Massaman Curry

Dear internet world, I am quite disappointed that there is a total lack of good Thai massaman curry recipes out there. This post, therefore, is part of the solution. 

One of our favorite Thai curries is Massaman curry - but I tried too many lengthy recipes that did not taste like the massaman we have come to love. Finally I got this recipe from a friend, who told me where to get the curry paste. If you have an ethnic food store nearby that sells Thai ingredients, you might find the curry paste there. The brand of paste is Mae Ploy - you might be able to buy it somewhere online. 

1-2 chicken breasts, diced 
3-5 potatoes, diced 
2-3 carrots, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 Tb. Massaman curry paste
1 Can coconut milk
1 Tb peanut butter
2 Tb. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water or milk

Dice chicken and veggies and stir-fry in a little bit of oil. Mix remaining ingredients and add to pan. Heat and simmer 15 min. Serve over rice. 

Spring Rolls

These are a favorite at our house. We love egg rolls, too. But these definitely hold their own in the flavor department. And they ARE NOT fried. I got this recipe from a friend in my women's church group, who is from Thailand. She taught some of us how to make them, and a few other yummy Thai treats. They work well as a main dish, served with some fried rice for a light meal, or as a side dish too.  

 The wrappers: stiff, like thin plastic, and has a weave design.

The sauce: sweet and spicy!

1 Chicken Breast, cut into thin slices
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tb. Soy sauce
2 Tb. Sugar

1 cucumber, thinly sliced
1 cup cilantro, chopped
2-3 carrots, thinly sliced
1 cup bean sprouts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
1 bunch glass noodles, soaked at least 20 min. and cut roughly
1 jalapeno, chopped (optional)

1 pkg. Spring Roll Wrappers
1 bottle Sweet Red Chili Sauce
chopped peanuts

Cut chicken and mince the garlic. Toss into hot skillet with a little bit of oil, and sauté until done. Add the soy sauce and sugar. Get the noodles soaking in hot water while you chop up the vegetables. 

Tip: I like to chop everything super thin. I just like it better that way, and it rolls up easier. Mix the vegetables together, along with the chicken and soaked noodles and toss to coat everything with the sauce from the chicken . I like to cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for about an hour to help all the flavors come together. 

This is the tricky part. Wrapping it all up. I put a pot of water on the stovetop, almost bring it to a boil, and turn the heat to low, dip just over half of the stiff rice paper-stuff, until it goes soft and elastic, turn it carefully with both hands, so it doesn't stick to itself, and dip the other half until it's soft. It only takes a few seconds on each end, if the water is hot enough. Then I put it carefully on a plate, spoon in the vegetable chicken filling, fold in the ends, and roll it up tightly. It takes a little practice to manage the wrapper, so if it starts sticking to it's self, which is hard to pull it apart again, just keep practicing. I like to imagine it with four sides that I grip with the tips of my fingers and palm of my hands and hold it just so it stretches slightly to keep it from falling into itself, as I turn it from one end to the other after dipping the first end. Did that make any sense? 

Then serve it up with the Sweet Red Chili Sauce mixed with the chopped nuts. This is completely necessary. Don't serve these up without this sauce. I'm telling you. You NEED this sauce. 

This recipe made 16 rolls for me- but that depends on how full you fill your wrapper.

Thai Pumpkin Soup

I made this for the Relief Society Christmas party in December.

2 Tbsps vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small pumpkin, skinned & chopped into 1-inch chunks
2-1/4 c. water
1-2/3 c. canned coconut cream
1 Tbsp hot sweet Thai chili sauce (Maploy)
1 Tbsp lemon grass, finely chopped
1 Tbsp fish sauce
freshly ground pepper
1/4 c. fresh cilantro
chopped cilantro leaves, for garnish

In a large pot, heat oil and gently cook onion with brown sugar and garlic over low heat until softened (8-10 min). Add chopped pumpkin, water, coconut cream, chili, lemongrass or rind and fish sauce. Season with freshly ground pepper. Simmer for about 25 minutes until tender. Remove and puree until smooth. Just before serving, adjust seasoning to taste. Mix in chopped coriander. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with a fresh coriander leaf.

*The same amount of grated lemon peel can be substituted.

Thai Coconut Curry

serves 4

salt and pepper
about 2 T vegetable oil
1 lb shrimp (or chicken or beef tenderloin, cut into thin strips)
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 bell peppers (I used red here, but I think green would also be great), thinly sliced
2 small Japanese eggplant or 2/3 of a big eggplant, diced
1 T Thai red curry paste
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
1 C Thai basil leaves, torn into little pieces
1 T fresh lemon juice

Rice to serve it with

1. In a large skillet, heat 1 T oil over medium-high. Season shrimp (or chicken or beef) with salt and pepper and add to skillet until almost cooked through. (For shrimp, that is when it starts to get pink and opaque, but don't let it got cooked all the way through or it will be over cooked and rubbery later)
2. Put Eggplant in skillet and cook until slightly softened. Add onions, bell pepper, salt and pepper and cook until crisp-tender. 3-4 minutes.
3. Add curry pastes, cook scraping the bottom of the skillet, about 1 minute.
4. Return shrimp to the skillet and add coconut milk. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in basil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve with Japanese white rice