DRIED SHRIMP CURRY

A different curry for today. Dried Shrimp Curry. Made with my own green curry paste. Rewarding. Delicious. Let’s make this curry.

Ingredients:

1 potato
5 mushrooms
½ squash
½ onion
½ green pepper
½ red pepper
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
¼ pound dried shrimp
Some vegetable oil
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon lemon grass
1 can coconut milk

Thai Green Paste:

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
12 black peppercorns
12 small dried shrimp or 1 teaspoon shrimp paste
20 Thai green chillies
2 shallots
1 lemon grass stalk
3 kaffir lime leaves
Some grated kaffir rind
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh galangal (or ginger, if you cannot get galangal)
½ teaspoon salt
½ tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

First we will make our green paste. We will take the cumin and the coriander seeds and we will dry-roast them in a pan. Be careful, do not burn the seeds. Once this is done, put them in a mortar and grind them along with the peppercorns and the dried shrimp.
Prepare the green chillies. You will have to remove the seeds and chop them a bit. Now we will start mixing all the green paste ingredients in a blender. We will chop the shallots and lemon grass and then we will put them in the blender. We will do the same with the kaffir lime leaves, the galangal and the garlic. We will add the grated kaffir rind. Now we can blend a little. After this, we will add the rest of the ingredients for our paste: the green chillies, the mix with cumin, coriander, dried shrimp and peppercorns. We will blend again and then we will add some sugar, some salt to taste and some vegetable oil. We have to use the oil to get a delicious green paste, so use it to get the paste to your taste. And with this we will have our green paste.
Then we will prepare the potato. Peel it and cut it in pieces. Boil it and when it is ready, reserve it. Now cut the vegetables. Not in very big pieces. Chop the garlic and the ginger.
Once the vegetables are ready, we will start by heating two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok. Then we will sauté the onion and the green pepper. Two minutes later, add the squash, the mushrooms, the red pepper, the garlic and the ginger. Then we will add the shrimp and two or three tablespoons of the curry paste. The rest of the paste you can freeze for the future. Add the fish sauce and the lemon grass, fresh or packaged, as it is more conveniente for you. Cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the coconut milk and keep on cooking for two more minutes. Add the boiled potatoes now. Cook for five more minutes. You can add some fresh cilantro if you want.
Serve hot with rice. Enjoy!

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THAI EGG NOODLES WITH CHICKEN

Today noodles. A very rewarding dish. Easy to make and easy to eat. A good option. I like to use lots of vegetables. They are always good. In that way you can get a complete meal. Let’s go to the kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 packet of egg noodles
Some extra virgin olive oil
A pinch of salt
½ chopped onion
1 chopped carrot
½ chopped green pepper
½ cup diced squash
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
½ chicken breast, cubed
5 black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
1 dried chili
A pinch of sugar
1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce
Some drops of sesame oil
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro

First we will have to prepare the pasta. Follow the instructions of the pasta package. You normally will have to heat quite a lot of water in a pan, adding some drops of oil and some salt. Once it is boiling, add the pasta and cook it following the instructions. But do not overcook. In fact it is better to let the pasta be not completely cooked at this stage. When the pasta is ready, drain tha pasta and reserve it.
We will have to prepare the spices. Do this grinding them in a mortar. Grind the peppercorns, the cumin, the coriander seeds, the cardamom and the dried chili. Once it is ground, reserve it.
The next step is to put some oil in a wok or big frying pan. Then heat it and sauté the onion, the carrot, the pepper, the squash, the garlic and the ginger. Do this at high heat. But be careful because we do not want our vegetables to get burned.
Now we will add the chicken and we will sauté it. Then add the spices from the mortar, the sugar, the fish sauce and some drops of sesame oil. Cook for some minutes and add the lime juice and the cilantro.
Finally, add the pasta. Mix well and keep on cooking for a couple of minutes. Then we will have our dish ready. The secret is cooking fast and at high heat. But being careful so that our food does not get burned. Delicious.
Enjoy!

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THAI GREEN CHICKEN CURRY

Let’s make a Thai Green Chicken Curry today. And we will make our own green curry paste. You can buy delicious Thai curry pastes, it is true. But we will make ours from scratch. It is not difficult. And it will be rewarding.

