This one is a little different-- it is more of a set of guidelines than a recipe, as you can put pretty much anything in. Mike took a Thai cooking class, and passed along these instructions to us. The only truly necessary ingredients are a good authentic curry paste and coconut milk.
Ingredients:
Curry paste-- We use Mae Ploy brand, which you can find on Amazon Grocery for ~$4. We like both the green (spicy!) and the red (still spicy but somewhat sweet).
Unsweetened coconut milk-- Don’t use lowfat, it’s just not the same.
Protein-- Shrimp, chicken, pork, tofu... we’ve tried all of these and they are all great, but I think our true favorite is shrimp red curry. Whatever you choose should be browned before you start the curry.
Veggies-- Pretty much whatever you’ve got. We’ve used broccoli, red/yellow/green
peppers, carrots, eggplant, peas, snow peas, bok choy, zucchini, potato, green beans, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes (sliced in half), bean sprouts, pineapple... but not all at once or they won’t fit in the pan! Potatoes should be boiled beforehand or they’ll never cook in the curry.
Directions:
Put some coconut cream (the fatty part you skim off the top of a can of coconut milk) in a big pan and bring to a simmer. Add a few tablespoons of curry paste and stir until the color is uniform. It is up to you how much to add, but start with two tbsps and taste it before adding more. As Mike says, “Let it saute for a couple of minutes and stir it into a beautiful, nose- stinging, sauce.” Then add the rest of the coconut milk and the vegetables, making sure you give everything enough time to cook-- broccoli needs more time than peppers, for instance. If you want it to be more authentic, you can also add a dash or two of fish sauce and kaffir lime leaves at this point; we do add the fish sauce and think it adds a nice flavor, but I can never find the lime leaves. Then add your meat/tofu and let everything simmer and meld together until it is all perfectly done.
Serve over rice, or rice noodles-- the wide ones are particularly fun.
-Mike Adams