Easiest thing to do with leftover rice: simmer it in some soymilk, and drizzle it with agave syrup. Yummm! Warm, creamy, and totally what I want to eat for breakfast in freezing weather. :)
Showing posts with label rice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rice. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Ricecream!
Easiest thing to do with leftover rice: simmer it in some soymilk, and drizzle it with agave syrup. Yummm! Warm, creamy, and totally what I want to eat for breakfast in freezing weather. :)
Friday, October 1, 2010
Beans and Zucchini.
How beautiful are those yellow beans? They're thicker than the green beans that I buy from my favourite stall (I can't say my favourite lady, because I haven't seen her there in a week) but just as crisp. They also receive a commendation for extreme freshness, because they've lasted well in my fridge for a couple of days, and are as crunchy today as they were on Wednesday morning when I bought them. I know, that's only two and a half days, but supermarket-bought beans rarely stand up to that sort of storage without going a bit limp. I probably should have used some green beans, in retrospect, because these would have been fine to eat over the weekend, but oh well. These were prettier.
All I did to cook them was sautee them in a little olive oil with some equally crisp zucchinis, plus the requisite touch of salt and pepper. I can't believe that as recently as 6 months ago, I was completely unimpressed with zucchini. I think the problem is that I'd never eaten one raw - I had the idea in my head that I only liked them meltingly soft. Sure, they're nice when they're like that, but they're even better when they're super-fresh and cooked until they're barely tender. I cut mine into batons the same size as the beans, and snacked on more than a few pieces of each while I was cooking the accompanying rice and lentils. I realise that brown rice and lentils together probably sounds a bit bland to most people, but I have a definite love of congee (rice porridge) and I love red lentils (they're infinitely superior to brown, and even to puy lentils) because they just melt down when you cook them. So I added red lentils to my rice in the last 20 minutes of cooking, and took it off the heat when they threatened to stick to the bottom. Delicious, creamy, and definitely tomorrow's breakfast. I'd like to think the leftover vegetables can make it that far, but honestly, I've already got my eye on those for a midnight snack... ;)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Quick Pumpkin Curry.
I know that I'm a huge advocate of making things slowly with love and care, but I have to admit that my appetite is quite ferocious, and sometimes I just want to be fed. It's times like these when the basics (pasta, curry, stir-fry and soup) come in pretty handy. Sure, you can make them slowly and lovingly, and they'll taste phenomenal. Alternately, you can throw together whatever vegetables you have in the fridge and sit down to dinner 20 minutes later. Sometimes that's exactly what I need. I used onion, zucchini, leftover porcini mushrooms (their flavour stands up well to spices), green beans and some butternut squash. Yeah, I know, I'm using onion again. I'm also saying "to hell with the low-Salicylate diet" and I'm feeling pretty good. I think it has something to do with not eating any processed foods. It's good to finally have some energy!
So, I made this curry using a powder that was sitting on my shelf. I added a few other spices to list the flavour of the commercially-produced powder, which I found a bit flat. Definitely more suited to the taste of the average German than to me... Nevertheless, this curry turned out to be rich and flavourful. A tin of coconut cream, added from my ever-diminishing pantry stash (I'll be cooking from scratch pretty soon) made this deliciously saucy. I served it with jasmine rice, produced slowly and with love by my housemate's new rice cooker. Whoever invented those has a large piece of my heart. It really is the simple things in life...!
Simple Pumpkin Curry*1/2 butternut, cut into chunks
2 lge handfuls (ok, about 300g) green beans
1 zucchini, sliced
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced or crushed
3cm-piece ginger, finely diced
1 x 400g can coconut cream
3 Tbsp Curry Powder (make your own! I dare you!)
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (optional - it might already be in your curry powder)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Sautee the onion, ginger and garlic until fragrant and beginning to turn transparent.
1/2 tsp ground cumin (optional - it might already be in your curry powder)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Sautee the onion, ginger and garlic until fragrant and beginning to turn transparent.
Add the mushroom, zucchini and pumpkin and cook for 3-4 minutes over medium-high heat. Throw in your spices and allow them to fry with the vegetables for a few minutes, until the scent of spices takes over your kitchen.
Add the coconut cream and simmer for about 5 minutes over a medium heat. Add the green beans, mix thoroughly, and cook for another 5 minutes, until all the pumpkin is tender, but don't let your beans go too soft!
Serve with rice and scatter with the leftover coriander leaves that you found in your fridge from all that Banh Mi you've been making lately.
