By Michael Minorgan for Curtains Up
www.globalgourmets.ca michael@globalgourmts.ca
Thai Dry Chicken Curry
Most of my almost 40 passionate years in the food service business have been focused on foods that incorporate very bold flavours. My many recent trips to South East Asia have only resulted in strengthening and elevating this practice to exciting new levels. The cuisines of these amazing countries fell right in line with my long held flavour profiles and were definitely ‘love at first bite!’
If I had to pick one cuisine from this part of the world I would probably lean towards the one of the most exquisite and complex examples, the cuisine of Thailand. I have spent countless hours, days and weeks exploring the many aspects of this exotic cuisine, seeking out their amazing food markets, traditional local restaurants in all areas of the country and visiting with local and chefs and remote village cooks studying their traditional ingredients and cooking techniques.
On a recent trip to one of Thailand’s true paradises Phuket, I stayed in a small hotel near the beach and sampled one of the best chicken curries I have ever tasted. I convinced myself that I had to get hold of this recipe, at all costs. After a few unsuccessful attempts at bribing the cook I finally overcame the language and trust barriers and convinced her to let me watch her in action. She let me shadow her for a couple of hours in the evening in her tiny kitchen that was equipped with only the very basic cooking utensils. I came away amazed at how simple her cooking technique was, but at the same time how equally complex the use of the ingredients proved to be.
Thai cuisine, very much like Indian cuisine, relies very heavily on technique and achieving the right balance of taste from all the ingredients. In Thai cuisine that balance is represented by a harmony between sweet, sour, salty and heat (chillies) which, when achieved, produces an amazing cacophony of exotic flavours.
The recipe this week is a self imposed variation on the one this cook in Phuket showed me that memorable day spent in her tiny hotel kitchen. It’s what they call a ‘dry’ curry and doesn’t have a lot of sauce. If you prefer it a bit saucier just add a bit more coconut milk…..Enjoy!
Photo: www.thegirlinawhirl.com
Ingredients
2 shallots finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
3 kaffir lime leaves finely cut into strips
2 tbsp yellow curry paste (more or less to taste)
2 Chicken breasts cut into thin strips
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp palm sugar
1 cup coconut milk
Lime juice
Chilli oil
Garnish
Kaffir lime leaves finely shredded
Thai basil leaves
Method
Sauté shallots in some vegetable oil until softened then add in garlic, kaffir lime leaves and curry paste. Stir well and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add in Chicken strips and stir well to coat with paste mixture. Add fish sauce and palm sugar and cook for a couple of minutes. Add in coconut milk and continue to cook over low heat until chicken is cooked and the oil starts to separate from the coconut milk. Just before serving drizzle in some chilli oil. Serve with steamed jasmine rice and garnish the curry with shredded kaffir lime leaves and Thai basil.
Serves 2-3
