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.

Thai Green Eggplants and Basil

THAI GREEN EGGPLANTS

Kermit Eggplants (Solanum melongena); with Thai Basil Prunings

The Eggplants are producing! I have plenty now for four servings of spicy and delicious Thai Green Curry. The recipe will be included in the next installment. 

As with other eggplants, the fruits are best when picked at full size but before they are fully mature. On my plants, the sizes are ranging from a big concord grape to a golf ball.  Some of my smaller ones might have grown more if given the chance, but I think it's better to pick them too early than too late. These eggplants are usually available in Asian specialty stores where they range a little larger. They can be round or egg-shaped, depending on the variety.  If you're buying in a store, look for firm, glossy fruits with little to no yellowing. The stems and caps should be fresh and green, perhaps with a little purple at the edges like you see on mine. If the stems don't look as fresh as this, they are still good to use as long as the fruits themselves are firm, unwrinkled and shiny. Avoid any fruits that have spots that seem to go deeper than the skin or soft areas. 

Freshly picked fruits will keep for several days. Put them into a plastic bag loosely closed for ventilation and keep refrigerated in the vegetable crisper. Don't wash or cut until you're ready to use them. When I prepare these, I wait until the last moment to cut the eggplant, to minimize the potential for discoloration. Eggplants have an enzyme that activates when it is cut, that causes it to turn brown.

Unlike the Mediterranean variety of eggplant that requires special treatment with salt to remove bitterness, these have a sweet, light flavor with no trace of bitterness. They are also less spongy in texture, having a higher water content, yet they do absorb flavors well. These should be  fully cooked until tender. The skins will be too tough if you try to treat them like broccoli in a stir-fry.

Above you can see on the right that one of the fruits had started turning a creamy-yellow color. The yellowing indicates ripening seeds inside.This one is okay to eat but I like them best with no yellow.

THAI BASIL

Thai Basil (Ocimum basilicum) "Queen of Siam"

My Thai basil wants to bloom, especially since it is starting to get hot. I remove the buds to hold it back from blooming and to encourage a compact, bushy shape.  Even if you don't eat them, the handsome plants have great ornamental value. The flowers are attractive to beneficial insects. Basil in general is unfazed by summer heat, as long as they have  enough water and some protection from our intense afternoon desert sun. Thai basil is distinguished from Italian basil by its distinctive lance-shaped leaves, dark purple stems and flower buds, and striking light purple and white flowers. The flavor of Thai basil is similar to other types of sweet basil but has a more pronounced licorice/anise aroma and flavor that holds up well when used in cooked dishes.  

Since my first and only introduction to both of these foods came by way of Thai green curry, I am interested in trying some other recipes. I have come across a Thai Basil Sangria recipe that sounds good, and another recipe for a Thai Green Eggplant with Basil dish which I might try.  A couple of weeks ago I used some of my green eggplants in a caponata recipe. It was really delicious. I adapted this Caponata recipe from Epicurious, using fresh tomatoes instead of canned, adding some golden raisins instead of sugar, and of course, using my little Thai eggplants and skipping the salting step. Yum, I think I'll make that again soon.

The Power of Attraction

Parsley (Petroselinum hortense) Flower Detail

I'm slowly working on attracting wildlife into my very small garden. One group of creatures I'm trying to attract are the "beneficials." Whether they happen to be insects, birds, lizards, earthworms, or what have you, the beneficials perform useful services in the garden such as eating the pests that damage plants (or would otherwise bug me), pollinating fruits and vegetables, or improving the soil.  In order for them to be happy in my yard they need a habitat that (1) doesn't kill them; and (2) provides food, water, shelter, and the right conditions for reproduction. Tiny beneficial insects may not seem very much like "wildlife," but I think they are essential to a diverse and balanced ecosystem that supports the health of plants and animals that we all enjoy having in the yard.

Some of the best plants for attracting small-scale beneficials are those that bear tiny individual flowers such as those on the parsley plant above. Parsley, like its cousins, bears loose, umbrella-like flower heads that rise high above the plant on tall stems. Each flower head has more stems that hold up more, smaller flower heads that hold yet more stems, each bearing aloft a tiny flower that invites correspondingly tiny flying insects to come for dinner. This large flower head is about 3.5 inches across. The small flower head on which the wasp is resting is about half an inch across. 

 Wasp Sipping Nectar from Parsley Blossom

Other flowers that at first glance may look like one big flower are actually also composed of many small flowers in one flower head. Many of these, some more than others, are very attractive to our useful little visitors. Sunflowers, daisies, zinnias and cosmos are just a few examples. When you grow these for cut flowers, cut them as soon as they bloom for taking indoors, and they won't be 'buggy.' But leave a few outside and let the beneficials use them, and they'll thank you. These and lots of others like them are easy to grow in pots or in the ground in most any garden. 

One of the easiest and best-known flowers for attracting beneficials is sweet alyssum. This plant serves other functions as well. When they fill in an area, they act as a living mulch, keeping weeds at bay. They will self-sow and return again in the fall, and/or the following spring.

Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)

It is a privilege to glimpse the secret world of small, usually unseen things in the garden, and to know how important they are for the health of the whole landscape. I hope you too will be inspired to add something to your landscape to encourage local wildlife.

Cilantro/Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) Bloom detail

Well Met May

Thai Eggplant "Kermit" blossom

This pretty little blossom greeted me so happily this first day of May! There are a few of these growing in pots in my Phoenix garden. This particular plant was started from seed last spring. It grew and produced all summer, then went dormant over the winter. I moved it to a large planter until this spring, when it began to grow again. Now back in a pot, this plant should thrive in the heat and produce little eggplants all summer long, as long as I keep it well watered and make sure it gets afternoon shade.

A couple of years ago, my daughter went to Thailand with our church youth group. As part of our introduction to Thai culture, we were privileged to eat some delicious, homemade Thai food prepared by a lovely Thai American woman who, along with her husband, helped lead the trip and served as liaison. One of the dishes she prepared was a fiery green curry prepared with beef, coconut milk, and featuring small, round, green eggplants with white stripes. I was inspired to try my hand at cooking Thai food at home. The only problem was that I found it difficult to source some of the authentic fresh ingredients for the dishes. My solution: grow your own!

The Phoenix, Arizona desert climate is hot, dry, and challenging for gardeners during summer, but the fresh Thai ingredients needed for my intended curry can all grow well here.  In addition to the eggplants, I have a dwarf Kaffir lime tree, purchased online last spring and growing in a pot, and some Thai basil in a pot. The basil herb plant was available at our local garden center, and is as easy to grow as ordinary basil, as I learned last year. Everything else I need can be found in an Asian market and my local grocery at any time.

I am determined to make Thai green curry with fresh authentic ingredients grown at home. The only reason why I did not make the curry last year was because I simply could not find Kaffir lime leaves, and my tree was barely a stick and did not yet have leaves for harvesting. But now, everything is ready; I just have to wait for the eggplants.  Among many other wonderful things, gardening teaches you patience.

To garden is to have hope for the future.

An Elephant Ride in Thailand