Thai Curry Dish

Thai Curry Dish

by Sonny Ithipathachai on Friday, September 24, 2010 at 4:02pm

Thai Curry:



I just got back from Southern California to see my best friend Brian Lay.  He asked me to make a Thai dinner party for him and I noticed there were a little bit of left overs, but NO Thai curry left over at all.  I think someone might have even licked the bowl, so now I will write and post this information and recipe here for you to cook and enjoy at home.

Thai cooking is simple and basically country cooking.  It's the ingredients that sets it apart and makes it taste fresh and healthy.  It is distinctive in that it balances the flavors of sweet, sour, hot, and salty all at the same time.  The most important part of Thai cooking is tasting while you're cooking and to never add too much!

Curry:  Curry can be red, green, or yellow.  The red curry is the hottest and most intense.  Yellow and green are much milder.  You can buy all of these curries at a decent Asian market.  It will come in paste form, and you only have to use it sparingly.  This is by far the easiest way to make a curry dish.  It can come in a large container, or even a small packet.

Meats:  A curry dish has strong flavors and is not subtle.  You can use sliced chicken, pork, beef, and seafood.  Always remember to slice the meat thin, so it will cook quickly.  You can mix a combination of meats as well.

Vegetables: I primarily will use canned bamboo shoots and straw mushrooms in my curries.  I might also add fresh green beans, sliced tomatoes, and sliced onions.  I know this is not completely traditional, and it has been mentioned to me by my cousin that "real" Thai curry doesn't have some of the ingredients I use.  So what's, I'm making it up as I go along.  I will also use thinly sliced red bell peper for appearance, as well as green onions, garlic, hot peppers, and cilantro.

Sauces:  Salt, Sugar, Fish Sauce, ground chili peppers, canned coconut milk. (Fish sauce stinks, and most Western nose are not used to it, but it is a staple in Thailand.  You can use soy sauce, but it's not as authentic.  Fish sauce has no smell when it's cooked in the food)

Preparation:  Heat up a sauce pan on medium heat, put in some oil and two big table spoons of curry paste.  Add three to 5 cloves of thinly diced garlic.  Keep stirring with a wooden spoon to brown the garlic.  You will get a very strong smell all over your house, so close the doors to your bedrooms.  Never let the garlic get black because it will be bitter.  Just keep stirring until it turns a nice golden brown.

Once this is done, you can put in two cans of coconut milk and reduce the heat.  The coconut milk will give this dish a very rich and creamy texture.  Keep stirring and mix everything well.

Next add the canned bamboo shoots, onions, and straw mushrooms.  Keep mixing.  I would use about two thinly sliced chicken breast for a two can coconut milk curry dish.  Add the chicken, and again lower the heat to medium/low.  I will barely let the curry boil.  Put the lid on the sauce pan and cook for approximately 2 minutes.  Check to see if the meat is cooked.  Now add in the hot peppers, 1 to 2 table spoon fish sauce, a teaspoon of salt, table spoon sugar, chili powder to taste.  Taste the curry to see if there is balance and adjust as needed.

Mix well.  To finish this off, you will add the tomatoes, green onions, and chopped cilantro last.  Also throw in some fresh Thai Basil.  Turn off the heat and serve over a bed of Jasmine rice.

Note:  The curry dish will intensify the longer you cook it, or leave it in the fridge.  I actually like eating the curry the next day after leaving in the fridge because the spices and ingredients mix well when the dish has cooled down.