I was born in Thailand and left when I was 4 years old for Canada, so my mother and I could join my Canadian father. Some of you know this already but I have to mention, that just because I was born there, did not mean that I grew up watching my Thai mother cook traditional foods. In fact I barely remember anything she made. My father met her in Bangkok as a customer in her eatery. He raved about her cooking.
She got sick immediately after we arrived in Canada and passed a few years later. I'm not telling a sob story. I'm explaining why my Thai inspired cooking is like any other non Thai who did the research. Therefore these dishes may not be as accurate as in a traditional Thai kitchen.
I don't like to follow recipes exactly so I just use ingredients available and the amount I feel to add according to my own taste preferences. I try to use popular Asian ingredients for curry paste.
Green curry paste
5 or six green chilies (or sweet green pepper if you don't like spice)
Fresh cilantro ( I used the stems of a bunch)
2 or 3 shallots
4 or 5 kaffir lime leaves
1 or 2 stems of lemon grass
1 inch piece galangal
small bunch of Thai Basil
3 or 4 cloves garlic
My cheap wooden mortar and pestle broke so I used a processor and a blender. The one I had would not have been good for this. If I had a good mortar and pestle I would have used that. I believe it brings out the flavors more. Plus it's kind of therapeutic.
I don't like to dilute it but in order to get the machines going, and get a good paste, I added water and lime juice. This is a good reason to use a mortar and pestle.
It was ground up but a little wet so I knew I would use more than if it were less moist.
For vegan curry, my go to most of the time, is squash (pumpkin) and/or tofu. I used both this time. I also added potatoes.
Curry ingredients
3 or 4 cups cooked squash
1 block firm tofu
1 large potato
1 carrot
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
Fresh green chilies(optional)
2 tablespoons ginger
1 tabespoon miso paste
1 tablespoon vegan oyster sauce
2 tablespoons ground dry shitake mushrooms
4 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari or Braggs liquid aminos
3 tablespoons sweetener (I used agave)
1 can coconut milk
2 cups vegetable stock
I heated up hot oil in a large pot on medium high.
I sauteed the onion, then garlic, ginger and chilies, seasonings and a few spoons of the paste.
After adding the tofu I added the coconut milk then the vegetable stock.
At this point I needed to add the rest of the paste. It was not spicy enough for me. My partner and I have developed a high spice tolerance.
I cooked the rest of the paste with some additional coconut milk then added it to the large pot.
I waited until near the end to add the squash, carrots and potatoes which were already cooked.
The flavor was there and it was spicy but we still needed to take it up a notch. I chopped up some little red chilies to seal the deal.
At work we all challenge ourselves to see who can eat the spiciest. Marc and I always say it's going to be us but we think we may lose to most of the others. Everyone acts like nothing is burning. There are 5 ladies in the front. My partner is the only man that works in our restaurant. The manager is Mexican so she grew up on hot peppers. Two others are Vietnamese so nothing seems to make them sweat. There's only one girl born and raised here in French Canada, that can't take any spice what so ever. Marc was born here and raised with German parents that ate nothing spicier than black pepper. He can beat us all i think unless he's hiding the pain. There are no confessions among us
I am a fan of Jasmine rice for such dishes. I decided to add some toasted sesame seeds which I love on many things.
It turned out that the spice level was adequate but having a fresh salad to accompany such a dish is always nice in case someone can't take the heat.
It may not be a typical curry garnish but I sprinkled some crushed peanuts on top as well as Thai basil and a squeeze of lime. It also wasn't so green anymore but it was delicious.
I had green curry while in Thailand a few years ago on a visit. It was in Krabi. It was really good but the best green curry that I ever had in Thailand was almost 30 years ago on a visit for a couple of weeks, was in Koh Samui. It was made with the most fresh ingredients. The coconut was cracked fresh and the kaffir lime leaves were so pungent and still floating in the bowl. I thought it was the first green curry I had ever had but it seemed familiar to me. I guess my first four years of life in Bangkok must have included these exotic foods. I'll never know for sure.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
