Uwajiwhat: Curry in a Hurry
Since our last Uwajiwhat focused on coconut milk, it seems appropriate to address the other staple in our Thai pantry: curry paste. And the best of the bunch is again Mae Ploy.
Purists might insist on pounding out their own paste, but Mae Ploy provides a shortcut that we welcome wholeheartedly. (Kasma Loha Unchit, our Thai cooking guru, also endorses it.) Mae Ploy offers several flavors, including red, yellow, Panang and Massaman (a.k.a. Matsaman), but our favorite is the green curry. It contains green chili, lemongrass, garlic, salt, galangal, shrimp paste, kaffir lime peel, coriander seed, pepper, cumin, and turmeric. That’ll save you a lot of shopping, measuring and pounding.
The all-natural paste seemingly keeps forever (once open, throw it in the fridge), even with its lack of preservatives (note there’s nothing artificial in it – just the goodies mentioned above). It’s a great value (less than $2.00 for the 14oz size, and an even better buy for the 35oz container) and quite versatile.
While we’ve been experimenting with the paste in everything from soup to dessert, we use it to cook up curry in a hurry when we’re not feeling creative in the kitchen. In a wok, slowly heat the thick cream from a can of coconut milk until the oil separates and it just begins to bubble. Add curry to your desired heat level (we use several tablespoons for a 14oz can, but we’re sadistic that way) and blend it into the cream until fragrant. Then pour in the rest of the coconut liquid and heat until it boils. Turn down to a simmer and add your proteins, veggies and even fruits (we like seafood and Thai eggplants, for example) and cook to completion. You won’t need to go out for Thai curry again.
