Green Thai Curry

Recipe

Ingredients

Preparation:

Chop up the chicken into roughly 3/4-inch cubes (or whatever chunk size you find managable).

Divide the coconut milk into roughly equal portions of coconut cream and thin coconut milk (this can be easily done by chilling the coconut milk ahead of time and scooping out the congealed coconut cream; if the congealed mass isn't exactly half the total, pad with liquid or stop scooping, as required to even the portions).

Slice the green peppers into thin rings.

Cooking Procedures:

In a saucepan or wok, combine the coconut cream, fish sauce, and galangal, then bring to boil (careful, it will splatter!).

Add the diced chicken, cook until tender.

Remove the chicken and galangal with a slotted spoon; continue cooking the coconut cream mixture until the oil begins to separate.

Add the green curry paste, cook until it becomes fragrant (stirring constantly).

Return the chicken to the pan and stir. Add the remaining coconut milk, stir, add the bamboo shoots and green peppers. Heat until the chicken is fully cooked.

Serve over steamed rice.

Tips:

Coconut milk is not the clear fluid you find in the middle of coconuts. It is the fluid you get when you press shredded coconut. If you want to prepare absolutely fresh coconut milk, nearly any good Thai cookbook will tell you how).

Galangal is like ginger, only it's different. It's also known as "Siamese Ginger", Laos (the Indonesian and Thai name), and Ka.

Prepared curry pastes can be obtained from an oriental grocery store, or you can make them yourself.

Attribution

This is the "spur of the moment" recipe I've settled on from several sources.

I frequently consult The Original Thai Cookbook by Jennifer Brennan, and Thai Home-Cooking from Kamolmal's Kitchen by William Crawford and Kamolmal Pootaraksa.


jfw@funhouse.com