Good evening it’s dinnertime around here who’s ready for some Thai curry ! There are five different types of Thai curry I grew up with that my mother and father always cooked. My mother is Thai and my father is English /Dutch. My father was in Thailand during his two tours in Vietnam and he cooked a lot. It was when he was courting my mom that he learned Thai cooking from her family.Both my parents are incredible cooks and growing up as a child all of my friends were white. Thai food wasn’t as hip as it is today and I can remember not wanting to carry Massaman curry for lunch and trying to trade that for a bologna sandwich in first grade. So not happening lol My best friend and only friend who dared eat with me at lunch was a Lebanese girl, Anita who’s food might have been smellier than mine just a tad… Fish sauce and crab paste are hard to beat though!! Anyway back to curries! I made Massman but my personal favorite is Red curry. Green curry has become bitter tasting to me but I still love it and the yellow is fragrant and mild. It’s comforting to me. In order of spiciness we have:
1.Green Curry I usually cook this with veggies only. I make proteins but keep them on the side because veggies seem to just really soak up how spicy these green chilis can be! I use mostly Eggplant with this curry it really soaks up the flavor! Eggplant, Zucchini, baby corn that’s it so good!
2.Red curry which is my favorite curry! It’s spicy but rich and sweet. It’s the perfect mix! Red curry paste is Thai Red Chilies, crushed with garlic, lemongrass, shallots, ginger, and fish sauce. For protein I use chicken, tofu or shrimp with usually zucchini, spinach, or kale.I only use two combinations so I would do shrimp and kale or chicken and spinach or tofu and zucchini. To me adding too many things doesn’t allow you to taste all the different flavors and spices!
3.Yellow curry is mild and rich. This is my “baby Curry ” Many people I know who don’t care for too much spice or just want something exotic but can’t climb to even a medium level (BELIEVE ME there are peeps) I cook this one. The base of this paste is turmeric, cumin, mustard seed, nutmeg, kaffir lime leaves and lime juice. This I cook with pretty much the same two ingredients chicken and Potato. Similar to this curry is Massaman, it’s Indian influenced with cinnamon, cloves and peanut flavors. It’s not spicy at all it’s more sweet and also very comforting.
So how do you cook these curries! Well there is a pretty easy formula and it’s like this. Use The curry Pastes. Don’t try to make it from scratch. I mean if you WANT to by all means but the Curry pastes already have all you need, you can even get two, three maybe even four uses out of the canned curry pastes! If you do want to make your own curry paste from scratch my favorite Thai Chef Pai from http://youtube.com/@PailinsKitchen has an incredible Thai cooking channel that I often find myself going to since I don’t have my Mom around . I photographed the two brands I use. The one in the can Maseri does NOT have any Fish, crab or shrimp paste in it. It’s suitable for vegans and like I said it’s just the chilies and spices grounded into the paste. boom done. The one in the pouch is also a great brand BUT some of them like the Tom Ka and a few of the soup pastes have MSG or fish / shrimp pastes in them.. Yea Not NO I can’t do either… This is where I’m considered “Fake Thai ” lol MSG a flavor enhancer is common in asian foods and it makes me itch so bad so I really rake over the labels to make sure it’s MSG free!! I also found this brand called “Roland ” and it’s from Malaysia. I was shopping at the mercado in Costa Rica and I found many of my curry pastes and just asian sauces in general!! It’s funny I have to shop for my Thai groceries every time I travel to another country NOT home in Italy. Crazy right? This Roland brand I bought the Yellow Curry Paste and the Sweet Thai Chili Sauce which is SO tasty for dipping egg rolls, spring rolls, dumplings, gyoza, chicken satay, I mean just pour it all over your plate. Now I’m getting hungry …I will have some more amazing recipes for you guys XO Enjoy!
- Heat your pan or pot with a little sesame oil and add a one teaspoon of curry paste. Sauté this together for a minute , you want to release the herbs , spices and aromatics into the oil. Now add some veggie broth. I use a veggie bouillon cube and about one cup water let that simmer.
- Then add your coconut milk.If you use fresh lemon grass you will want to peel off the outer stalks until you get to the inside fresh fragrant ones. Cut lengthwise into small pieces and boil them in the beginning when you add your water- veggie broth. You can also cut up extra pieces of ginger and boil it at this time. Lemon grass takes time to cook so if using fresh add it at the beginning.
- Curry cooks fast about 10 minutes let it boil but not a hard boil for a maximum of 15 minutes from the time you start your sauté .You don’t want to overcook your veggies and the coconut milk will have a “burnt” taste. If you want to add lime juice do it at the end after you’ve turned off the heat . You want to taste the freshness of the lime juice .
- I always cook my proteins separately. Chicken (not gonna front) I buy a roasted whole chicken normally and shred it up and keep it in a bowl. I’m not good at cooking meat so I just like never do it and buying a whole chicken already roasted just makes my life easier. Plus if your just cooking for yourself you have a few meals!! Tofu I just fry for a few minutes in sesame oil, same with prawns and maybe add a touch of salt and pepper.
- So do you eat curry with Rice or noodles.? Well I love rice stick and glass noodles with my red and green curries. Rice goes great with the green curry, eggplant, and some chicken.
- Experiment a bit!! Now that you know how to put all these flavors together you will find combos that suit you!! XO Tera