Matsaman Curry // Fresh coconut milk beats homemade curry paste any day

On our trip to Thailand a few years ago, I was captivated by the freshness of the ingredients. The Thai markets are filled with fresh produce and all manner of slaughtered animal parts, which is impressive enough, but then there are the prepared foods - the curry pastes, the sausages, the shrimp chips, and of course, the coconut milk. I had no idea that this was made on a small scale, but after seeing the operation, it made sense - coconut flesh could be shredded quickly, and then a small hydraulic press can crank out a few quarts of fragrant coconut milk every few minutes. We had multiple occasions to taste this fresh coconut milk (and coconut cream, will explain later), and it was starkly different from the thick, somewhat savory canned coconut milk we commonly get in the U.S. Most notably, when you smell homemade coconut milk, it smells like... coconuts! There's no plastic, fatty smell from the preservation of the liquid necessary to get it into cans and across the ocean. The freshly made milk makes no mistake in letting you know what it is, and, as I would soon learn, offers exactly the same unapologetic, coconutty brashness when made back at home with a questionably old coconut. So I watched this process, enthralled by the heavy machinery nestled within the small farmer's market, bound and determined to try replicating this at home with hand tools.

The story wasn't actually that simple. I started out thinking that the magic was all in the paste, with no appreciation for the coconut milk. Coming home armed with curry paste recipes, and having sat on the floor smashing herbs in a mortar and pestle for a few hours, I assumed I was an expert in paste making. But more than a few failed attempts back home led me to realize that those little old Thai ladies sitting around smashing up garlic all day really know what they're doing. Homemade curry paste is truly an art, and I do not have the magic just yet. Maybe it's the freshness of the ingredients, I don't know. All I know is that my pastes are too coarse and lack the depth of the ones made fresh in Thailand, or even the ones from a can here. So after one too many mediocre curries, I broke down conceded defeat, requiring much more practice to this day. Instead, I dug into the process of making homemade coconut milk. Thankfully, the gear required isn't too extensive, but it is somewhat challenging to actually do this, if you use the method I used.

We decided to use the coconut milk as part of a matsaman curry, which we really liked when we made it in Chiang Mai. Matsaman, also written massaman, means "muslim", and isn't actually a Thai word at all - it's a Thai interpretation of the Persian dish, referred to in the 19th century as "mussulman" curry, which is a dated term for Muslim. The analog of this dish is American tex-mex food: it's the native culture's interpretation of what an international dish tastes like, adapted somewhat to the local methods. In this case, the dish borrowed the spices brought to Asia by the Muslim spice traders, including cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, bay leaves, cumin, and star anise, but mixed into a paste and then fried with coconut milk, like so many other Thai dishes. It's said to be favored by westerners because of its more familiar spice palette, but honesty I don't like it any more than a good red (kaeng phet) or green (kaeng khiao wan) curry.

This recipe explores a big hack in the process - how much does homemade curry paste matter? And which is more important, high quality coconut milk, or high quality curry paste. The short answer is both, but the longer answer is that you can get a good curry paste from a pouch, but there is no substitute for homemade coconut milk. Using a commercial paste I brought back with me, the finished dish was so spectacular that I have to question if a mediocre homemade paste is in any way a substitute for a reputable packaged paste. What's more, the fresh coconut milk elevates the dish to a floral, magical level, with the subtle fruity perfume that really takes your mind to the tropics. This doesn't happen with a great curry paste and mediocre coconut milk, by converse. Given this and the other curious additions that make up matsaman curry, I'm going to advocate for skipping the paste pounding step in lieu of making your own coconut milk from now on, so long as you agree to use a decent quality paste. Agreed? Okay, let's move on.

Thai Bamboo Rice Salad

Strolling through a Whole Foods last year, I found a curious jar of green rice that I had never seen before.  Smelling faintly of jasmine rice but more earthy and perfumed, this curious infusion was known as bamboo rice.  This rice is apparently infused with the juice from young bamboo plants, giving it the vegetal notes as well as the green color.  We would have strolled on had we not found this recipe accompanying the rice, as we fortunately picked some up to try this out.

