I haven't made my own curry paste for a while now. Although I love the fresh smell of newly made paste, I just can't seem to dedicate the time that goes into making the paste. Having a toddler running around, the less time it takes to prepare my meals, the better. So, I have found my favorite canned paste, Maesri. I have taken it to Thailand for my mom to try and she said it's a good quality paste. The downside of canned paste is that you can't adjust it so much, what you see is what you get. I have been pretty happy with this brand and I use it to teach Thai cooking classes here in Austin.
This dish is a super easy dish that you can almost make it all the time if you have the paste stocked in your pantry. Kaffir lime leaves are freezable, so you can just have a stash frozen for convenience. I grow my own tree and it does really well in Texas, Austin, to be specific. I have the supply all year round. You can plant in the pot or you can put it in the ground. Depending on how harsh the winter is in Austin, sometimes it will stand through the whole winter without losing the leaves.
Here we go
Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 can Mae Sri red curry paste
1 lb chicken, cut into bite size
2 cup green beans
a handful of julienned kaffir lime leaves
1-2 tbsp sugar
fish sauce to taste
You can either use a saute pan or a wok, whatever you have on hand. My favorite has been using a le creuset cast Iron Dutch oven. It's been the most used pot around here. I don't own a wok. It's a long story why I don't but we won't go into that now.
Heat up the pan or wok until it is hot. Add the oil and wait until the oil is hot and add the curry paste. Fry until fragrant under medium heat, about 3-4 minutes. Add chicken and saute until chicken is cooked, add green beans and continue to cook until green beans are done. Season with fish sauce and sugar, add kaffir lime leaves and saute for about 30 seconds. Serve over hot white or brown jasmine rice. It is a little on a sweet side dish with of course a real kick of spice from the paste. Sit down and enjoy, with or without toddler by the side.
8 comments:
yum - one of my favourites. I love coconut milk, but I also love the dishes where you just saute in curry paste. I have a lot of those cans in my pantry. Think I might use one this week!
I love the blog! Reading your posts makes me want to be able to handle spicy food! Alas, my Greek dad gave me a wimpy taste for anything spicy :(
Thanks guys. Keep reading and there are more to come. Ruth, this is a great and easy dish that you can make ALL THE TIME. Nicole, there are actually quite a number of Thai dishes that will not kill you. I will post some soon. Enjoy eating.
I just made it. YUM!! So easy.
Jam-- Where in Austin can I buy lime leaves?
Hi Melissa,
Whole Foods downtown has them most of the time. The Asian markets don't have them as often. MT supermarket on Lamar and Kramer has it sometimes. Hong Kong Market on 183 and Olen never has them. I have them, if you need some. I have my own plants and customers bring some to me from their big tree.
Hi Jam, I am interested in taking Thai cooking classes. Are you still offering them?
I love your blog. We went to Thailand for our honeymoon and we have been trying to master Thai cooking since. We are wondering if you have a good recipe for Tom Yum soup? We have had it before and just can't master it.
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