Seasonal Recipe of the Week
I love Thai food. You can easily make Thai dishes at home, which is good because you can't get any decent Thai food in this town. Now you can in Albuquerque, but that's another story. The ingredients for this curry are readily available, so just make it yourself. This recipe is from Food 52.
Ingredients
1 pound lo mein noodles or thin spaghetti, cooked according to directions and cooled
vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 tablespoon madras curry powder
2 1/4 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cup chicken stock or unsalted chicken broth
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons fish sauce or more to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 lime quartered for garnish
1/3 cup scallions, sliced for garnish
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1 cup shallots, sliced into rounds
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons flour
salt
Procedure
Heat a large pot over medium high heat. Add a half inch of oil to the pot. Season the shallots with salt. Combine the flour and the cornstarch and then add it to the shallots. Toss the shallots so they become coated with the flour. Shake off excess flour. When the temp of the oil is 325 fry the shallots until they are crispy. Don't let them brown to much or they will taste burned. Remove them from the pan to a paper towel lined plate and season them with salt. Put them somewhere where you won't be tempted to eat them, or you will find yourself having to fry more.
Drain the pot of oil. Rinse and dry it. Place it back over medium high heat. Combine the garlic, curry paste, madras curry powder, turmeric and cumin. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the pot. Add the garlic and spices. Sear the spices just until fragrant and then add the stock, fish sauce, sugar and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and them reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes to get the flavors to meld. Taste, it is probably going to taste salty but not to worry when you add the noodles it will cure itself of this issue but now would be the time to add more fish sauce of you think it needs it. Add the shrimp, let them cook to almost done and then turn the heat to high. Add 1 tablespoon of lime juice and bring the sauce just to a boil then turn it off.
Place the noodles in a strainer and run hot water over them to warm them. Drain them and divide them among 4 bowls. Sauce the noodles with shrimp, curry sauce and then top with shallots and green onions. Serve with a lime on the side. This recipe serves 4 people.
