Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Thai Shrimp Curry





For some reason I have never been a fan of Emeril.    Perhaps it is the fact that I have never liked his TV show and all the distractions,  Why a band and all those Bams!?  I just want to concentrate on the food.  Give me the serenity of a functional kitchen and a good recipe and I am in pig heaven.   I have to admit that some of his recipes, like this old Thai favorite, can be intriguing.  So I made it. And I liked it.  So did my guests.

When I try a new recipe the first thing I do is check for authenticity, particularly if it is one I have never had before.  On the metrics this recipe was right on.    I did add the mushrooms, something I saw on one of my favorite Asian cooking blogs, Steamy Kitchen.  Careful, though, if you are squeamish about the heat.  Try 2 TB of red curry paste first and go from there.  You can always sneak some in at the end if it's too mild for your taste.

Thai curry paste can be readily found in the Asian section of your grocery store.



Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons peanut oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped shallots
  • 1 large red bell pepper, cut into strips
  • 2 medium carrots, trimmed and shredded
  • 6 oz. Japanese trumpet mushrooms or shitaakes*
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 3 tablespoons Thai Red Curry Paste, recipe follows
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 2 teaspoons palm sugar or light brown sugar
  • 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
  • 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 3 tablespoons chopped Thai basil leaves
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • Cooked jasmine rice, accompaniment
  • Sprigs fresh cilantro, garnish

Directions

In a large wok or saute pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, bell peppers, mushrooms, carrots, and garlic, and stir-fry until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stirring, add the fish sauce and sugar, then the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Simmer until thickened slightly, about 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring, until pink and just cooked through, about 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the basil and cilantro.

Serve over jasmine rice, garnished with cilantro sprigs

*not in the original recipe

All photos Lindaraxa

6 comments:

  1. The colors in this dish are so pretty and thanks for the tip on the heat of the red curry paste. I learned a lot from Emeril before he became an entertainer, which is what I think of the Live with Doc Gibbs and the band. In the early days of the Food Network he had a show where he was the only one in the kitchen and talked about technique and how to cook rather than entertaining and shouting Bam all of the time. This could have been one of those dishes.
    Sam

    ReplyDelete
  2. That makes sense.

    I was amazed at how well the photos came out. Now I have to work on the white balance. Just bought a bunch of props. The things one has to do to be a food blogger.....

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  3. Looks and sounds wonderful---I will try it out this weekend!
    From the photographs it appears that the carrots are julienned.
    The recipe reads " shredded", which I suppose would make sense
    as carrots take longer to lose their raw firmness than do peppers--
    though as I type those words it occurs to me that they probably cook
    at the same rate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Toby,

      When I went to get the carrots, something we always keep in the fridge, to my horror none were to be found except the ones that my daughter uses on her salads. To my surprise they plumped up and came out julienned. Only you would notice! Lol

      Delete
  4. Thai curry is good and very delicious. But my favorite is Mughlai Paneer , its a very good curry dishes and also available online.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will have to try. Thank you for your comment.

      Delete

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