Jungle Curry (Kaeng Pa) // The virtues of obscure ingredients

When we went to Thailand, our travels through the northern part of the country landed us at a great cooking school in Chiang Mai. Here, we learned about the difference between northern Thai food, influenced heavily by other cultures and their significant distance from the coast, and southern Thai food, flavored heavily with coconut, fiery chiles, and plenty of fish. In the north, pork reigns supreme, and an interesting curry dish has emerged - jungle curry, known most notably for its absence of coconut milk from the sauce. Drawing on the other flavors of the countryside - fermented fish sauce, lime leaves, palm sugar, and a pungent red curry paste - mixed with chicken broth, it is a very enticing, filling, and yet surprisingly healthy alternative to the usual cholesterol-laden curry dishes from Bangkok and parts south. We cooked a decent version that day, which we carried home with us.

Fate being the cruel mistress that it is, we tried to replicate this dish following that recipe multiple times, to no avail. I tried making my own curry paste, finding different vegetable mixes to add, making Thai-infused chicken stock, buying a can of green peppercorns, and even growing my own kaffir lime tree to get things right. Nothing worked. Disgusted, embarrassed from one too many hosted dinner party failures, and on the verge of a breakdown, we tried one last time last night, with a careful eye on the exact ingredients called for.

The results were astounding. Somehow this dish rocketed from the bottom of our Thai repertoire to near the top, for a few reasons - it's healthy, it's easy, it's delicious, and it's exotic. This is the only dish I now make that has two very specific ingredients, which we had to learn (painfully) not to substitute for others. We didn't even have to make our own curry paste for this, just used the cans and it came out great. Still in shock, we may make it again tonight just to confirm that we have this one in the bag.

This is what the dish should look like

A prior attempt included making curry paste from scratch

I have no idea what I was thinking

Prep for the older version - too many substitutions, way too much effort, and an unbelievably disappointing meal. We will refer to this image shortly

So read on to learn about why this last photo is completely wrong, and how you can do this right.

Pasta alla Norma

Many years ago I traveled with my family to our homeland of Sicily to see where the family was from.  We toured around the island, tracking down birth certificates and marriage licenses.  It was an amazing trip, punctuated with unforgettable meals.

Sicilian food isn't the same heavy cuisine as the northern parts of the country; instead, the food of the island represents a melting pot of influences and a culture that has thrived on meager existences.  This classical dish, pasta alla norma, took us by surprise at how much flavor was packed into such few ingredients, cooked just barely enough to bring out the essence of each one.  I think that this dish could represent the humble beginnings of tomato use in Italy, coming over from the Americas and passed by the Spaniards to the Italian islanders.  In the beginning, tomatoes were often barely cooked rather than being pureed into sauces, and were often tossed with some form of grain and maybe a couple of other vegetables.  So this dish is essentially a trip backwards in time through the history of the Italy's "golden apple".

I present a very classical recipe, not unlike ones I found by Mark Bittman and Mario Batali.  You can plate this however you like, but I relish the crudeness of the ingredients and prefer to serve this as large bites of everything, an homage to the basic vegetables that would go on to form the much more eloquent language of an entire cuisine over the centuries.

Lemon and Eggplant Risotto

Another hit from Yotam Ottolenghi's book Plenty, this risotto dish makes me realize how much variety there is to cooking eggplant.  And this was a first for me - cooking the eggplant two ways in same the dish.  The resulting flavor was a bit of smokiness and a bit of sweetness between the eggplant cooking styles, balanced by the tang of lemon and the peppery snap of fresh basil.  Add in the richness of the creamy risotto, butter, Parmesan cheese, and about 4 cups of reduced stock, and it's hard to find something wrong with this one.  At least, so long as you're the diner, not the chef.  That's another story, and I suggest keeping extra wine on hand.

Pay no attention to the fact that we took a perfectly good vegetarian entree and served it with a chicken leg - that was an emergency plan that we didn't end up needing, as this dish stood up incredibly well on its own.  Definitely worth making, although you will have a few steps and need to be careful on quite a number of things to not screw up the finished product.

