Everything about food, from matching food and wine to recipes, techniques and trends.

Why I like ethnic cooking: Thai (etc.) dinner at home!

Moderators: Jenise, Robin Garr, David M. Bueker

no avatar
User

Robin Garr

Rank

Forum Janitor

Posts

21612

Joined

Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:44 pm

Location

Louisville, KY

Why I like ethnic cooking: Thai (etc.) dinner at home!

by Robin Garr » Sat Oct 26, 2013 5:16 pm

Oopsie, meant to post this last night ...

Why I like ethnic cooking: Thai (etc.) dinner at home!

If I really want authentic, well-prepared food from most of the world's great cuisines - I trust the experts to make it for me at a good restaurant run by chefs from the country of interest.

But while I don't want to sound vain here, I really enjoy trying to reach a reasonably close imitation of a world of ethnic fare at home. Luckily, between the Internet and Louisville's growing ethnic diversity through immigrant and refugee communities, we have access to more information, and more good ingredients, than ever before.

I can hardly look at a fresh green bean any more, for instance, without thinking right away, "Hey, I could make a Thai red or green curry out of that!"

Indeed, I've developed a pretty standard procedure for this curry, subject of courst to little changes every time I make it. Tonight, for example, I did something like the Thai green bean cashew cream curry I made a few weeks ago, but mixed things up with some significant differences: I added small dice of extra-firm tofu to kick the protein up a notch, and used coconut milk (yeah, from a can, so sue me) in place of the homemade cashew cream that I used last time.

The basic procedure, however, remains simple:

1. Veggie ingredients: Cut fresh green beans into 1-inch lengths and blanch them in salted water until crisp-tender or a little past. Drain and set aside. Slice about 1/2 of an onion and mince a good quantity of fresh ginger and fresh garlic fine. Peel and cut up a fresh tomato, retaining the juices.

2. Cut 6-8 ounces extra-firm tofu (half of a standard box) into small dice.

3. Pour a small (6-ounce) can coconut mile into a measuring cup and whisk in 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste (available at ethnic specialty stores) and about 1 teaspoon soy sauce.

4. Brown the onions in a wok or skillet; add the garlic and ginger with salt and pepper to taste and a shake of dried red-pepper flakes to taste.

5. When the onions, garlic and ginger are well browned, reduce heat to medium and stir in the chopped tomatoes and their juice. Then add the tofu, then the green beans, and finally the coconut milk.

6. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let everything cook together until the flavors blend and the sauce is thick. Check and adjust seasonings to taste, and serve with steaming white rice and, if you like, a salad.
no avatar
User

Frank Deis

Rank

Wine guru

Posts

2333

Joined

Fri Nov 09, 2007 12:20 pm

Location

NJ

Re: Why I like ethnic cooking: Thai (etc.) dinner at home!

by Frank Deis » Sun Nov 03, 2013 6:50 pm

This sounds really delicious -- I think it's wonderful that the "foodie" world has expanded beyond French and Italian and other Euro styles of cooking to many other parts of the world. I've bought the ingredients but have never gotten myself to make anything Thai -- possibly because the local restaurants are both cheap and good. And I almost feel I have ADD between trying to explore Japanese, Persian, Moroccan, Szechuan, Turkish, Malaysian, "Levant" (whatever Ottolenghi's cookbooks could be described as) not to mention the 40 culinary regions of Mexico...

At any rate I love the idea of the firm tofu with the green beans and I've eaten enough Thai to be able to visualize the taste and smell of that sauce...
no avatar
User

Joy Lindholm

Rank

Ultra geek

Posts

451

Joined

Tue Sep 28, 2010 10:41 am

Location

Denver, CO

Re: Why I like ethnic cooking: Thai (etc.) dinner at home!

by Joy Lindholm » Wed Nov 06, 2013 1:56 am

Or even better....fry the tofu first in coconut oil to get better texture and then add to the other ingredients! Love making Thai curries!
no avatar
User

Mark Lipton

Rank

Oenochemist

Posts

4285

Joined

Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:18 pm

Location

Indiana

Re: Why I like ethnic cooking: Thai (etc.) dinner at home!

by Mark Lipton » Wed Nov 06, 2013 11:56 am

Very apropos, as I'm planning on making a veggie red curry tonight to make use of some of the produce from our CSA. Specifically, neither of us is overfond of acorn squash and its close relatives, so I'm planning to cube one and put it in a red curry with eggplant, bok choy, bell pepper and tofu. It should be a good cold weather dish for the upcoming couple of nights.

Mark Lipton
no avatar
User

Robin Garr

Rank

Forum Janitor

Posts

21612

Joined

Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:44 pm

Location

Louisville, KY

Re: Why I like ethnic cooking: Thai (etc.) dinner at home!

by Robin Garr » Wed Nov 06, 2013 1:53 pm

Joy Lindholm wrote:Or even better....fry the tofu first in coconut oil to get better texture and then add to the other ingredients! Love making Thai curries!

I like the crunch, but I'm fine with softer tofu, and no matter how carefully one fries, you're still building in more calories from fat when you do so. I'd rather meter that out for special occasions than do it routinely. :mrgreen:

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

Powered by phpBB ® | phpBB3 Style by KomiDesign