly (or even vegan friendly) you can use Healthy Boy Brand Thin Soy sauce. If you can’t find that at an asian market, either google it on the internet to try to buy it, or google Chez Pim. I believe she has a link to it on her Pad Thai recipe. Thin soy sauce is a direct substitute for the fish sauce…
Better yet, find a local Asian Market to support and go there. They generally have BETTER prices (on the things you’ll need for this recipe, anyway). If you’re in Wichita, I recommend the Asian Market located at I-135 and Central. It used to be an Auto Zone, but I’m sure the people who live in that particular neighborhood stole everything off their shelves (basically, make your visit quick, and make sure to lock your car). The people who own/run the place are INCREDIBLY friendly and amazingly helpful- they’ve got me as a dedicated patron.
Thai Red Curry has two things that you absolutely must have: Those two things are Red Curry Paste, and coconut milk. Without those two things, you’re finished. In fact, they’re so important you might as well go kill yourself if you don’t have them.
The Red Curry paste is a blend of things, red pepper, garlic, and who knows what else. When it comes to red curry, I cheat- I run down to Super Target and buy myself a little container of Thai Kitchen (that’s a copyrighted brand name) Red Curry paste. It can be found in the foreign/oriental foods section. It’s probably near the canned goods.
In addition to the Curry paste and coconut milk, you also need Fish sauce (or thin soy sauce, I’ll get to that later), Brown sugar (you Americans will probably want to use brown sugar- if you’re a brave person you can use palm sugar instead. Just add about 30% more palm sugar than you would brown sugar), and basil. Basil is very important, but the dish will still work if you can’t find it. Absolutely do NOT buy the basil at Wal-Mart or target if you can help it! They generally don’t have Thai Basil, which is what you need, and they are generally MORE expensive than your asian market. Local small markets are your best friend. Help support them!
Let’s start with a list of ingredients-
1 or 2 tablespoons of Red Curry paste (I like it hot, I’ll go with two. Go with one if you are unsure.
1 can of coconut milk (around 14 oz, I hope)
2 tablespoons of fish sauce (you can use less if you want to. Use at least one tablespoon)
2 tablespoons of brown sugar (again, you can use less)
1 can of sliced bamboo shoots (a 19oz (unopened) can will do nicely for a double recipe. Otherwise, find something about half that size)
1 red or yellow bell pepper (if you’re going to double it, go with one of each!)
½ or 1 cup of frozen green beans, peas, or sugar snap peas- or, if you want to go fresh, do so.
1 or 2 chicken breasts
Fresh basil leaves (I use 5-8, maybe more if I’m feeling crazy)
I think that’s about it. This isn’t a particularly picky recipe, and you can pretty much throw in the kitchen sink if you want to. I generally ALWAYS use some chicken, bell pepper, and bamboo shoot. The green veggie however, I change around at will. You can omit the chicken and go with an approximately equal amount of tofu (Make sure you know how to cook it, though), shrimp, or steak. Or, you could just do a vegetable medley. It doesn’t matter. Whatever you want.
Start by preparing all of your ingredients in separate bowls, cups, or ramekins. I use some old blue and white china tea cups that were my grandmothers. They work perfectly for staging my tableau.
A wok will be your weapon of choice for this meal (If possible. If you don’t have one you’re gonna need a really big sauce pan of some kind). Let’s start by cooking the chicken (in a large saucepan- not your main pan, if it can be helped) toss a tablespoon of oil in your pan, and cook the chicken until it is white all the way through.
While you’re doing that, heat the coconut milk in your wok over medium heat. Once it starts to bubble a little bit, throw in your red curry paste. You’re probably going to have to mash it around, so make sure to stir thoroughly. Let that cook over medium heat for 5 or so minutes. Add the fish sauce and brown sugar, stir that, and let it sit for another 2 or so minutes. Or not. It doesn’t matter that much.
Assuming the chicken is now done, throw it into a bowl. Now to the bell pepper- throw a tad bit more oil into the saucepan you just cooked the chicken in, and cook the bell pepper. I cook bell pepper over high heat, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes, maybe 3. you want it to stay crisp, so if you’re doubtful it’s all the way done, don’t worry about it. Just pull it off the heat, and throw it into ANOTHER bowl.
Add the vegetable you chose and the bamboo shoots to the coconut/curry mix. Stir it around a bit. Let it cook for another couple minutes, and then throw in the chicken, bell pepper, and kitchen sink. Set it to a medium low heat (or whatever), add the basil, and let it be. Or eat it. You’re done.
This is the kind of dish that needs to be served over rice. I prefer Royal Basmati, which you can find at sams (in a 10lb bag) any rice will work, though. If you plan on using minute rice, please step in front of a car instead. Otherwise, cook the rice.
If you don’t know how to cook rice… well, it’s easy. I only know one person who could screw up rice on the stove top, and he was from Bangladesh. You’re probably not from Bangladesh, so don’t worry about it too much.
Throw your rice into a large pot. Two cups should do. Get some water in there, and swish it around, vigorously. The rice should be completely covered in water.
Drain it, and then repeat. You’re doing this to clean the rice- It probably has sediment in it… Anyway, do that a couple times, and then add just under TWICE as much water as you have rice (if you have two cups of rice, add 3 and ¾ cups of water.
Throw it onto the stove at very high heat (cover the pot!) and bring it to a boil. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat to low. When the water is gone, and your rice begins to stand on end, it’s probably done. If it’s a little gooey, don’t sweat it too much. It’s still going to taste delicious under your red curry!
Note: I’d cook the rice WHILE you cook the curry. If you ever decide to try this, please enjoy it!
Oh, right. If you want to make this vegetarian friendly (or even vegan friendly) you can use Healthy Boy Brand Thin Soy sauce. If you can’t find that at an asian market, either google it on the internet to try to buy it, or google Chez Pim. I believe she has a link to it on her Pad Thai recipe. Thin soy sauce is a direct substitute for the fish sauce…
Comments:
Sounds very good! Though I am curious...
Can you taste the difference between the fish sauce and the soy sauce? Or does it all kind of blend well enough together that there really is no difference?
Post a Comment
Can you taste the difference between the fish sauce and the soy sauce? Or does it all kind of blend well enough together that there really is no difference?
# posted by 
: 12:49 AM
: 12:49 AM
