Thursday, June 2, 2011

Red Thai Shrimp Curry

I have always loved Curry and eating Thai food is one of my favorites. However, I was always intimidated when it came to cooking it. I was ecstatic when I came across this recipe in Fine Cooking.While visiting my friend Renee in Austin, I discovered that this recipe was easy to create, fun to cook with friends and tastes delicious!! And the best part of it all is that the possibilities are endless. Here is my take on the recipe.


Red Thai Shrimp Curry
Serving Size 4

Ingredients:
1- 13.5 oz can coconut milk
1/4 cup red curry paste
1 cup lower salt chicken broth
1 lb shrimp
6 whole leaves: fresh or thawed frozen wild lime leaves +1 tbs. (substitute 1 tsp. finely grated lime zest)
three 1/8 inch thick slices fresh ginger
1 cup bamboo shoots
1/2 cup shitake mushrooms
1/2 cup Japanese/ Chinese eggplant
1 cup bok choy
2 tbs. light brown sugar
1 tsp. fish sauce
1 cup basil

Make the curry paste:
Shake the can of coconut milk. In a 4 quart saucepan over medium heat, simmer 1/2 cup of the coconut milk stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, about 3-5 minutes.
Add curry paste, whisk well and cook, continuing to Wisk, for 1 minute. Whisk in the broth and the remaining coconut milk. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat.

Once the curry paste is simmering, add in the lime leaves and ginger for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer for an additional 3 minutes. Add in the brown sugar and the fish sauce. Add in the eggplant and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Add in the shitake mushrooms and simmer for an additional 3 minutes. Add in the bamboo shoots and bok choy and simmer for 1 minute.

Remove the curry from the heat add in basil and 1 tbs. lime leaves. Enjoy!

An interesting tool for creating a wide variety of Thai Curry dishes can be found online at http://www.finecooking.com/articles/cyor/thai-curry.aspx

*Recipe retrieved from Fine Cooking Magazine.