*I usually make my curries with pastes, which I advocate whole-heartedly.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Risotto-like rice.
So I'm still working my way through the backlog of food related photos that have shown up on my computer. This one is based on my lazy-person risotto method (commercial stock powder and whatever rice I have available) and highlights a certain, um, food-like item: fakon. If that's even how I spell it. Either way, it's marginally healthier than eating real bacon, and hey, I have to try everything once, right? I'm definitely guilty of occasionally buying things that entertain me, when I'm at the supermarket. Plus this rice was seriously good. Salty, with that nutty flavour and slightly firmer chew of edamame.
I made this a few months ago, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. I'm much too lazy to write out a real recipe, but if you need one, just consult my other risotto-like post, use fakon/bacon/other real-or-mock-pork-product instead of mushrooms and stir in edamame at the end of cooking instead of peas. It really is that simple. I'm so into everyday food! Not that you can tell, from the series of relatively-normal items that I've posted. Shh, I know the beet burgers aren't what supposedly normal people eat, but hey, they were amazing. Sure beats a "Pie Floater"... google it, I dare you. That's the food heritage that I'm supposed to come from, as a South Australian. Needless to say, I've never eaten one.
For the record, I'm never going to claim that any of my risotto-like rices are actually risotto. Sure, they're rice that gets a little toasted and then slowly cooked until it's creamy. But I do my best to put non-traditional ingredients into them, which would make everyone's Italian grandmothers have a fit. So, let's just say they're "Modern Australian", because that label tends to mean that the cook can get away with anything. ;)
Friday, August 20, 2010
Lazy-person's not-quite-risotto.
This is another old post, which I've salvaged from my abandoned blog. Faux-risotto is a definite love of mine, even though I never use the right rice and I like extra ingredients added. It's so easy to adjust with the seasons, and to use whatever is on hand. Flexible recipes are definitely my favourite.
Taken from Feb 21, 2010:
So, let's face it, I'm not always the dilligent cook that I should be. Sure, I know the proper technique for making the perfect risotto. I think everyone does by now! But that doesn't always mean that I can be bothered with it. Not to say I stray too far from the beaten path; there's still a few necessary steps to ensure that you end up with creamy rice instead of a pilaf or fried rice. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that risotto is one of those foods that you can be quite lazy with, even if everybody's Nonna will tell me otherwise.
Let me be blunt here: I'm not much of a 'traditional' cook. I could, theoretically, follow a recipe very closely if I wanted to. The problem is that there are certain foods I have to avoid, and certain foods that I don't really like, and most of the time that teaspoon of vanilla gets upped to a tablespoon... I think you get the picture. I love to meddle with recipes, and to put my own spin on other people's ideas. I rarely make identical dishes, because everything depends on what's in season (or, more accurately, what's in the fridge) and risotto is a good example of this. My favourite additions are pumpkin and peas. Mushroom risotto is also popular, and sometimes I add a few tablespoons of tomato paste at the end to give it a nice richness. But hey, if it's thirty five degrees outside, then I want something lighter.
Enter vegetable risotto. My first point here is that this recipe is designed to be tampered with in every which way, so the ingredients list is a little, uh... vague. The second of which is that I don't eat onions - I have a few food intolerances, and that one tops the list. Alliums in general, actually, but that doesn't stop me from using garlic on occasion! (Take that, Ayurveda!) I use celery in lieu of onion a lot of the time, partly because it cooks similarly, but also because I really love celery. If I buy an entire head of celery, I separate the segments and use all the leftovers to make stock, which I then use in this risotto. I recommend trying that sometime, because the intensity of celery flavour is something amazing.
I also don't eat dairy, which is another intolerance, but don't let that stop you from finishing this risotto with cream or parmesan shavings if you like - especially if you're eating it in colder weather than we're having here.
Veg risotto:
1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 stalks celery, finely sliced (You could use an onion if you choose)
3 large mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp crushed garlic, optional
1 cup pumpkin cubes (i used butternut squash, but any pumpkin is fine)
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
vege stock (don't ask for quantities, i just add it at leisure!)
salt, pepper, chopped parsley - to taste.
I begin by sauteeing the celery in the oil, just until it's bright green and starts to soften. The reason why I start with this first is because celery takes longer than mushrooms to cook, so I add those only once the celery is semi-done. Sauteeing brings out the flavour, and ensures that things that you don't want raw (crunchy celery is not ok in risotto!) have a head start. Slicing your celery finely helps here, too.
