Thai red curry

I freaking love thai curry. 'Nuf said. Its hard to find a good one in Tallhassee, though Mr. Roboto's is fabulous. I've been working on my own version of the perfect curry, and I'm pretty satisfied with this result. As i work on making it better, I'll update changes. I really wanted to make my own curry paste, but unfortunately, the ingredients cannot be found in Tally.

From Food pics

(and yes, the wine is necessary)

A few notes about ingredients. Your curry will totally depend on the curry paste you buy. Pictured above is the brand I like, and I get the massaman and the red curry. This particular brand of coconut milk I was NOT happy with. It was really watery. If your coconut milk is watery, omit the vegetable broth that I've included below.

Ingredients:
(these measurements are not at all exact - you'll have to do frequent tastings to get it to the way you like it. If you want it hotter, add some crushed red chillies).
1/2 a can red curry paste
1/2 a can massaman curry paste
1 can coconut milk (careful, make sure its good quality. If you buy lite milk, it might be watery and you might want a little more).
i tbsp brown sugar
about 1/4 soy sauce
about 1/4 cup vegetable broth (not necessary with lite or watery coconut milk)
1-2 tbsp minced ginger
1-2 tbsp lemongrass (this and the ginger are available as a paste in the produce section of the grocery store - they are so much easier!)
1/4 cup basil (Thai basil if you can find it)
1/2 white onion, sliced
a variety of sliced veggies. I used zucchini, squash, broccoli and bamboo shoots.
1 block firm or extra firm tofu, drained

1. Prepare your tofu. If I'm lazy I'll just cut it up after it drains and add it to the curry raw at the end. You could also deep fry it or saute it in a pan until it browns. Set aside until the dish is finished.

2. Prepare the curry sauce. Take a little of each curry paste and dissolve it in about 1/2 a can coconut milk, the veg broth, and a few squirts of soy sauce. Add the sugar and mix well. Taste it and see what it needs. It probably needs more curry paste.

3. Chop up the basil and add about half of it to the curry. Let it simmer for 10 minutes and taste it. Add more if needed, but reserve some for a garnish. Add the onion and simmer for another 5 minutes.

4. Add all the vegetables and simmer for a few minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the tofu.

5. Serve over basmati rice.

From Food pics

Spicy Coconut Soup

First thing's first. How cute is Squash??

From Food pics

I think I mentioned this in a past post, but I LOVE curry. I mean L-O-V-E. I could live off curry for the rest of my life and be happy. If I had to choose a final meal, it would be red curry (Thai, not Indian, you know, with the coconut milk - yum), Tom Yum soup from my favorite Thai restaurant in MA, asiana's, with Thai iced tea. EJ loves curry just as much as me, and we are pleased that we found a local place that has excellent red curry. My goal? To beat it. I have more incentive than the satisfaction of being able to prepare what is honestly my favorite food (no need to leave the house after I've accomplished THAT feat!), but EJ said if I can make a curry comparable to this, we can get a puppy. I'm just like the Obama girls. So wish me luck, and I'll keep updating the curry thread.

What I made last night (that we ate with our take-out curry); coconut soup. The first time I ate in a Thai restaurant, I had chicken coconut soup with pad thai, and that was when I fell in love with Thai food. The soup from last night was tasty, and super easy - I just packed in what I had in my pantry, and voila! Pretty tasty soup. Try it with Morningstar chicken strips!

From Food pics

Ingredients:

1/4 can coconut milk
1 cup veg broth (I use about 1 cup water and 3 veg cubes)
6 oz fresh spinach (ok, I admit, not found in the pantry, but frozen would work too)
1/2 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp sugar
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/2 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
1/2 package extra firm silken tofu, cubed

Combine everything in a saucepan, and heat. Stir frequently. Enjoy!