Lemon and Eggplant Risotto
by Yotam Ottolenghi, from Plenty

• 2 medium eggplants
• 1/3 cup extra light olive oil
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• coarse sea salt
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 7 oz risotto rice (carnaroli or arborio)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3.25 - 3.5 cups hot vegetable stock
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
• 1.5 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (about 2 oz), or other mature, hard cheese
• black pepper
• 1/2 cup torn basil leaves

Start by prepping the eggplants - char the heck out of one of them over an open flame, turning just before you burn the house down.  Remove from the heat, cut down the center lengthwise, and scrape out the fleshy goodness inside, discarding the skin.  Coarsely chop this flesh and set aside.  If you were to basically mix in a few spices at this point, as if you were making hummus but ran out of chickpeas and only had a delicious eggplant, you'd have baba ghanoush, FYI.  But that's another recipe, for another time.

Dice the remaining eggplant into 1/2" pieces.  Heat up a heavy (I recommend cast iron) pan, and once hot add the 1/3 cup of light olive oil - light so that it has a higher smoke point and won't scorch during this operation.  Pan-fry the diced raw eggplant in 2 batches, turning a few times to get some good browning going.  Remove to a colander and sprinkle with salt.

In a large risotto-sized pot or pan, heat up the 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil over medium heat, then saute the onion for a few minutes until translucent.  If it's browning, you're getting too carried away.  Add the garlic and continue to cook for 2-3 more minutes.  Then increase heat to high and add the rice, stirring to toss with oil, for 2-3 more minutes.  Add the wine to deglaze, and cook over high flame for yet another 2-3 minutes until nearly evaporated.  Now the fun begins.

Lower the heat to medium, and add a ladle (about 1/2 - 3/4 cup) of the hot vegetable broth to the rice mixture.  Now stir, you fool - stir for all you're worth.  Never stop stirring.  Stir even until there's almost no broth, and add some more, a ladle at a time.  And then when you think you're done stirring, stir some more.  Because this dish only achieves creamy perfection when you dislodge all of the starchy, gooey deliciousness that is the outer layer of a grain of cooked rice, and knock it into the resulting "sauce" that forms from this disembodied starch.  Keep tasting as you stir, and when the rice is cooked through, stop adding broth.  You may need more than 3.25 cups, you may need less.  This is mostly a factor of how old your rice is, and what temperature you're cooking at.

Coat the rice in oil to get heat to all of the grains evenly

Stir constantly to knock surface starch into the mixture and promote creaminess.  Same ideas as with avgolemono soup.  This is almost done, but only tasting it will tell you if it's finished or not.

To finish the dish, remove the pot from the heat, and stir in the chopped eggplant flesh, lemon zest, lemon juice, and most of the cheese.  I recommend zesting the lemon right into the pot, or else the essential oils from the skin will go flying everywhere but into your food, and it just won't be as good.  Crack in 3/4 tsp salt (if using homemade stock, or maybe skip if using store-bought) and some fresh black pepper to taste.  Sprinkle with the diced eggplant, remaining Parmesan, and the torn basil, and grate some additional lemon zest on if you have any remaining.

Szechwan Eggplant and Peppers (Vegetarian)

My housemate delivered a bag of vegetables from a friend's farm, and I had to act quickly before they became one with the earth again.  So I laid them all out on the table and tried to figure out what I could make with them - eggplants, bell peppers, some other chile peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes.  While I'm relatively sure that not much can combine all of those except maybe some kind of curry or an eggplant dip with raw vegetables, I decided to leave out the salad ingredients and use just the eggplant and peppers.  And just as I was about to make a pasta dish, I revectored to a stir-fry, armed with new recipes from my friend (see here).  Thanks, Julia.

This recipe is completely homespun, borrowing some ingredients from this and some techniques from that.  I think the final product came out restaurant-quality - a little spicy, velvety, pungent from the ginger and Szechwan peppercorns, and filling.  Highly recommended if you find yourself with a couple of eggplants about to go bad, and you're sick of simply grilling them.

Don't forget your passport, because your taste buds are going on vacation

Szechwan Eggplant (with Peppers)

• 2 Japanese eggplants, cut into 1” pieces
• 2 small or 1 large bell pepper, cut into 1” pieces
• 1 hot pepper, cut into ½” rings
• 1 tbsp ginger, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp Szechwan stir-fry sauce (see this recipe for more detail)
• 1 tsp Szechwan peppercorns, ground (optional)
• 3 tbsp canola or peanut oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbsp water
• 1 tsp sesame seeds, for garnish

The setup.  Notice what's missing?  That's right - meat!

