Thai Yellow Curry

Hey there Ormond! Remember that awesome yellow curry I had at the Kojin Noodle Shop in Key West?  Well, after some experimentation I finally devised a worthy replica.

I know that you're a purist -- totally devoted to the Hairy Bikers' Great Curries cookbook -- so you'll scoff at my shortcut of using green curry paste.  The flavor was perfectly balanced though, and the jarred paste makes a great substitute when you don't feel like spending all that prep time. One day I'll make Yellow Curry using the Bikers' green curry paste, just to compare.

My Yellow Curry calls for a nice variety of vegetables.

Thai Yellow Curry

Course: Main Dish
Categories: Curry
Source: Bonnie Doty

Serving size: 4 bowlfuls with no seconds or leftovers

Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 can coconut milk (not crème de cacao)
2 tablespoons green curry paste
1 tablespoon demerara sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1/4 cup water [Optional: to thicken soup]
1 carrot, julienned
1/2 yellow or orange bell pepper, julienned
1 stalk celery, julienned
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 servings cooked jasmine rice (2 bags Boil-in-Bag)
fresh cilantro leaves, chopped (optional)


Directions
1. Cut up chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks, about 1" square.  Heat a big heavy skillet on medium high; when hot (lick finger and touch surface; if it sizzles and burns, it's ready), add the oil and heat until shimmering.  Add the chicken and turn heat down to medium.  Sauté chicken 10 minutes until no longer pink, stirring frequently and keeping in a single layer.  With a slotted spoon remove the chicken and set heavy pan aside (do not drain).

2. In a small saucepan add coconut milk, green curry paste, sugar and fish sauce.  Slowly heat until simmering.  Reduce heat and let stand, or remove from burner and keep warm. Cut up vegetables while sauce is cooking.

3. After vegetables are prepared, start the rice. To make the rice, follow the package directions.

4.  While the rice is cooking, add prepared carrot, bell pepper, cabbage, onion and garlic to the chicken-cooking pan and sauté  gently about 5 minutes.  When cooked to taste add chicken.

5.  [OPTIONAL] Stir 1 tablespoon cornstarch into 1/4 cup cold water in a small dish until well combined. Ladle a bit of coconut milk mixture into the dish and stir.  Add the contents of the dish to the coconut milk mixture, sitting on the stove, and stir to combine.  Add the mixture to the chicken-vegetable sauté pan.

6. Heat to simmer.  The liquid should not be too runny but should also be thin enough to provide a thick soup when combined with the rice.

7. Ladle 1/4 rice into big bowls; ladle 1/4 curry mixture over the rice.  Top with fresh chopped cilantro.

Notes

Normally curry calls for basmati rice but this jasmine rice made my Yellow Curry sensational.

Can use brown sugar instead of demerara if that's what you have.

If you are really aiming for serving four people you should double the recipe.  I don't know too many people who wouldn't ask for seconds of this!

Thai Style Green Curry

Green Chicken Curry

Hiya Ormond!  While you were busy making Stuffed Poblano Peppers -- and boy do they look good -- I was puttering around in cookbooks and recipe files to research an old favorite of mine, Thai green curry.

The first time I tasted a coconut milk-based curry was when our daughter-in-law, Crystal, made something called Basil Chicken in Coconut-Curry Sauce (recipe here). A nice, light curry dish, it's full of all the right flavors and not too overpowering. I loved it so much I begged for the recipe so I could enjoy it again.

Jasmine rice is traditionally served with green curry.

Then you came across The Hairy Bikers' Great Curries cookbook. Their Thai Green Chicken Curry is quite similar to Crystal's recipe. I wanted to try it for comparison, but when I made it the first time, the hack-job I did on the lemongrass (never having worked with it before) caused the dish to have a lot of hairy threads, a texture I despised. Also I overcooked it which sort of separated the coconut milk. Although it tasted fine it just didn't come out right and I was disappointed.

Roasted coriander seeds and lemongrass, key ingredients in green curry.

I like the way the Bikers make a curry paste from the onions and peppers, adding in important ingredients like kaffir lime leaves and nam pla, so I decided to base my own recipe on their basic construction, adding in some bits from Crystal's recipe. In the end I did what I always do: modify it to suit the stuff I have on hand.

Thickening the coconut milk with cornstarch makes a creamy consistency.

I found some cute little lemongrass stalks to work with this time. That greatly improved things for me.  In addition I bought a little container of chopped, partially dried cilantro which saved me having to trim an entire bunch.  I saved some more time with other shortcut ingredients, substituting squirts from the ginger and garlic tubes for the real deal, and using Thai basil leaves out of the jar.

Fluffy jasmine rice cooked to perfection.

From Crystal's recipe I pulled the jalapeno peppers, mainly because I had them on hand, and a very important finishing detail which, in my opinion, made the curry better than the Bikers' version. Whisking in cornstarch to the coconut milk before adding it to the pot created a thick, creamy sauce that clung to the chicken and rice.  The Bikers' recipe comes out way too soupy for my taste. I used Success brand Boil-in-Bag Jasmine Rice and it came out perfect.

Each fleck is a different exotic flavor.

So here's my recipe!

Thai Style Green Curry

Serves 3 - 4

Ingredients

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, fat removed and cut up into 1" pieces

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 14-oz. can light coconut milk

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

For curry paste:

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

2 large jalapeno peppers, halved and seeded

1 teaspoon minced chunky garlic, squeezed from tube

3 little lemongrass stalks, outer leaves removed and tender center roughly chopped

5 green onions, trimmed and sliced into short lengths

1 teaspoon minced ginger, squeezed from tube
1 teaspoon Thai basil leaves

6 kaffir lime leaves (fresh or dried; I used dried)

large bunch of fresh cilantro, trimmed (I used 1 container chopped, lightly dried cilantro)

1 Tablespoon nam pla (Thai fish sauce)

1 Tablespoon demerara sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Procedure

Cut up the chicken and set aside.

Make the curry paste: Put the coriander seeds in a small pan and place over high heat. Shaking the pan from time to time, cook for 1-2 minutes until they give off a nice aroma. Crush them into a rough powder using a mortar and pestle.

Transfer the crushed coriander to a food processor and add the jalapenos, garlic, lemon grass, green onions, ginger, Thai basil leaves, lime leaves, cilantro, fish sauce and sugar.  Blitz until all ingredients are combined into a thick paste, pushing the mixture down the sides of the bowl if needed.  Add the salt and pepper and blitz once more.

In a large frying pan, heat the oil and stir-fry the chicken over medium-high heat until it is no longer pink.  Add the curry paste and let it simmer with the chicken about 3 minutes.

Pour the coconut milk into a large measuring cup and add 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, whisking to combine.  Pour over the chicken curry mixture and simmer gently about 4 minutes, being sure not to overcook it.

Ladle the curry into bowls and serve with jasmine rice.  You can sprinkle some fresh basil and cilantro leaves over the top as an optional garnish.

Thai Green Curry with Jasmine Rice