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From: keith@gargoyle.UUCP (Keith Waclena)
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Re: Thai canned curry paste
Message-ID: <519@gargoyle.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Jul-85 13:27:47 EDT
Article-I.D.: gargoyle.519
Posted: Tue Jul 16 13:27:47 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 18-Jul-85 04:30:11 EDT
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Reply-To: keith@gargoyle.UUCP (Keith Waclena)
Distribution: net
Organization: U. Chicago, Astronomy & Astrophysics
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<>

I use canned Thai curry paste frequently; in my local Thai grocery
there are several colors/flavors, but I generally use green or red.
My basic recipe comes from _The Original Thai Cookbook_ by Jennifer
Brennan (title approximate). It goes roughly like this:

Bring 2 cups of thick coconut milk to a simmer in a saucepan or wok.
Add 3 tablespoons of curry paste (about 1/2 of a cat food-sized can)
and simmer until the oil separates out of the coconut milk. At this
point toss in 1/2 lb cubed meat and simmer til no longer pink. Then add 2
cups of thin coconut milk and simmer until the flavors meld. At the
time you add the thin milk you can add various veggies.  I like peas
in a green chicken curry, and Chinese long beans (green beans that
are about a foot and a half long, cut into manageable lengths) in red
beef curry.  Bamboo shoots are nice in the latter too. Basically,
though, any veg you want goes in at this point, timed to allow them
to cook proportionately.  At the end toss in 2 or 3 shredded green or
red fresh chillies (to match the color of the paste), and some
chopped fresh coriander leaves. Serves 2 hungry people if accompanied
by rice alone.

Note that this recipe is from memory; I highly reccomend Brennan's
book.  Some minor points follow.

The heat depends very much on how fast you simmer the dish; I tend to
cook the above quantity down almost 50%. It tastes fine to me, but it
*is* too hot for some. I tend to keep this style of curry fairly
simple, modelled on the ones I have in the local Thai restaurants.
Many of the more complex curries in Brennan's book are not based on
pastes. The local restaurants make a yellow chicken curry from the
yellow paste that is very Indian; it contains sweet spices and
potatoes.

I make coconut milk from dried (if I'm feeling cheap) or frozen
grated coconut (unsweetened) using water instead of milk (to cut
calories; you could use skim milk, I suppose).  This is less rich but
healthier than canned coconut milk (coconut milk is very high in
saturated fats). Brennan gives directions for making the milk.

-- Keith
-- 
Keith Waclena
Graduate Library School
University of Chicago

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