Add the pumpkin and garlic if you're using it. Again, you just want to sautee it until it's a little toasty - you're not trying to get it entirely cooked here, just bring out the flavours a little. It might look like there's not enough oil in the pan, but as all of the ingredients sweat as they cook, just keep stirring until the threat of sticking has passed. Then you can be a little lazier about it!
Now, here is where you theoretically add a ladleful of stock, stir lovingly until it has absorbed, and then repeat the process a squillion times until the rice is tender and creamy. But, really, I had better things to be doing... like playing with my camera settings in between taking photos. So this is where this risotto gets lazier. I'm not going to put in all the liquid at once, or neglect to stir it, because then I'd end up with more of a paella. But, all I'm suggesting is that you can be a little rougher with your risotto than your Nonna tells you, ok? Sure, you could get a perfect risotto if you can be bothered... but sometimes, it's just easier to get it done and to EAT!
Gratuitous eggplant shot. Some family friends had dropped around a large bag of slender eggplants and beautifully ripe tomatoes, fresh from their garden. It really made me miss having a garden, because last Summer it was me who provided everyone I knew with more tomatoes and eggplants than they knew what to do with. But I decided to utilise them while my risotto simmered - the eggplants were grilled quickly, and the tomatoes were cut into slices and roasted with red wine vinegar, olive oil, and seasoning. (This is my favourite base for bread salad/panzanella - add your roasted tomatoes to cubed, crusty bread and chopped cucumbers, mix in lots of fresh parsley and basil, and use the juices from the tomatoes as dressing. Amazing!)
You can see here that the rice grains are starting to swell; I've obviously just added more liquid in the above photo. Make sure the heat isn't too high or else the pumpkin will disintegrate, and your rice will stick to the bottom when you're slack with the stirring. An episode of Antiques roadshow, with stirring in the commercials, is usually plenty of time! I add handfuls of freshly chopped parsley at the end - basil also goes in pretty well, and often I like to add a cup of frozen peas, but I couldn't be bothered fishing them out from the freezer. If you add the peas still frozen, they only need a minute or two to defrost sufficiently, so you can add them after you've taken the risotto from the heat. Then they keep their great colour, too.
So there's dinner. Kindly ignore the lack of focus - I was too busy salivating to bother much with the camera, owing to the fact that I was clearly starving. (Anyone who knows me will tell you that there's no chance of me starving - all I do is eat!) Meals like this are great because you get old favourites with a more summery twist, and because you can eat a pretty decent serve without worrying about your waistline. Not that I worry about mine anyway, because Mum seems to have passed down her metabolism, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right? :)
Taken from Feb 21, 2010:
So, let's face it, I'm not always the dilligent cook that I should be. Sure, I know the proper technique for making the perfect risotto. I think everyone does by now! But that doesn't always mean that I can be bothered with it. Not to say I stray too far from the beaten path; there's still a few necessary steps to ensure that you end up with creamy rice instead of a pilaf or fried rice. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that risotto is one of those foods that you can be quite lazy with, even if everybody's Nonna will tell me otherwise.
Let me be blunt here: I'm not much of a 'traditional' cook. I could, theoretically, follow a recipe very closely if I wanted to. The problem is that there are certain foods I have to avoid, and certain foods that I don't really like, and most of the time that teaspoon of vanilla gets upped to a tablespoon... I think you get the picture. I love to meddle with recipes, and to put my own spin on other people's ideas. I rarely make identical dishes, because everything depends on what's in season (or, more accurately, what's in the fridge) and risotto is a good example of this. My favourite additions are pumpkin and peas. Mushroom risotto is also popular, and sometimes I add a few tablespoons of tomato paste at the end to give it a nice richness. But hey, if it's thirty five degrees outside, then I want something lighter.
Enter vegetable risotto. My first point here is that this recipe is designed to be tampered with in every which way, so the ingredients list is a little, uh... vague. The second of which is that I don't eat onions - I have a few food intolerances, and that one tops the list. Alliums in general, actually, but that doesn't stop me from using garlic on occasion! (Take that, Ayurveda!) I use celery in lieu of onion a lot of the time, partly because it cooks similarly, but also because I really love celery. If I buy an entire head of celery, I separate the segments and use all the leftovers to make stock, which I then use in this risotto. I recommend trying that sometime, because the intensity of celery flavour is something amazing.
I also don't eat dairy, which is another intolerance, but don't let that stop you from finishing this risotto with cream or parmesan shavings if you like - especially if you're eating it in colder weather than we're having here.
