Thai Green Curry

Summer is finally here! We had some hot weather this week and it really made me want to cook something spicy and fresh. All of the local herbs and aromatics are starting to show up at the market, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity for a green curry. This is a coconut milk curry, flavored by a freshly ground herb and spice paste. When you’re shopping for your herbs, there are a few classics to look out for, but this recipe is really open to anything fresh and green. I picked out the best looking stuff at the market and ended up with basil, coriander, lemongrass, scallion, and jalapeno. Like most Thai curries, this one also has ginger, garlic, coriander seed, and black pepper. I’ve also added a little fennel seed to bring out the bright fresh flavor of the greens. For me this dish is all about the sauce, so I like to use steamed jasmine rice, and vegetables with a subtle flavor that won’t overwhelm the herbs. This time I went with napa cabbage, tofu, potatoes, and cashews. Many times I’ll roast my potatoes to concentrate their flavor, but I actually boiled them in this recipe to keep them a little quieter. This curry gets even more summery at plating time with the addition of cucumber and lime!

 

Ingredients:

green curry paste:

1 bunch coriander leaf, roughly chopped (stems and all)
1 bunch basil, roughly chopped (stems here too, just not the really big ones)
2 jalapenos, seeded and sliced
2 scallions, sliced
1 lemongrass stalk, sliced
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tsp ginger, nicely chopped
1 tsp coriander seed
3/4 tsp fennel seed
10 black peppercorns
2 tsp sesame oil

veggies:

~2 cups napa cabbage, in bite size chunks
3 yukon gold potatoes, boiled 20 minutes, and then cut into big chunks
1lb extra firm tofu, cubed and pressed
1/2 cup dry roasted, unsalted cashews
1 small cucumber, cubed

sauce:

1 shallot, sliced
1 green bell pepper, diced
13.5 oz can of coconut milk
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
limes, sliced in half
veggie oil

Curry Paste:

I like to put my paste together in a mortar and pestle as it gives you a bit more control over the final product. In many recipes the extra effort is really worth it, but luckily this isn’t one of them. If you want to save some time here, go ahead and use a food processor, it’ll still be delicious. The food processor will also let you be a little more lax about chopping your stringy veggies. Whatever method you use, start with the seeds and peppercorns, and get them most of the way to a powder. Then go for the ginger, garlic, and lemongrass, as they’re a bit more tough. When you’ve got a nice paste going, add in everything else. In the end I like my paste a little coarse, it makes the final sauce a bit more varied from bite to bite and rustic looking. If you want a really polished gourmet sort of presentation instead, you can blend the paste until it’s entirely homogeneous. They’ll both taste great! When you’re happy with your texture, add in the sesame oil and combine well.

Cabbage:

The cabbage just gets quickly stirfried, and then we can move right on to the curry. Heat a wok or large non-stick pan on high heat, and add a little veggie oil. When the oil is smoking, add in the cabbage and give it a few tosses to distribute the oil. Let it sit and pick up a little color before you toss it again. You’re looking to just barely cook it, brown on one side and heated through, nothing more. It’ll probably only take 30-45 seconds or so. When it’s cooked, set it aside for later.

The Sauce:

We’ll start the sauce with some aromatics. Return the pan to high heat with some more oil, and add the bell pepper. Give it a quick shake to evenly distribute the oil, and then let the pepper sizzle for about 30 seconds. Add the shallot and toss frequently until it’s got a nice golden color.

Add in the tofu with a little more oil, and stirfry until it starts to brown. This takes like 1 and a half to 2 minutes, tossing every 15-20 seconds. I don’t like to put too much of a fry on the tofu in this recipe because it tends to take it away from fresh and toward dark and savory. When you’ve got a color that you’re happy with, add in your paste.

Stir the paste around continuously, taking care not to rough the tofu up. As the paste cooks, the liquid will boil out of it, imparting flavor to the tofu on the way. Listen for the water content in the paste… it will start out quiet, and then boil fiercely. As the amount of water reduces, the boiling will turn to a sizzling / frying. When it’s about equal boiling to frying, add in your coconut milk. We’re not trying to toast this paste, as you might with a red curry, it’s important to keep this one tasting fresh and green. Bring the coconut milk up to a boil, stirring constantly, and then lower the heat to medium.

Add in your sugar and soy sauce, stir to combine, and then add the potatoes. Pour in enough water to almost submerge them. This dish is essentially done when the potatoes are done, figure about 10-15 minutes. Keep boiling everything on medium heat the whole time, stirring occasionally, allowing the sauce to reduce. After about 10 minutes, start stabbing the potatoes with a fork every now and then to test the texture.

When the potatoes are just about cooked all the way through, toss in your cashews. They’ll need about 2 or 3 minutes to just soften a little. Now’s a good time to guess at how much sauce you’ll have left as well. For this particular dish, I like to have some liquid left at the end, as opposed to all of the sauce just coating the veggies. If you think you’re going to have too much liquid, you can turn up the heat to force a little more out. If it looks like it’s not enough, add a little bit of water. You don’t really want to be turning the heat down at this point, because we’ll soon be adding veggies that will need some heating.

When you’re just about ready to take the pan off the heat, mix in the stir fried cabbage and cucumber chunks. Allow them to spend just enough time on the heat to equalize temperature, and then serve! You can squeeze lime juice over the entire thing, but I prefer to put half a lime on each plate and leave it to the taster.