Thai Cuisine (Part 2)

Thai cuisine

AN AMERICAN ADAPTATION

(Part 2)

RECIPES AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY KRISTEL MATOUSEK
WWW.PHOTORICALFOOD.COM

Green curry with vegetables

Serves 4

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 cup lyonnaise yellow onion
  • 1 cup medium-diced red bell pepper
  • 1 cup small-diced eggplant
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon green curry paste
  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 3 tablespoons palm sugar
  • 1½ cups coconut milk
  • 1 cup Thai basil leaves, additional for garnish (chiffonade cut)
  • 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1 cup sugar snap peas, in pod
  • Jasmine or long grain rice, for serving

Preheat a saucepan over moderate heat. Add the oil, onion, bell pepper, and eggplant to the pan, tossing in oil to coat. Cook the onion until soft, but not browned. Add the green curry paste, fish sauce, and sugar, cooking until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Thai Cuisine (Part 2) #1

ADD A PROTEIN.
Make it heartier with bite-size pieces of cooked chicken, beef, pork, or pressed tofu.

In a blender, blend together the coconut milk and basil leaves until bright green. Do not overblend. Deglaze the pan with the blended coconut milk.

Add the stock and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Let simmer for 10 minutes, then add the peas and let simmer for an additional 5 minutes to slightly cook the peas.

Serve warm with rice. Garnish with chiffonade-cut basil leaves.

RECIPE AND PHOTOGRAPH BY KRISTEL MATOUSEK
WWW.PHOTORICALFOOD.COM

Classic shrimp pad Thai

Serves 4

  • 12 raw jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • ½ yellow onion, julienned
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • ½ teaspoon red chili flakes or 2 red Thai chilis
  • 3 tablespoons palm sugar
  • ¼ cup tamarind paste, pits and shells removed
  • 1 cup water, additional as needed
  • 7 ounces medium-width dry rice noodles
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 garlic chives julienned, additional for garnish
  • 3 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 cups bean sprouts
  • Lime wedges, for garnish
  • ¼ cup finely chopped salted peanuts, for garnish

In a bowl, season the shrimp with fish sauce, tossing the shrimp in the liquid to coat. Strain off additional fish sauce and reserve for later use. Preheat a sauté pan or wok over moderate heat and transfer the seasoned shrimp to the pan. Brown and fully cook the shrimp on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

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Pour the oil into the pan along with the onion, garlic, and chili flakes. Cook to soften, but not brown. Add the palm sugar, tamarind, and reserved fish sauce. Slowly add the water, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the noodles. Cook the noodles in the liquid until soft but slightly chewy. Add additional water little by little as needed to cook the noodles. Push the noodles to one side of the pan, then pour the eggs into the open space. Scramble the eggs until nearly cooked, then mix them into the noodles. Add the garlic chives, cooked shrimp, and sprinkle with lime juice, stirring to combine.

Remove from heat. Serve warm with additional garlic chives, bean sprouts, lime wedges, and chopped peanuts.

RECIPE AND PHOTOGRAPH BY KRISTEL MATOUSEK
WWW.PHOTORICALFOOD.COM