I highly recommend this rice salad, which was amazing as a side but could almost stand on its own if you were really avoiding protein for some reason.  Interestingly, I couldn't find this recipe on the Whole Foods website - it's some kind of mystery recipe that never appeared after I found the small card, so I'd like to post it here for all to see.

Thai Bamboo Rice Salad
Whole Foods

• 1 cup bamboo rice
• 1.5 cups coconut water
• Sea salt, to taste
• ¼ cup toasted unsweetened coconut
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
• ¼ cup peanut oil
• 4 green onions, sliced
• ¼ cup freshly torn mint
• ¼ cup freshly torn basil
• 1-2 tsp serrano chile, small dice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts
• 1 large cucumber, sliced into thin rounds

Combine rice with coconut water and a pinch of salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 11-12 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork.  Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spread coconut on a baking sheet and bake for 4-5 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes, making sure it doesn’t burn.  Combine lime juice and vinegar in a bowl.  Whish in peanut oil.  When rice has cooled, combine with green onions, mint, basil and chile pepper.  Top with coconut and peanuts.  Serve on cucumber rounds, with a piece of fish if desired.

Alcohol Infusions 201: Chile Vodka in a Coconut Muddle

Infused alcohol #2 - chile vodka.  Goes great in a Bloody Mary, but another interesting idea is this crazy recipe I found in Bon Appetit.  The infusion is straightforward, while making the drink is a bit more complicated.  You have to muddle something.

If you're new to muddling, take a step and consider if you have the right equipment to make this drink.  You need either a muddler (a mallet with raised ridges at the base to better mash up the ingredients) or a mortar and pestle.  In a pinch you can use the back of a large spoon, but there's no fun in that.  This could finally be your opportunity to buy new barware!  Plus, you'll be able to make mojitos afterwards, which are always good.

One Night in Phuket

Bon Appetit, July 2012

Recipe by Lucky Strike in Portland

Makes 4

• 1 cup vodka
• 1 red or green Thai chile (I used a jalapeno but tried for a serrano), pierced with a knife
• Simple syrup from 4 tablespoons sugar, plus more sugar for glasses
• 4 limes, each cut into 4 wheels, plus 4 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 40 cilantro leaves (about 1/2 cup) plus more for garnish
• 3/4 cup sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco López)

Combine vodka and chile in a jar and let stand, covered, for 2-24 hours (the longer it sits, the spicier it gets).  I went with 6 hours, and it was plenty spicy.  Discard chile.

Chile peppers + vodka = dangerously spicy drinks

Now make your simple syrup.  Don't worry - it's simple.  Combine equal amounts (by volume) of sugar and water in a saucepan, in this case 4 tbsp (1/4 cup) of each.  Heat over medium heat until dissolved, and allow to cool.  Store in a squeeze bottle, or use immediately, as in this recipe.  Once the sugar dissolves, you will have roughly 5 tbsp of mix total, but just assume that you should use 1/4 of the liquid for each drink you're making.

Place some sugar in a small flat dish.  Run 1 lime wheel around rims of coupe glasses to moisten; reserve wheel.  Dip rims into sugar to coat; set aside.

Run a lime wedge around the glass, then roll edge in sugar

The sugar will stick to the rim, but only when you use something sticky first, such as the lime

Using a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon, muddle 4 lime wheels, 1 tbsp. simple syrup, and 10 cilantro leaves in a cocktail shaker.  Fill the shaker with ice.  Add 2 tbsp. chile vodka, 3 tbsp. cream of coconut, and 1 tbsp. lime juice.  Cover and shake vigorously 20 times.  Strain into a prepared glass.  Repeat with remaining ingredients to make 4 cocktails.  Garnish each glass with fresh cilantro leaves or lime wheels.

Muddle up all of the good stuff

Now add coconut cream, vodka, and shake

The drinks are rich and spicy, almost a meal in themselves