Veg risotto:
1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 stalks celery, finely sliced (You could use an onion if you choose)
3 large mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp crushed garlic, optional
1 cup pumpkin cubes (i used butternut squash, but any pumpkin is fine)
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
vege stock (don't ask for quantities, i just add it at leisure!)
salt, pepper, chopped parsley - to taste.
I begin by sauteeing the celery in the oil, just until it's bright green and starts to soften. The reason why I start with this first is because celery takes longer than mushrooms to cook, so I add those only once the celery is semi-done. Sauteeing brings out the flavour, and ensures that things that you don't want raw (crunchy celery is not ok in risotto!) have a head start. Slicing your celery finely helps here, too.
Add the pumpkin and garlic if you're using it. Again, you just want to sautee it until it's a little toasty - you're not trying to get it entirely cooked here, just bring out the flavours a little. It might look like there's not enough oil in the pan, but as all of the ingredients sweat as they cook, just keep stirring until the threat of sticking has passed. Then you can be a little lazier about it!
Once the vegetables have started to soften, add the rice and stir until the grains are coated. I like to linger over this step for a little while, because I think letting the rice toast a little emphasises the flavour. And really, rice is delicious; I could happily live on it. So don't be afraid to actually taste the rice!
When the rice is toasted (you'll notice the grains get whiter, but you don't need them to colour), add the white wine and let it evaporate. You don't want to taste the alcohol, so I like to let it disappear completely before starting to add the stock. You could use homemade stock, which is always the best option, but hey, it wasn't going to happen. No one really wants to have their stove on all day when it's the middle of Summer, surely. So mine came from a cube. Sue me.
When the rice is toasted (you'll notice the grains get whiter, but you don't need them to colour), add the white wine and let it evaporate. You don't want to taste the alcohol, so I like to let it disappear completely before starting to add the stock. You could use homemade stock, which is always the best option, but hey, it wasn't going to happen. No one really wants to have their stove on all day when it's the middle of Summer, surely. So mine came from a cube. Sue me.
Now, here is where you theoretically add a ladleful of stock, stir lovingly until it has absorbed, and then repeat the process a squillion times until the rice is tender and creamy. But, really, I had better things to be doing... like playing with my camera settings in between taking photos. So this is where this risotto gets lazier. I'm not going to put in all the liquid at once, or neglect to stir it, because then I'd end up with more of a paella. But, all I'm suggesting is that you can be a little rougher with your risotto than your Nonna tells you, ok? Sure, you could get a perfect risotto if you can be bothered... but sometimes, it's just easier to get it done and to EAT!
Gratuitous eggplant shot. Some family friends had dropped around a large bag of slender eggplants and beautifully ripe tomatoes, fresh from their garden. It really made me miss having a garden, because last Summer it was me who provided everyone I knew with more tomatoes and eggplants than they knew what to do with. But I decided to utilise them while my risotto simmered - the eggplants were grilled quickly, and the tomatoes were cut into slices and roasted with red wine vinegar, olive oil, and seasoning. (This is my favourite base for bread salad/panzanella - add your roasted tomatoes to cubed, crusty bread and chopped cucumbers, mix in lots of fresh parsley and basil, and use the juices from the tomatoes as dressing. Amazing!)
You can see here that the rice grains are starting to swell; I've obviously just added more liquid in the above photo. Make sure the heat isn't too high or else the pumpkin will disintegrate, and your rice will stick to the bottom when you're slack with the stirring. An episode of Antiques roadshow, with stirring in the commercials, is usually plenty of time! I add handfuls of freshly chopped parsley at the end - basil also goes in pretty well, and often I like to add a cup of frozen peas, but I couldn't be bothered fishing them out from the freezer. If you add the peas still frozen, they only need a minute or two to defrost sufficiently, so you can add them after you've taken the risotto from the heat. Then they keep their great colour, too.
So there's dinner. Kindly ignore the lack of focus - I was too busy salivating to bother much with the camera, owing to the fact that I was clearly starving. (Anyone who knows me will tell you that there's no chance of me starving - all I do is eat!) Meals like this are great because you get old favourites with a more summery twist, and because you can eat a pretty decent serve without worrying about your waistline. Not that I worry about mine anyway, because Mum seems to have passed down her metabolism, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right? :)
A little bit of spice... or a lot.
Note: this is a post from when I was still living back in Australia, copied across from an old blog. I just thought it was such a quick and easy thing to make, and a good way to utilise whatever veg is in your fridge, that it could be posted again. I don't like my chances of making it here, but when I get home I'll have ready access to Asian ingredients again (and could make my own curry paste!) so it's definitely something I'll keep in the back of my mind. Sorry if you've already read it!
