Thai Red Curry

I love Thai food. Love it, could eat it probably every day, always want it on Sundays, like takeout, like to make it, God I love it. I love it so much that I'm going to Thailand in 8 days. That and that it's beautiful and the exchange rate there is awesome. I love red curries, yellow curries, green curries, and Indian curries, but that's beside the point. I'm not even really sure which kind I like the best. When you get them at Thai restaurants, you have to get them with the vegetables that they come with. Yellow usually has potatoes and onions, while green has bamboo shoots and bell peppers and a lot of Thai basil, kind of like red. But when you make them yourself, all you need is the paste and then you can just add what you like.

For this red curry, I went to the Oriental Market in Goldsboro, NC to get my Asian supplies. If there's a place like that in eastern North Carolina, then there's probably one near any decent-sized city. It's a lot cheaper than buying curry pastes and rice noodles or Thai basil in the regular supermarket. This red curry paste was $1.25. While I was there, I read the back of the can of curry to see what that recipe suggested I add to it. It said "eggplant." I took this to mean Thai eggplant, however, I had no idea what it looked like and didn't bring my iPhone in so I couldn't Google image it. I ended up buying just huge zucchinis, not Thai eggplant, but whatever, it worked. I got some nice Thai basil too- it's sweeter and smells different than regular basil and has purple in the leaves and stems. It really makes the dish. I'm making a green curry this week and I'm sad I don't have anymore.

 

 

This red curry was delicious, but a little crazy spicy. So I didn't thoroughly read the recipe, so maybe I added one of my homegrown cayenne peppers before tasting it, so I didn't add a second can of coconut milk, but Charlie and I still ate the whole batch of it and I ate the rest for leftovers. Oops.

Thai Red Curry
3-4 servings, at least

• One can curry paste (or buy in the jar and use about a tablespoon per can of coconut milk depending on how hot you like it)
• 2 cans coconut milk
• 1 onion, chopped (optional)
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• Chicken breasts, thinly sliced (shrimp would be good too)
• Thai basil (regular basil would do in a pinch, though sometimes I have neither)
• Salt
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• Fish sauce
• Other vegetable options include bell peppers, carrots, and bamboo shoots

- Stir fry curry paste in skillet or wok until fragrant. Not too long or it will burn, less than 30 seconds.
- Add can of coconut milk and blend thoroughly on medium-high heat. Let it bubble and thicken.
- Add raw chicken to mixture and stir occasionally for about 4 minutes, or until almost cooked.
- Add chopped onion (or vegetables of your choosing that take longer to cook, like carrots) and cook for three minutes. 

- Then add zucchini and softer vegetables, like bell peppers or peas, and cook for another four minutes, letting the curry mixture thicken.
- Taste for spice level. If too hot, slowly add the second can of coconut milk or water that you've rinsed around in the empty coconut milk can. If you want to light yourself on fire, add fresh chiles or peppers or even more curry past but make sure to blend.
- Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and blend. Taste. If you prefer your curry sweeter, add the second tablespoon.
- Let simmer until all vegetables are tender and curry has thickened.

- Add about a tablespoon of fish sauce, or just a few dashes if you're not a fan.
- In the last minute of cooking, add the Thai basil.
- Serve over rice (or just beside it).

Beware the cayenne pepper.

Thai basil is the bomb

Just reduce a little more... I like it thicker.

Serve it on top of rice.

This made my nose run and my eyes water, but it was worth it.

Curry is really a matter of blending and constant tasting. In Thailand, they were constantly telling us to add more coconut milk, palm sugar, or fish sauce until the flavor and consistency was to our liking. This is even more fun in the jungle heat, outdoors, cooking over a fiery wok!