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« Thai Yellow Curry Paste Recipe |Main| My Q&A with 5th Graders »
October 03, 2013Thai Yellow Curry with Beef and Potatoes Recipe (Kaeng Karii)
Over the weekend, I used Pok Pok chef/owner Andy Ricker’s recipe for Thai beefand potato yellow curry in the October issue of Saveur magazine. I’d spentquite some time making his Thai yellow curry paste so I wanted to use the curryand see what else I could glean from his recipes.
First off, I’d somehow assumed that yellow curry was onlyfor chicken (Viet folks make similar kinds of yellow curry with chicken andpotato) but Ricker prescribed beef and a long simmering in unseasoned coconutmilk. I was curious about the pairing of beef in a Southeast Asian curry.Perhaps it would lend depth to the mellow yellow curry paste?
Cooking the beefin coconut milk reminded me of how Italian bolognese sauce requires simmeringground meat in milk and white wine. The result would no doubt be rich, despitethe small amount of meat involved. Smart low-meat cooking.
Another thing that intrigued me about Ricker’s recipe wasthe notion of “cracking” coconut cream (what you get at the top when thecontainer of coconut milk is left to sit for 1 or 2 days). That is, the thickcoconut cream is cooked until the solids disappeared and the oil remained. Thena good cup of the paste went into the pot and fried. Yes, a cup of paste seemedlike a heck of a lot but I’d tasted the paste and it was not frighteninglystrong. (Maybe the stuff from the stores are made to be extra strong?)
Crackingand frying the curry paste made sense. A number of Malaysian and Indonesian seasoningpastes are often fried to meld flavors before the protein and liquid are added.And, using the natural sweet nuttiness of coconut oil ties the entire dishtogether, kind of like rendering chicken fat for a chicken and rice claypot.
Ricker also called for adding water to second simmering. Hiscurry promised to be lighter, runnier than what you’d normally get at Thairestaurants. Runny curries are what I remember from eating in Chiang Mai in theearly 1990s. We sat down at a market curry stall, pointed to a couple of curry potsand the vendor dished it up on tin plates. At room temperature, the curry wasethereal tasting, not thick and creamy. You tasted the curry paste’s nuancedflavors and it didn’t weigh you down.
I always let my curries rest before serving. With the Thaiyellow curry, we ate it in a near-tepid state with rice, boiled grean beans andsome sliced cucumber for refreshing crunch; I also made canh, a clear Vietquick soup.
A batch of this curry yielded about 8 servings and afterreading Austin Bush’s piece on kaengkarii, I added a side of chiles and soy sauce to subsequent meals of Thaiyellow curry. We mixed them into the rice and curry at the table for spiritedheat and savory depth. As with stews, this curry tastes better as it ages.
So how was the curry over all? It was excellent, full ofcomplexity yet well balanced enough to be elegant. The beef imparted gravitas.Thumbs up on the DIY Thai yellow curry paste and this curry. I now have a cup of yellow curry paste left in thefridge for another run, maybe with chicken and potatoes. Ricker's Thai cookbook coming out soon and judging from this little curry experiment, good things are bound to come from from the publication.
Note that I used a canned coconut palm sugar that I had toscrape with a fork; it was okay stuff but very compact so use a little lessthan what’s called for or the curry may be on the sweet side.
RECIPE
Thai Yellow Currywith Beef and Potatoes
Yield: 8 servings,with 2 or 3 other dishes
Ingredients:
Two 13.5 oz / 390 ml cans coconut milk (3 1/3 cups / 810 ml total)1 1/2 pounds beef chuck1 cup Thai Yellow Curry Paste, at room temperature 3 medium regular shallots, or 10 small red Asian shallots3 large Yukon gold, red, or white potatoes2 tablespoons grated palm sugar or light brown sugar1 tablespoon fish sauceCooked jasmine rice, for serving2 or 3 sliced Thai, serrano, jalapeno, or Fresno chiles, for servingRegular soy sauce, for servingInstructions:
Use a spoon to skim off 1 cup of the thicker coconut cream floating at the top of the can. Set aside. Pour the remaining coconut milk into a 4-quart (1 L) pot. Trimmed and cut the beef into thick strips, each about 2 inches (5 cm) long and 1/2 inch (1.25 cm). Add to the pot. The beef should be covered. Add water, if not. Bring to simmer over medium heat, then cook for about 1 hour, occasionally stirring, until tender. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a bowl and cover to keep warm. Measure out 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) of coconut milk and set aside. Save extra for another use.*Pour the reserved coconut cream into a 5 or 6-quart (1.25 or 1.5 L) pot. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, until the oil separates and there’s little of the white solids that remain. Some golden bits are fine.Add the curry paste, then cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until slightly darkened and fragrant. Add the reserved coconut milk and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil before adding the beef, shallot, and potatoes. Lower the heat to gently simmer for about 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the sugar and fish sauce. Turn off the heat and let the curry rest and cool for about 20 minutes before serving with the rice. If there's too much oil/fat at the top, skim some off; refrigerating overnight will make the job easier. Offer sliced chiles and soy sauce to guests to add to their curry. Enjoy this Thai style, on a plate with fork and spoon.*Employ the extra beefy coconut milk to moisten a vegetable stir-fryor enrich soup. It’ll keep for days in the fridge.
Related posts andlinks:
Thai Yellow Curry Paste recipeLeela at She Simmers delves into Thai yellow curry, clarifying what the term means and includes a link to her recipeBangkok-based photographer Austin Bush gives a quick lowdown on the Thai capitol’s best spots for kaeng karii, as well as the differences between Chinese and Muslim renditionsPosted | Permalink | |
| Comments Thai Yellow Curry with Beef and Potatoes Recipe (Kaeng Karii)
Over the weekend, I used Pok Pok chef/owner Andy Ricker’s recipe for Thai beefand potato yellow curry in the October issue of Saveur magazine. I’d spentquite some time making his Thai yellow curry paste so I wanted to use the curryand see what else I could glean from his recipes.
First off, I’d somehow assumed that yellow curry was onlyfor chicken (Viet folks make similar kinds of yellow curry with chicken andpotato) but Ricker prescribed beef and a long simmering in unseasoned coconutmilk. I was curious about the pairing of beef in a Southeast Asian curry.Perhaps it would lend depth to the mellow yellow curry paste?
Cooking the beefin coconut milk reminded me of how Italian bolognese sauce requires simmeringground meat in milk and white wine. The result would no doubt be rich, despitethe small amount of meat involved. Smart low-meat cooking.
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