With all of our renovation craziness the past few moths there hasn't been a lot going on in the cooking department. Meals have been quick, hearty, and then we are generally back at work. Happily we're approaching the finish line and the major things should all be complete by the middle of next week - just in time for us to go on vacation - how is that for impeccable timing?
While I was packing things away I came upon the June edition of Cooking Light. I remembered a recipe for Red Curry Coconut Shrimp that looked amazing so I managed to pull the magazine form the box just in time.
This dish makes use of Red Curry paste. The main ingredients of red curry paste are garlic, shallots, (dried) red chillies, galangal, shrimp paste, salt, kaffir lime peel, coriander root, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns and lemongrass. Sure you can make your own but with a laundry list like that it is just as easy to buy it ready made - and the results are comparable (although, as always, nothing is as good as making it all from scratch).
We followed the recipe as written but found it a tad sweet - next time we'll cut back on teh sugar. In fact, we may just use palm sugar which is the traditional sweetener for thai curries.
All in all it was quick, easy, and the results were delicious.
Thai Red Curry Shrimp
1 3/4 cups water
1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
2 teaspoons butter
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Cooking spray
1 1/4 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
4 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shrimp; sauté 3 minutes or until done. Remove shrimp from pan; keep warm. Spoon coconut cream (the thick part from top of the can) into pan using a slotted spoon. Add curry paste; cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring constantly.
Stir in remaining coconut milk, fish sauce, and sugar. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 10 minutes or until sauce thickens, stirring frequently. Add bell pepper; toss to coat. Increase heat to medium-high; cook 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add shrimp; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice. Spoon 1 cup rice onto each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1 cup shrimp mixture.