Comments on: curry me green with an inebriating imbibe

Question: curry me green with an inebriating imbibe

sourbrew — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 20:24:54 -0800

what is a fantastic recipe for green curry (more specifics inside)

I am looking at feeding between 8 - 15 people, bonus points for minimal dish usage, minimal ingredients, and extra veggies. Rice is a null problem, rice cooker for the win....

also on adding the category whats a good liquor drink that would add to this meal with a tasty yet inebriating beverage?

By: pombe

pombe — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 21:00:43 -0800

No ideas for recipes, but for drinks I would go for either a pilsner beer or a simple tropical drink, like margaritas or daiquiris. A simple, but classical recipe for daiquiris is just lime juice, rum, and sugar, or you can make fancier but excellent daiquiris with pineapple infused rum (see here, Brazilian Infused Daiquiri).

By: gergtreble

gergtreble — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 21:42:10 -0800

As you are on a Thai vibe. Try picking up some Thai beer. Sinha, or Chang.

If you are feeling really adventureous get a bottle of sangsom. Dilute to taste with red-bull and coke.

As for the green curry? This site has some links...

By: madman

madman — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 22:05:47 -0800

Are you planning to make the curry paste all by yourself? Or just use curry paste out of a packet? If the former, do you have access to all the exotic ingredients?

If the latter, it's just a matter of frying the paste in some coconut cream, adding fish sauce to taste for saltiness, a touch of palm sugar, thin coconut milk, veggies or meat, and letting it simmer till a thin film of oil forms on the top.

Since I'm feeling too lazy to write down my curry paste recipe, I'll point you to another one. :)

By: Foam Pants

Foam Pants — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 22:43:01 -0800

I would totally go with buying pre-made paste. I use coconut milk instead of thin milk and cream. For a super simple green curry meal, I throw in chicken, a bag of the pre-washed baby spinach, and some cilantro. For the crowd you are talking about, I would make it two bags. While I chop up the spinach a bit, you don't have to. I also use brown sugar instead of palm sugar. My recipe isn't very Thai but it is pretty damn tasty. Note: use dark meat chicken. Breast meat tends to make the entire dish look like the coconut milk has curdled.

By: Wolof

Wolof — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 00:32:34 -0800

Lots of very good pre-made curry pastes about these days. Scratch-built requires a lot of ingredients and a fair bit of mucking around — let someone else do the donkey work for you.

By: disaster77

disaster77 — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 01:14:19 -0800

The green curry I make is something like:
1 can of coconut milk
1 tbsp oil
5 tbsp fish sauce
2-3 tbsp green curry paste (we buy it in a jar)
a bunch of chopped up fresh basil
2 chicken breasts cut up into chunks

it serves about 4 people. I don't put any veggies in it because my husband is not a vegetable person. We like it so much we won't get green curry from Thai restaurants anymore.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 03:41:01 -0800

Taste of Thai brand, Green Curry. Yummy and easy.
Just add chicken and some veggies. I like zucchini in this a lot.

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 03:58:08 -0800

I second disaster77's recipe, with the following variations:

(1) Coriander (cilantro, I think Americans call it) instead of basil.
(2) Use chicken thigh fillets. They are actually much tastier, and cheaper, than breast fillets.
(3) Throw in some finely sliced carrots, green beans, capsicum (erm..."peppers") and zucchini. Not very thai, I know, but they work well and you wanted vegies.

Start with the curry paste and oil, heat it up until the paste is bubbling. Add the chicken and brown it just a little - 30 seconds - then add the coconut milk and fish sauce. After a couple of minutes, once the chicken has started to look cooked on the outside, throw in the herbs and vegetables, and put a lid on it to simmer.

(4) Use basmati rice. Please. Once it's done, stir in a dob of butter and some more coriander leaves.
(5) Papadums. Get the little 2" onces from the supermarket. Pop them in the microwave for 40 seconds for the really easy, cheat's method of cooking them.

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 04:00:09 -0800

The above recipe, and disater77's feeds 2. Multiply as necessary.

By: Orange Goblin

Orange Goblin — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 04:51:16 -0800

This is a recipe I made up after reading the ingredients of the back of a ready meal:

You need:

*Chicken breasts - a largish one per person
*Lemon grass - I'd say one stalk for every 2-3 people. Sorry if I'm being patronising, but this is what it looks like, and you need to peel an outer layer or two off, remove the white end and discard, and then cut into slices. It took me a while to work out what to do with it.
*Fresh coriander, chopped
*A few green peppers (bell pepper, in case there is an UK/US confusion), chopped into 2x2cm squares
*Coconut milk - I guess you'll want a couple of tins, I used one tin for 3 people.