From Feb 2, 2010:
A few days ago, I made the most amazing Thai curry. Not that I'm rating my own cooking, or anything... ahem. Aside from being insanely easy to make (if you're one of those people who frequently cheat by using a curry paste, such as myself) they're delicious and they keep really well in the fridge. Because hey, let's face it, there's nothing that I love more for lunch than delicious leftovers. Microwave and eat, now there's a quick lunch.
I'll readily admit to being completely biased about the curry pastes I do use. Sure, I love making them, adding gnarled chunks of ginger or tumeric to the food processor. Or that handful of chillies that smell so amazing that I go in for a closer sniff, only to cough and sneeze with the intensity of it. And this curry was certainly one that provided a challenge for my lungs while I was frying the paste. I'm glad that I thought to go outside with the wok for this one, thanks to the gorgeous weather, or else I'd probably still be smelling that chilli. Because, quite honestly, this was the hottest thing I've ever eaten.
Not to say that I'm scared of chilli - I love a bit of chilli, especially the whole dried ones that you get in sweet Mongolian tofu, or when they're fried with garlic and strewn across some kind of deep-fried offering. I like a slow burn, so that you don't tend to notice it on the first mouthful, but you're sweating by the second or third. That's usually how I make my curries, anyway. But I decided, for the sake of adventure, to use a different curry paste. Maesri Massaman Curry is usually my favourite, and for some reason, I grabbed a few different ones the last time I was at my local Asian Grocery. Now, I've since recycled the can and can't for the life of me remember the name of this one, except to say that it's red chillies. Sorry about that. If the other "lucky dip" can that I bought is anything to go by, it's probably about 30% chilli. Which might not seem like too much with a small can, but I promise you, these were mean chillies.
So I made this curry much in the same style as I make Massaman (by pointedly ignoring the directions on this new can, which called for water). I added Coconut cream for richness, and because I adore that coconut flavour in saucy dishes like this. Ayam brand is the one I usually reach for, just for reliability. Coconut milk is fine, and makes a thinner and more traditional curry, but I love the texture of the cream. Sweet potatoes simmered to meltingly soft, purple cabbage for contrast in colour and texture, and snow peas... because really, who doesn't love snow peas? Sugar snap peas would have been amazing also, or failing that, beans. Finished with a generous handful of Thai basil and coriander, it was a curry fit for a King (or Queen, or other royalty).
Very Basic Thai Curry:
1 x 114g tin of Maesri Curry Paste
1/8 cup vegetable oil
2 x Tbs palm sugar, coarsely chopped.
1 x Tbs salty sauce - fish sauce is the standard, but soy will suffice.
2 x 270ml cans Coconut Cream (I used the 'light' option and it was fine)
1 x large sweet potato (or equivalent root vegetable - pumpkin is good too!)
250g snow peas
1/4 of a purple cabbage (feel free to substitute whatever
1 x very generous handful of coriander and thai basil, torn into pieces. (Laksa leaf, also called Vietnamese Coriander, works well if you like extra pungency.)
1. Cut your veg into bite sized pieces. If you're in a hurry, you can cut them smaller so that they cooks faster, but a long slow simmer is the go if you're adding meat to this.
2. Using the oil, fry the curry paste until it's highly fragrant; 2-3 minutes. Stir continually so that it doesn't burn, and so that it can mix with the oil and cook through evenly. If you were adding meat, you'd want to do that here, so that it could fully incorporate the flavour of the paste.
3. Add a tin of coconut cream to the curry paste, and incorporate to make a thick sauce. The palm sugar and sauce should be added here, and adjusted to taste, because both vary greatly according to the brand used. Add slow-cooking veg here - I like to let mine simmer gently for half an hour, so I'll add potatoes or pumpkin first and add snow peas last, to allow them to retain colour and crunch. The cabbage was somewhere in the middle.
4. You have two options with the second can of coconut cream. If you like a thinner sauce, add it at the end, or mix in a little water to thin. If you're in the mood for a thicker sauce, as I was, add them both at the same time and let it thicken slowly, before eventually using a spoon to drain off the coconut oil that forms. I tend to re-use this in fried dishes, or with plain dishes for a little extra chilli kick. You don't need to remove it at all, I just enjoy being a little thrifty with my flavourings. ;)
5. When the sweet potato is meltingly tender, but well before it falls apart, take the curry from the heat. Stir through your herbs and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Delicious!
