Saturday, January 30, 2010

What to do with Green Curry Paste?




Green Curry Tofu with Pandan Steamed Jasmine Rice

Recipe inspired by: Asian Vegetarian Cooking, T. Camsong and P. Lüffe

Green Curry Tofu

Ingredients

½ lb firm, or extra firm tofu, drained and cut into small cubes*
1 (8oz) can bamboo shoots, drained of water (I usually buy the ‘sliced’ variety when available)
¼ cup thinly sliced onion
1.5 oz green Thai basil leaves
3 kaffir lime leaves
2 small dried hot chili peppers, crumbled up into flakes
¾ cup coconut milk
1 – 3 tbsp green curry paste depending on how hot the paste is (recipe from 1/28/10)
A couple of dashes of soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup water
Fish sauce (Nam Pla)

Preparation

• Roll lime leaves lengthwise and slice into thin strips.

• Add about ¼ cup of the coconut milk into a wok or large frying pan and bring to a boil. Add onion slices and 1 tablespoon of the curry paste. Allow to cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.

• Add the tofu, bamboo shoots, lemon leaf strips, remaining coconut milk, water, soy sauce and sugar. Simmer over low heat for about 3 minutes.

• Stir in basil leaves, a couple of dashes of fish sauce, chili flakes, and another 1 – 2 tablespoons of the paste, according to taste. Remove from heat and transfer to serving dish.

(*Tofu - Drain water from tofu (usually sold in 1 lb packs) and cut in half perpendicular to the length of the block, and then cut one half into 4 equal slices. The tofu will be very wet, so you will need to get rid of this moisture so that it does not water down your dish. Also, properly drained tofu will pull moisture back into itself from the juices or sauce you are cooking it in, thereby flavoring it. If you need some ideas or tips for draining and prepping tofu, there are some here.
For this dish I like to cut the tofu into cubes, which can be done easily by stacking the slices together and then cutting 2-3 times across the width of the block, and then 4-5 times back across those slices.)

Pandan Steamed Jasmine Rice

Ingredients

1 cup Jasmine Rice
3 Strips of Pandan leaf
2 cups water
1/8 tsp salt

Preparation

Bring water to boil in small sauce pot with lid. Add rice and Pandan leaves, and salt and stir. When rice returns to boil, stir once more to ensure rice grains are not stuck together, reduce heat to a low and place lid on the pot. Simmer, lidded (do not stir or uncover) for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove from heat and let stand, lidded for at least 5, or up to 15 minutes. The rice will reabsorb any excess moisture and should turn out fluffier and drier if you wait a few minutes (I like to cook the rice prior to final cook stage of the Green Curry Tofu). Serve rice alongside curry dish.

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