Cut up the chicken, and fry in a large pan until it is all white on the outside. Add the lemon grass and fry a bit longer. Lower the heat, and slowly pour in some of the coconut milk. Add the green pepper, and then sprinkle in generous handfuls of coriander. Top up the coconut milk if you need to, then the idea is to have it gently simmering - you don't want the coconut milk boiling. Leave for like 40 mins, stirring occasionally, and tasting occasionally as you may need to add some more coriander. Then serve!

By: donpardo

donpardo — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 05:07:10 -0800

I'm making this paste today. Here's the full recipe. (bugmenot)

By: blag

blag — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 05:46:47 -0800

Orange Goblin: I don't know what you made there, but it certainly isn't curry...

By: Orange Goblin

Orange Goblin — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 05:51:43 -0800

Well yeah, I guess it didn't have any "heat" to it, but it tasted pretty much like every green curry I've ever had...

By: zpousman

zpousman — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 06:02:41 -0800

I've just come across this company. Curry Simple Green Curry. They're a local Atlanta company, but they're Thai (I've met them at the green market), and they have this sauce made in thailand. It is very authentic (I've been to Thailand twice -- true, I was a tourist both times, but I ate plenty of food on the street) and it's very very good.

It might cost a bit more than what you'll buy in the grocery store, but the results are much more satisfying. All you'll need to do is get some onion, green / red pepper, potatoes, fresh basil, etc., and then stirfry them for a few minutes (potatoes take longer, of course). Then you dump in the curry sauce and simmer for 10-15 mins. You're done. You'll be a hero.

The packets say that they make 9 servings each, which is pretty accurate. My wife and I made half a package and it was too much for 1 dinner.

By: methylsalicylate

methylsalicylate — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 06:06:56 -0800

In my limited experience chardonnay seems to go weirdly well with Thai. blag: dunno, sounds to me like Orange Goblin made a green curry.

By: madman

madman — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 06:27:01 -0800

Orange Goblin, that is emphatically not green curry (at least not Kaeng Kiow Wahn.) ;)

A green curry paste has...

Lemongrass
Galangal
Coriander root
Garlic
Shalllots
Prik Kee Nu (Thai bird chillies)
Rock salt
Shrimp paste
White pepper
Cumin
Coriander seed
Kaffir Lime Peel

(off the top of my head from making kilos of green curry paste every couple of days. :)

Lemongrass and coconut milk alone won't do it.

By: utsutsu

utsutsu — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 07:22:53 -0800

I'm just going to chime in to suggest jasmine rice, not basmati as someone else suggested. I find it a lot more flavourful and less light and disappointing. As for veggies, think about trying snow peas, bamboo shoots, zucchini and lots of bell peppers.

Also, for beverages... definitely beer.

By: blag

blag — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 07:23:15 -0800

what madman said: missing the "heat" isn't even half of the problem. Proper green curry has so many layers of subtle flavours that slinging some lemongrass and coriander together and calling it a green curry is tantamount to heresy. Sorry.

By: blag

blag — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 07:28:31 -0800

Also, I'm not sure how authentic it is but I like to put whole baby sweetcorn in there. Yum.

By: Hanover Phist

Hanover Phist — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 08:40:20 -0800

I've been using a Green Curry sauce from a can. It's simple and pretty good tasting too. "Aroy-D"

By: GarageWine

GarageWine — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 08:46:48 -0800

If you're looking for drink that is thematic, funky, and tasty, try making martini-like drink with some Zen Green Tea Liquer.

By: baker dave

baker dave — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 09:03:29 -0800

as said by madman 5 tins coconut milk make it the day before it will have more flavor also you could steam veg green beans brockia mushrooms peas etc and serve fresh red green chillies coriander separate good luck

By: baker dave

baker dave — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 09:07:24 -0800

whoops brocolie

By: Orange Goblin

Orange Goblin — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 09:24:54 -0800

Ah well, I claim "student on a budget", and it tastes good enough to me.

By: oneirodynia

oneirodynia — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 10:21:08 -0800

Beer is always good with spicy food, as is a nice riesling. A chilled cocktail that I've made to go with pan-asian dishes is unfiltered sake and pear juice. I generally mix it about 1/1. It should be very cold.

By: rxrfrx

rxrfrx — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 10:32:17 -0800

Matthew Amster-Burton's piece on making Thai curry (from scratch or a juiced-up premade version)

By: sourbrew

sourbrew — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 16:20:12 -0800

thanks people, i will definitely be using the canned paste, as i am teh lazy. That zen green tea liqueur looks tasty but i doubt i can locate any in my neck of the woods. Think i will try to make those Brazilian Infused Daiquiris as I am going for bang.