From Feb 2, 2010:
A few days ago, I made the most amazing Thai curry. Not that I'm rating my own cooking, or anything... ahem. Aside from being insanely easy to make (if you're one of those people who frequently cheat by using a curry paste, such as myself) they're delicious and they keep really well in the fridge. Because hey, let's face it, there's nothing that I love more for lunch than delicious leftovers. Microwave and eat, now there's a quick lunch.
Oh, deliciousness!
I'll readily admit to being completely biased about the curry pastes I do use. Sure, I love making them, adding gnarled chunks of ginger or tumeric to the food processor. Or that handful of chillies that smell so amazing that I go in for a closer sniff, only to cough and sneeze with the intensity of it. And this curry was certainly one that provided a challenge for my lungs while I was frying the paste. I'm glad that I thought to go outside with the wok for this one, thanks to the gorgeous weather, or else I'd probably still be smelling that chilli. Because, quite honestly, this was the hottest thing I've ever eaten.
Not to say that I'm scared of chilli - I love a bit of chilli, especially the whole dried ones that you get in sweet Mongolian tofu, or when they're fried with garlic and strewn across some kind of deep-fried offering. I like a slow burn, so that you don't tend to notice it on the first mouthful, but you're sweating by the second or third. That's usually how I make my curries, anyway. But I decided, for the sake of adventure, to use a different curry paste. Maesri Massaman Curry is usually my favourite, and for some reason, I grabbed a few different ones the last time I was at my local Asian Grocery. Now, I've since recycled the can and can't for the life of me remember the name of this one, except to say that it's red chillies. Sorry about that. If the other "lucky dip" can that I bought is anything to go by, it's probably about 30% chilli. Which might not seem like too much with a small can, but I promise you, these were mean chillies.
I love snow peas. I mean, really, really love them.
So I made this curry much in the same style as I make Massaman (by pointedly ignoring the directions on this new can, which called for water). I added Coconut cream for richness, and because I adore that coconut flavour in saucy dishes like this. Ayam brand is the one I usually reach for, just for reliability. Coconut milk is fine, and makes a thinner and more traditional curry, but I love the texture of the cream. Sweet potatoes simmered to meltingly soft, purple cabbage for contrast in colour and texture, and snow peas... because really, who doesn't love snow peas? Sugar snap peas would have been amazing also, or failing that, beans. Finished with a generous handful of Thai basil and coriander, it was a curry fit for a King (or Queen, or other royalty).
Very Basic Thai Curry:
1 x 114g tin of Maesri Curry Paste
1/8 cup vegetable oil
2 x Tbs palm sugar, coarsely chopped.
1 x Tbs salty sauce - fish sauce is the standard, but soy will suffice.
2 x 270ml cans Coconut Cream (I used the 'light' option and it was fine)
1 x large sweet potato (or equivalent root vegetable - pumpkin is good too!)
250g snow peas
1/4 of a purple cabbage (feel free to substitute whatever
1 x very generous handful of coriander and thai basil, torn into pieces. (Laksa leaf, also called Vietnamese Coriander, works well if you like extra pungency.)
1. Cut your veg into bite sized pieces. If you're in a hurry, you can cut them smaller so that they cooks faster, but a long slow simmer is the go if you're adding meat to this.
2. Using the oil, fry the curry paste until it's highly fragrant; 2-3 minutes. Stir continually so that it doesn't burn, and so that it can mix with the oil and cook through evenly. If you were adding meat, you'd want to do that here, so that it could fully incorporate the flavour of the paste.
3. Add a tin of coconut cream to the curry paste, and incorporate to make a thick sauce. The palm sugar and sauce should be added here, and adjusted to taste, because both vary greatly according to the brand used. Add slow-cooking veg here - I like to let mine simmer gently for half an hour, so I'll add potatoes or pumpkin first and add snow peas last, to allow them to retain colour and crunch. The cabbage was somewhere in the middle.
4. You have two options with the second can of coconut cream. If you like a thinner sauce, add it at the end, or mix in a little water to thin. If you're in the mood for a thicker sauce, as I was, add them both at the same time and let it thicken slowly, before eventually using a spoon to drain off the coconut oil that forms. I tend to re-use this in fried dishes, or with plain dishes for a little extra chilli kick. You don't need to remove it at all, I just enjoy being a little thrifty with my flavourings. ;)
5. When the sweet potato is meltingly tender, but well before it falls apart, take the curry from the heat. Stir through your herbs and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Delicious!
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