Choo Chee Pla - Red fish curry
Choo chee curry comes from southern Thailand and is usually made with seafood. Fish can be replaced by prawns or squid, or a combination can be used. It’s important not to overcook the ingredients.
Serves 4 / Preparation 10 minutes / Cooking 25 minutes
• 6-8 lime leaves
• 500g monkfish or other firm fish (tarakihi, trevally, gurnard)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil or vegetable oil
• 25–40g red curry paste (see below)
• 250ml (1 cup) coconut cream
• 1 level tbsp raw sugar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
Remove the central rib from the lime leaves. Form a pile, roll them up and slice as finely as possible. Cut the fish into even-sized pieces. Heat the oil in a saucepan or large frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the curry paste for 3 minutes. Add the coconut cream, sugar, fish sauce and half the lime leaves. Reduce for 10 minutes over a medium heat. Add the fish and cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust by adding fish sauce if necessary. Sprinkle over the remaining lime leaves. Serve with rice.
CURRY PASTES – RED
• 10 dried red chillies, deseeded
• 2 lemongrass stalks
• 5 lime leaves
• 1 long red chilli, deseeded
• 1 red Asian shallot
• 4–5 garlic cloves
• 10 coriander stems (without leaves)
• 6g toasted coriander seeds
• 4g toasted cumin seeds
• 2g whole white peppercorns
• 10g fresh galangal
• zest of 1 makrut lime
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp shrimp paste (kapi)
Soak the dried chillies in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes, then drain well. Remove the base and hard outer layers of the lemongrass and finely slice the centre section. Remove the stem and rib from the lime leaves and slice the leaves. Roughly chop the deseeded long chilli, shallot, garlic and coriander stems. In a mortar, pound the drained dried chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and peppercorns. Place all the ingredients in a tall container and use a stick blender to make a paste, or pound everything using a mortar and pestle.
Mee Kati - Pork & coconut noodle soup
Traditionally, this soup contains tender pork rind cut into pieces. This is a version made from pork mince that contains less protein. At the end of cooking, we add beaten eggs that are drizzled on top of the boiling soup.
Serves 6 / Preparation 15 minutes / Cooking 30 minutes
• 900g fresh rice noodles, 5mm thick
• ½ bunch of spring onions
• 250g bean sprouts
• ½ bunch of mint
SOUP
• 5 lemongrass stalks
• 4 red Asian shallots
• 6 tbsp vegetable oil
• 50-100g red curry paste (same as in Choo Chee Pla recipe)
• 500g pork mince (belly, shoulder)
• 3 tbsp fermented salted soy beans (optional)
• 500ml (2 cups) water
• 100g raw sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 800ml coconut milk
Prepare the soup. Cut the lemongrass stalks into three sections and bruise them with a rolling pin to release the flavour. Slice the shallots. In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over a medium heat and fry the shallots, then add the curry paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Add the meat, fermented salted soy beans and lemongrass. Stir vigorously. Add the water, sugar, salt and fish sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. The soup should be nice and spicy.
Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and cook the noodles in several batches for about 1 minute each batch. Remove the noodles using a skimmer and divide them into six bowls. Immediately pour over the hot soup to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Slice the spring onion and sprinkle over with the bean sprouts and mint leaves.
CHOOSING A CUT OF MEAT
Pork belly has more fat than shoulder but is juicier when cooked, whereas pork shoulder is leaner but drier when cooked.
VARIATION
Replace the fresh rice noodles with dried rice noodles. To use dried noodles, soak them beforehand for 40 minutes in a large bowl of cold water.
Gaeng Na Nao - Winter Vegetable Curry
Serves 6 / Preparation 25 minutes / Cooking 20 minutes
• 300g squash (kabocha, red kuri, butternut etc)
• 300g sweet potato
• 300g choko or kohlrabi
• 300g flat green beans
• 150g shimeji mushrooms or button mushrooms
• 150g firm tofu or tempeh
• 3 tbsp coconut oil or vegetable oil
• 2 heaped tbsp massaman curry paste (see below)
• 300ml (1¼ cups) water
• 80g unsweetened smooth peanut butter
• 1 slightly heaped tbsp raw sugar
• 2 level tsp salt
• 500ml (2 cups) coconut milk
• zest and juice of 1 lime (optional)
Cut the squash, sweet potato and choko into even-sized pieces. Cut the flat beans into thirds, then into strips. Separate the shimeji mushrooms or cut the button mushrooms into 4 to 6 pieces, depending on their size.
Cut the tofu into even-sized pieces. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over a medium heat. Fry the curry paste for 3 minutes. Pour in the water and dissolve the peanut butter. Add the sugar, salt, coconut milk and pieces of squash, sweet potato and choko.
Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the tofu and flat beans and cook for 4 minutes, uncovered. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes, occasionally stirring gently. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Serve with your choice of rice. Add some lime zest and a drizzle of lime juice when serving, if desired.
CURRY PASTES – MASSAMAN
Massaman (pronounced “matsaman”) means “Muslim”. This recipe is said to originate from Persian merchants or from the Malay influence in southern Thailand.
• 5 dried red chillies, deseeded
• 1 lemongrass stalk
• 1 red Asian shallot
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• 10 coriander stems (without leaves)
• 6g toasted coriander seeds
• 4g toasted cumin seeds
• 2g whole white peppercorns
• 5 cloves
• 6 cardamom pods
• 5g ground cinnamon
• 2g ground nutmeg
• 10g fresh galangal
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp shrimp paste (kapi)
• oil (optional)
Soak the dried chillies in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes, then drain well. Remove the base and hard outer layers of the lemongrass and finely slice the centre section.
Roughly cut the shallot, garlic and coriander stems. In a mortar, pound the drained chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves and cardamom.
Place all the ingredients in a tall container and use a stick blender to make a paste, or pound everything using a mortar and pestle. Add a little oil if the mixture is too dry. l
An edited extract from Thai Home Cooking, by Orathay Souksisavanh (Murdoch Books, RRP $55).
