Green Curry
Description
Courtesy of Jam Sanitchat, owner/chef of Thai FreshFirst rule for making good curry: do not shake your coconut milk. If you buy it the day you are making it, make sure it doesn't get tossed around in the shopping cart or tipped over by the cashier. The best bet is to have some stored in your pantry. When you use it, only pour the top part of the can or the "head" of coconut milk. The process is called "frying the paste." In coconut cream, there is a high content of fat and the fat will help fry the paste. If you pour the whole can in, it will boil the paste instead of frying it. Imagine boiling garlic and frying garlic, the fragrance is more intense in frying.
Ingredients
1 can (Mae Sri brand, 4 oz) green curry paste**
1 ½ c. water
2 c. butternut squash, Asian eggplant, green beans, zucchini or yellow squash
1 lb. chicken, beef, pork, tofu, shrimp or fish fillets, chopped into bite sizes
fish sauce to taste (or soy sauce)
pinch of sugar
1 c. Thai basil
5 kaffir lime leaves, torn
* The rule of thumb is that you need 4 cups of liquid for 1 small can of the paste, about 4 oz of paste. You can adjust the creaminess by adding or subtracting the amount of water and the amount of coconut milk that you put in.
** Make your own green curry paste:
10-15 green Thai chilies
Large pinch of salt
1 T. chopped galangal
3 T. chopped lemongrass
1 T. finely chopped kaffir lime zest
1 T. coriander root or stem
3 T. chopped red shallots
2 T. chopped garlic
1 t. shrimp paste
10 white peppercorns
½ t. coriander seeds, roasted and ground
¼ t. cumin seeds, roasted and ground
Pound the ingredients into a paste with mortar and pestle, or puree in a food processor set to chop.
Methods/steps
Heat 1 cup coconut cream (the creamy part floats to the top in a can of coconut milk, so do not shake the can) over a medium heat. Stir in curry paste and turn down the heat. Simmer until fragrant and coconut cream starts to crack some oil (you will see lines of oil around the paste).
Add the rest of coconut milk and water and bring it back to boil. Add butternut squash (or your choice) and after 5 minutes add chicken (or other choice). Simmer until chicken is cooked under medium-low heat. Add fish sauce about one tablespoon at a time and bring it to your own preferred taste. Add a pinch of sugar and taste. Add Thai basil and kaffir lime leaves and turn the heat off. Serve over rice.
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