Online Recipe Book

Thai Red Curry

Source
America's Test Kitchen, Cooking for Two 2011, p79
Yield
2 servings
Prep info
10 min prep + 15 min cook
Prep time
Not set
Cook time
25 minutes
Time required
25 minutes
Oven preheat
N/A
Type
Mains - Misc
Status
Tried
Tags

Ingredients

  • 2 t vegetable oil
  • 2 t red curry paste (plus extra for seasoning)
  • 3/4 c coconut milk (or evaporated milk)
  • 1 T fish sauce
  • 2 t light brown sugar
  • 1/4 c chicken broth
  • 1/2 t Corn Starch / Corn Flour
  • 1 red bell pepper (stemmed, seeded, and sliced into 1/4"-wide strips)
  • 4 oz sugar snap peas (ends trimmed, strings removed, sliced in half diagonally)
  • 8 oz shrimp (extra large (21 to 25 per pound), peeled, tails removed, and deveined)
  • 1/4 c fresh Thai basil leaves (loosely packed; use regular basil if you can't find Thai basil)
  • 2 t fresh lime juice
  • Salt (Sea) (to taste)
  • cooked rice (for serving)

Method

Heat oil in 10" nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add curry paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in coconut milk (or evaporated milk), fish sauce, and brown sugar.  Whisk broth and cornstarch together in a small bowl, then whisk mixture into skillet and bring to a simmer.

Add bell pepper and peas and simmer until vegetables are crisp-tender and sauce has thickened slightly, 5 to 8 minutes.  Season with curry paste to taste.

Stir in shrimp and continue to simmer until shrimp is fully cooked, 3 to 5 minutes.  Off heat, stir in basil and lime juice.  Season with salt to taste, and serve with white rice.

Variation:

Instead of bell pepper and peas, use asparagus and carrots.  Use 1/2 bunch asparagus (about 8 oz), tough ends trimmed, sliced diagonally into 2" pieces; and two carrots, peeled and cut into 2"-long matchsticks.

Notes

Notes from source: Depending on the freshness and spice level of your curry paste, you may need to add more or less to taste; season the sauce before you add the shrimp to make sure they don't overcook.  If you can't find Thai basil leaves, regular basil will work fine.

SJ Note 29 June 2011: Made with green curry paste (which is made with fresh peppers instead of more pungent dried peppers) as that's what I had on hand; used regular basil; followed first version, with bell peppers and sugar snap peas.  Used evaporated milk since Chris can't do coconut - unless you have a problem with coconut, you should really use the coconut milk for authenticity.  This was very tasty!  Very different, but good.  A keeper.