Ingredients:

Thai Green Paste:

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
12 black peppercorns
12 small dried shrimp or 1 teaspoon shrimp paste
20 Thai green chillies
2 shallots
1 lemon grass stalk
3 kaffir lime leaves
Some grated kaffir rind
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh galangal (or ginger, if you cannot get galangal)
½ teaspoon salt
½ tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Chicken Curry:

1 big chicken breast
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ chopped onion
½ cup cubed squash
½ cup chopped green pepper
1 chopped carrot
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 tomato
1 teaspoon fish sauce
½ cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro

First we will make our green paste. We will take the cumin and the coriander seeds and we will dry-roast them in a pan. Be careful, do not burn the seeds. Once this is done, put them in a mortar and grind them along with the peppercorns and the dried shrimp.
Prepare the green chillies. You will have to remove the seeds and chop them a bit. Now we will start mixing all the green paste ingredients in a blender. We will chop the shallots and lemon grass and then we will put them in the blender. We will do the same with the kaffir lime leaves, the galangal and the garlic. We will add the grated kaffir rind. Now we can blend a little. After this, we will add the rest of the ingredients for our paste: the green chillies, the mix with cumin, coriander, dried shrimp and peppercorns. We will blend again and then we will add some sugar, some salt to taste and some vegetable oil. We have to use the oil to get a delicious green paste, so use it to get the paste to your taste. And with this we will have our green paste.
Now we will start with the curry. We will cut the chicken the way we want, cubes, strips, it is up to you. We will prepare the vegetables too.
Then, in a wok, we will heat the vegetable oil. Once it the oil is hot, we will start cooking our ingredients. First, the onion, the carrot and the green pepper. A couple of minutes later we will add the chicken to the wok. Stir continuously, that is always a good idea. You can add some extra garlic and galangal (or ginger) now. We have these ingredients in the paste but it would be good to add some more.
We will add now the fish sauce. And then we will add the mushrooms and the squash. A minute later we will add the green paste, two or three tablespoons, to your taste. We will stir and mix everything and then we will add the tomato cut in little pieces.
Now is when we can add the coconut milk. We will cook our curry very gently now. It is the time to add the lime juice and the chopped cilantro.
We can add some other ingredients. For example we can add some peanuts and bamboo shoots. Do this when u add the chicken to the wok. A good touch is adding some basil, Thai basil if you can get it. Add it when you add the fresh cilantro. We will have our Thai Green Chicken Curry ready now. You just have to serve it with some Thai Jasmine rice. And enjoy your Thai Green Chicken Curry cooked with your own Thai Green Paste!

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COCONUT AND GINGER SOUP

Don’t you like soup? Healthy stuff not only for the cold winter. I come from a country where soups are very important. We Spaniards normally take two courses in each meal and many times you will find a soup as the first course. Not this soup though.
This is one of my favourite soups. Coconut milk and ginger give this soup with a Thai touch its special character. Chicken, some noodles and a bit of cilantro complete the dish.

Ingredients:

½ cup chopped chicken
1 liter water or 1 liter chicken stock, but not too strong
½ cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
½ cup chopped mushrooms
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons thin noodles
2 tablespoons flake unsweetened coconut
1 chopped seeded red chilli

You can make the soup with chicken stock or just with water but I do not like a strong stock that could disguise the flavour. Coconut milk and ginger are essential in this recipe. First heat the water or stock in a pan. When it is a bit warm, you can add the chicken and a bit later the coconut milk, the oil, the ginger, the garlic, the mushrooms, the coriander and the salt. Let it cook at a moderate heat and then add the noodles, the dry coconut flakes and the red chilli. When the soup is almost ready, add the chopped cilantro and serve hot. And enjoy the flavour of the coconut milk, the ginger and the garlic. I think I will make it now!

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CHICKEN BASIL

My favourite. A dish with a Thai touch that is delicious and that it is very easy to make. It does not matter if you cannot find Thai basil, the regular one will do. You can use dried basil but it will be better if you can find fresh basil. The fish sauce will be easy to find in any Asian store, even in some regular supermarkets. I use lemon grass from a tube; fresh lemon grass is difficult to find. I use ginger but, of course, if you can find Thai galangal, it will be great. First, I will give you the plain recipe. There are some interesting variations, though.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
½ onion
1 green pepper
½ red pepper
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon grass
1 teaspoon fish sauce
Some vegetable oil
½ teaspoon salt
1 chopped seeded red chilli
1 tablespoon basil

First, we will prepare the onion and the peppers. We will cut them in not too small pieces. Then, we will do the same with the chicken. We will heat some oil in a wok and put onions and peppers first. When they are a bit done, but not much, we will put the chicken, the red chilli, the garlic and the ginger in the wok. We will cook it for two minutes and then we will add the fish sauce, the salt, the sugar and the lemon grass, stirring continuously until the chicken is golden brown. And the last touch is the basil. We will add it after turning off the fire, mixing it evenly with the chicken and vegetables. Serve hot and enjoy. As I said before, you can also use some variations. You can drop some sesame oil, just a few drops. Or a spoonful of peanuts. It will give the dish a different touch.

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