wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (07/10/85)
I love curries. A friend told me how to use the little packets of Thai curry paste you find in oriental markets, at least in general terms, so I can now use one variety to make a rather tasty and blazing hot beef-and-green-bean curry. (Unfortunately, I only recognize this type by sight, so I can't describe it for the net. These packets I refer to are the little cellophane ones, usually found tied together with red plastic string, and which contain a teaspoon or so of curry paste folded in another piece of cellophane inside the packet. Two make a nice hot curry. Anybody have any advice as to the names and uses of the other versions of the curry pastes, packaged the same way but slightly different in color [I use the dark red variety]?) Anyway, to get around to the point of this posting, there are also canned Thai curry pastes, put up in tiny little cans (the size of small devilled-ham cans). I bought one of these and tried making a leftover-pork curry with it -- it tasted OK, but was *hot* (whew!); what I think was the problem was that these cans are meant to make some larger amount of curry, and I made only an ordinary pot-full. Does anyone out there use these canned curry pastes, and, if so, how much meat and veggies do you use to a can of paste? (I think it could flavor a garbage-can full, actually, but maybe they're meant for a stockpot-full or so.) (Do you ever use less than a can-full, and refrigerate or othrwise save the rest?) Also, these curries come in multitudinous varieties. The labels are all in Thai, except for an english ingredients-list sticker, and the people at the local oriental markets don't seem terribly knowledgeable or interested in explaining the differences between them to a bumbling Westerner (me), or maybe there is just a language problem. Anyway, any advice as to which should be used with what would be appreciated. The nearest I've found to a distinction between them is that some have shrimp as an ingredient, and I am guessing that those are best used for seafood curries, so I get the others (I primarily want to use beef or pork). Is that a correct assumption, or am I off-base here? And, finally, here is my generic curry recipe: Brown a bunch of cut-up beef, or warm up some cut-up leftover roast pork. Add *lots* of chopped onions, garlic, and ginger root. Cook until the onions are soft. Put in curry paste (see above) and a can of coconut milk. Add a drained can of bamboo shoots. Cook for a while, if you used fresh beef, or just a bit, if you used already-cooked pork. Then add some frozen chopped green beans, and cook until they are how you want them. Serve with rice, various soy sauces to confuse the guests, and Thai chili sauce to make it even hotter. I haven't tried it, but I would think you could easily use cubed tofu instead of the meat to be vegetarian, or just add some for extra goodies if you're an omnivore. Suggestions for modifications and additions welcomed! Regards, Will Martin USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA
keith@gargoyle.UUCP (Keith Waclena) (07/16/85)
<> I use canned Thai curry paste frequently; in my local Thai grocery there are several colors/flavors, but I generally use green or red. My basic recipe comes from _The Original Thai Cookbook_ by Jennifer Brennan (title approximate). It goes roughly like this: Bring 2 cups of thick coconut milk to a simmer in a saucepan or wok. Add 3 tablespoons of curry paste (about 1/2 of a cat food-sized can) and simmer until the oil separates out of the coconut milk. At this point toss in 1/2 lb cubed meat and simmer til no longer pink. Then add 2 cups of thin coconut milk and simmer until the flavors meld. At the time you add the thin milk you can add various veggies. I like peas in a green chicken curry, and Chinese long beans (green beans that are about a foot and a half long, cut into manageable lengths) in red beef curry. Bamboo shoots are nice in the latter too. Basically, though, any veg you want goes in at this point, timed to allow them to cook proportionately. At the end toss in 2 or 3 shredded green or red fresh chillies (to match the color of the paste), and some chopped fresh coriander leaves. Serves 2 hungry people if accompanied by rice alone. Note that this recipe is from memory; I highly reccomend Brennan's book. Some minor points follow. The heat depends very much on how fast you simmer the dish; I tend to cook the above quantity down almost 50%. It tastes fine to me, but it *is* too hot for some. I tend to keep this style of curry fairly simple, modelled on the ones I have in the local Thai restaurants. Many of the more complex curries in Brennan's book are not based on pastes. The local restaurants make a yellow chicken curry from the yellow paste that is very Indian; it contains sweet spices and potatoes. I make coconut milk from dried (if I'm feeling cheap) or frozen grated coconut (unsweetened) using water instead of milk (to cut calories; you could use skim milk, I suppose). This is less rich but healthier than canned coconut milk (coconut milk is very high in saturated fats). Brennan gives directions for making the milk. -- Keith -- Keith Waclena Graduate Library School University of Chicago uucp: ..!ihnp4!gargoyle!keith CSNet: keith@UChicago.CSNet ARPA: keith@UChicago.ARPA Bitnet: kdw1%sphinx@uchicago.bitnet