Comfort Food, Thai Style

Thai Green Curry

With just a few ingredients and an easy procedure, this simple version of Thai Green Curry makes an ideal introduction to Thai cuisine for those who enjoy hot and spicy foods. It has heat and richness, a fresh citrus perfume, a slight sweetness and deeply savory complex flavor and aroma that is a delight to experience. Rice noodles make the perfect accompaniment, but it could also be served with rice.

The flavor foundation for this type of curry is the curry paste. Ingredients for an authentic flavor include: Hot green chilies, lemongrass, garlic, shallots, galangal (which sort of looks like ginger), shrimp paste, Kaffir lime peel, and coriander root.  The paste is made by pounding the ingredients together in a mortar until the individual components are not recognizable and the paste has a homogeneous consistency. In Thailand, curry pastes are made fresh by hand to be sold in the marketplace, or a cook may prepare it at home. We can enjoy the benefit of having this exotic preparation readily available. To buy the curry paste and fresh vegetables needed for this dish, you will probably need to visit a market that carries Asian specialty foods. It will not work well to try to make substitutions.

Clockwise from bottom left: Kaffir lime leaves, Thai green eggplants, Thai basil, fish sauce, green curry paste, rice vermicelli, coconut milk, flank steak, palm sugar

 Palm sugar comes from the sap of the coconut palm tree. It is sometimes available fresh and moist, but I can only seem to get the dried cakes. Here in the dry desert environment the cakes become very hard, so I grate the amount needed using a cheese grater designed for hard cheeses. You can usually shave off pieces using a knife if it's not that dried out.

 The flank steak pictured above was 2 lbs. I cut the roll in half across the middle, along the grain, and put one half away for another use. To slice, unroll the steak. Wash and pat dry. Cut in half lengthwise, with the grain. Then cut thin slices across the grain.

THAI GREEN CURRY - Serves 4-6

1 Lb. thinly sliced beef or pork (may use diced chicken, fish, or peeled shrimp**)

Fish Sauce

1 Can Coconut milk, not stirred or shaken

¼ cup Green Curry Paste

5-6 Kaffir Lime Leaves

½ Cup Water

2 Cups (about 300 g.)Thai Eggplant, trimmed.

½ Cup Fresh Thai Basil

1 Tablespoon Palm sugar

Rice Vermicelli

1. Place sliced meat, chicken or seafood in a bowl and coat with fish sauce to season. Cover and set aside.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. While skillet is heating, open the can of coconut milk and spoon off the cream, about a third to half the can, into the large skillet. Stir occasionally while heating until oil separates and the creamy part congeals together.This may take about 10 minutes.
3. Add Green Curry Paste. Mix well to combine with coconut cream. To reduce spattering, remove from heat while mixing paste into the coconut.
4. Add meat; stir and cook until no longer pink.**
5. Crush and tear lime leaves to release citrus aroma and stir in.
6. Add remaining coconut milk from the can and ½ cup water. Bring to boil.
7. Meanwhile, cut Eggplants into bite size dice and add to curry. Reduce heat. Simmer until eggplant is tender. 
8. Remove lime leaves if desired. Add Palm Sugar and Thai basil; mix well. Remove from heat. Test for seasoning; use a little more fish sauce if additional saltiness is needed.

**(If using chicken, do not add until after eggplant is ¾ of the way cooked, during step 6. If fish or seafood, add after eggplant is tender, at the end of step 7. Continue cooking just till protein is fully cooked before moving to step 8.)

Cook 4 servings of rice vermicelli according to package directions. Rinse and drain; portion individually on a platter or into individual bowls. Ladle curry over noodles as desired.

Notes:
Canned coconut milk can differ in quality, and some have ingredients added that prevent the separation of the oil from the proteins during cooking.  The brand I use has only guar gum added to the coconut and water, which does not interfere with natural separation. If your coconut milk doesn't separate, you can brown the meat and curry paste in a tablespoon of oil, then add all the coconut milk at step 6.


This is a dish that can be eaten right away or prepared in advance. Leftovers are great for lunch the next day.