So, this post is for Grace and Alex; I’m hoping that they’ll be able to recreate this delicious curry. There are so few ingredients to this, but I’ll list them here:
3 cans coconut milk (thick, unsweetened). Separate into ‘thick’ and ‘thin’ if possible
2-3 Tbsp fish sauce
3 Tbsp red curry paste
1/4 c basil, chopped
1/4 c cilantro, chopped (garnish)
ground peanuts (garnish)]
So, this recipe is a bit of a combination of these two recipes from Jennifer Brennan’s The Original Thai Cookbook. I don’t have all the fun spices and veggies, so this is a simple stripped down version. I would add Serrano chilies if I were making it just for me, but some of the kids don’t care for the heat.
Here are the assembled ingredients
Here’s the chicken as I’m chopping it into 1/4-1/2 in cubes. I have about 7-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I miss the days when a giant package was $3 because everyone wanted breasts. Now the foodies have ruined it for me...
Here’s the coconut milk separated. I start off using the thick stuff (inside the cans).
The thick milk goes into the pan. Add the fish sauce and bring to a boil with the chicken in it. Let the chicken cook at a low-med boil for about 18 minutes (you don’t want pink, but you’ll still have plenty more cooking time). Once this is done, remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and continue to cook the coconut milk down until you’ve got it thick and ‘oily’ (med heat)
I use about a half can of curry for this. You’ll add the curry to the coconut milk and continue cooking it over medium heat with stirring for about 5 minutes.
Once the curry is well incorporated into the coconut milk and smells fantastic, add the chicken back.
After this, add the thin coconut milk back (between 1/2-3/4 of what remains. You want it boiling again (low-medium boil). Once it gets up to temp, let it cook a few minutes, then add basil.
Let this mixture cook low (simmer) for another 10 minutes. This would be when you add the Serrano’s as well, if you were going to do that. Otherwise, cook until delicious, serve over rice, garnish with cilantro and ground peanut.
Here’s a movie that catches some of the cooking…