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« VWK Leftovers: September 2013 |Main| Thai Yellow Curry with Beef and Potatoes Recipe (Kaeng Karii) »
October 01, 2013Thai Yellow Curry Paste Recipe
When I don’t understand a particular dish, I make it. Howelse would I figure out the flavors of something like Thai yellow curry? Likemany cooks, I have mostly relied on tubs or cans of Thai curry paste. The yellow curryis one that I’ve avoided after trying it just once years ago. It was bland andinsignificant seeming.
Last week, after reading an October 2013 Saveur magazine story on Thai curry bychef/restaurateur Andy Ricker, Idecided to give Thai yellow curry another chance. I’d purchased a tub of fudgy Thaishrimp paste months earlier and the other ingredients were within reach. Itwasn’t the Trachang brand that Ricker called for but I wasn’t aboutto drive 30 minutes to an Asian market for one ingredient.
Neither did I have the Tiparos brand of fish saucethat he prefers. I used what I had, which was MegaChef brown label, formulated for Thai kitchens. (Other premium fish sauces like Red Boat or IHA would work too.) If you don’t have Thai shrimp paste (kapi), use asmaller quantity of mam tom (fine shrimpsauce), a stronger cousin. Lemongrass, galangal, ginger, and curry powder were all sold at my local health food markets. What the heck, I gave it a try.
It took nearly 2 hours to produce about 2 cups of headyyellow curry paste – which can be refrigerated for weeks or frozen for months. Themost time consuming tasks were roasting the aromatics. Traditionally, theroasting was done atop a brazier so the cast-iron skillet and foil sort ofmimic that. Peeling galangal was no easy or fun task either. (The galangal I boughtat Whole Foods was tough to deal with.) Prepping lemongrass for the foodprocessor wasn’t a quick and easy thing either.
That said, good food requires aninvestment of time. I reminded myself that without the processor, the paste would be pounded with a heavy stone mortar and pestle. I couldn’t have bought a paste like this one made fromRicker’s recipe.
I could smell layer upon layer offragrance and flavor. It was much more complex than the pastes I’d bought,which all suddenly seemed one-note. The Thai yellow curry paste had much promise. Istarted wondering how many Thai restaurants make their own curry pastes versusbuy them. Thai markets and Costco-like retailers like LAX-C in Los Angeles sell large containers of curry pastes. Freshly made curry pastes certainly are superior to their purchasedkin. I was sold as it was worth it.
When I proudly showed my husband the paste, he asked, “So are wehaving this for dinner tonight?”
“Are you kidding? I’m wiped out ,” I responded. “Tomorrownight I’ll make the curry.” Stay tuned for the Thai yellow curry with beef andpotato recipe.
Recipe
Thai Yellow CurryPaste
Yield: about 2cups
Ingredients
2 medium regular shallots or 6 small red Asian shallots,unpeeled2 small heads garlic, unpeeled3-inch (7.5-cm) section galangal, peeled and thinly sliced(2 oz / 60 g net)2-inch (5-cm) section ginger, peeled and thinly sliced (1.5oz / 45 g)1 generous teaspoon coriander seeds20 dried red Thai chiles or Mexican chiles de arbol, stemmedand roughly chopped5 large stalks lemongrass, trimmed, and cut into thinhalf-moons (about 6.5 oz / 195 g net)2 tablespoons ground turmeric1 tablespoon mild curry powder, unsalted preferred2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro stems or roots2 tablespoons Thai shrimp paste or 1 1/2 tablespoons fineshrimp sauce (mam tom)1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt or 2 1/4 teaspoons regular saltInstructions
Wrap the shallots and garlic in two separate foil packages. Heata medium or large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Pan roast theshallots and garlic in the skillet for 25 to 30 minutes, turning 3 or 4 times,until soft; poke with a blunt object to test. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes,until easy to handle, then peel and roughly chop; cut the garlic in half anduse a knife tip to dislodge the garlic. Set aside.Arrange the galangal and ginger in a flat layer on a pieceof foil, wrap it up into a flat package. Cook until soft over medium-high heat,5 to 7 minutes, flipping midway; set aside to cool. Meanwhile, toast thecoriander seeds in the skillet over medium heat until fragrant and a few pop.Cool, then pound using a mortar and pestle.While the aromatics roast and toast, soak the chopped chilesin 2 cups hot water for 15 minutes, until soft. Save 2 tablespoons of theliquid before draining the chiles and discarding the remaining liquid. Put thechiles in the bowl of a food processor. Add the lemongrass, and roastedgalangal and ginger. Run the machine to chop, pausing to scrape down the sides.Add the shallot, garlic, coriander, turmeric, curry,cilantro, shrimp paste, and salt. Run the machine until finely chopped. Add thereserved chile soaking liquid. Run the machine until relatively smooth andpaste-like. Transfer to a jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Or, freeze forseveral months. Return to room temperature before using.Related posts:
Stinkybut Stealthily Good: Fine Shrimp Sauce (mam tom) – a primer on this Vietpantry ingredientThai Yellow Curry with Beef and Potatoes -- how to use this curry pastePosted in Recipes: All, Recipes: Basic Sauces, Stocks and Garnishes, Recipes: Gluten-Free , Recipes: Thai | Permalink | |
| Comments Thai Yellow Curry Paste Recipe
When I don’t understand a particular dish, I make it. Howelse would I figure out the flavors of something like Thai yellow curry? Likemany cooks, I have mostly relied on tubs or cans of Thai curry paste. The yellow curryis one that I’ve avoided after trying it just once years ago. It was bland andinsignificant seeming.
Last week, after reading an October 2013 Saveur magazine story on Thai curry bychef/restaurateur Andy Ricker, Idecided to give Thai yellow curry another chance. I’d purchased a tub of fudgy Thaishrimp paste months earlier and the other ingredients were within reach. Itwasn’t the Trachang brand that Ricker called for but I wasn’t aboutto drive 30 minutes to an Asian market for one ingredient.
Neither did I have the Tiparos brand of fish saucethat he prefers. I used what I had, which was MegaChef brown label, formulated for Thai kitchens. (Other premium fish sauces like Red Boat or IHA would work too.) If you don’t have Thai shrimp paste (kapi), use asmaller quantity of mam tom (fine shrimpsauce), a stronger cousin. Lemongrass, galangal, ginger, and curry powder were all sold at my local health food markets. What the heck, I gave it a try.
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