Chop and gather all ingredients.  Heat wok until smoking over high heat, and add 1 tbsp canola and ½ tsp sesame oil to the pan.  Stir-fry half of the eggplant, stirring frequently to avoid burning, until sticky, about 3 minutes.  While eggplant is cooking, add Szechwan peppercorns, if using.  Remove to a plate, and repeat with remaining half, also removing to plate.

Make sure to have everything at the ready, or this will get screwed up

Cook the eggplant until almost sticky, and set aside.  The eggplant will absorb a lot of oil, so don't get crazy.  Just add what's in the recipe and keep stirring

Reheat wok until smoking.  Add remaining 1 tbsp canola oil to pan, and add garlic, ginger, and Szechwan stir-fry sauce.  Be sure to have the exhaust fan on high, and try not to breathe.  Stir for 10-15 seconds, then add all peppers and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Return eggplant to wok, and deglaze with Shaoxing wine.

Stir-fry the peppers after infusing the oil with the aromatics and stir-fry sauce.  This will basically create a mustard gas-like sinus nightmare, so get the fans going, and try as hard as possible NOT TO COUGH!

Stir in cornstarch and water mixture, and toss to combine.  Cook for another 30 seconds and plate immediately.  Garnish with sesame seeds, if desired.

Deglaze with wine and add some cornstarch (or tapioca starch) and water to thicken it up and provide a bit of a sauce

Szechwan Eggplant and Chicken Stir-Fry

Following on the heels of my red curry experience, I had leftover ingredients in my fridge to use up.  Chicken breasts and cubed eggplant - enough of each for a decent meal.  Other than potentially some Italian or Mediterranean dishes, the main culture that comes to mind is Chinese.  I found a recipe for Szechwan stir-fried eggplant, which I then modified to include the chicken as well.  The dish turned out fairly well, though the below recipe doubles the sauce components now that I know better, and I would marinate the chicken in something (sake and soy sauce, for example) beforehand.  If you want to make this a vegetarian dish, remove the chicken breast and go back to 5 Asian eggplants, which is what it originally called for.  Neat useless fact of the day: 20 pounds of eggplants contains as much nicotine as one cigarette!

Asian eggplant, not the same as regular.  Kinda looks like a cigarette... 

Random worthless facts of the day - eggplant contains your FDA recommended daily minimum intake of nicotine!  Source: The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 329:437 August 5, 1993 #6

A word about preparing stir-fry: get everything ready before you start cooking.  These dishes cook quickly, and if you don't have everything prepped and within easy reach, that's when things get ruined.  Consider getting some small prep bowls so you can just grab them and toss them in; you may see small stainless bowls in some of my other posts, and naturally I'm setting a bad example here by not using them.  But they help a lot, and keep things organized and ready to add without any delays.

The aromatics, prepped and ready to go before the wok is heated up

The rest of the ingredients

Szechwan Eggplant and Chicken Stir-Fry

Adapted from Tyler Florence recipe

• 2 Asian eggplants, about 1 pound
• 1 chicken breast, sliced thinly
• 3 tablespoons peanut oil 
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil 
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• 2 green onions, white and green parts, sliced on a diagonal 
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced 
• 3 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1 fresh red chile, sliced 
• 1 cup chicken broth 
• 6 tablespoons soy sauce 
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar 
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch 
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, for garnish 
• Thai holy basil and fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

 

Cut the eggplants in 1/2 lengthwise and then slice crosswise into wedges, no more than 1-inch wide.  If using regular eggplant, just cut into 1" cubes.  In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and cornstarch until the sugar and cornstarch are dissolved.

Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high flame and add half the oils; tilt the pan to coat all sides. When you see a slight smoke, add the eggplant, stir-fry until seared and sticky, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the eggplant to a side platter, add remaining oil, and cook the chicken in the same manner.

Stir-fry the eggplant until 'sticky'.  You'll know what it means, just keep moving it around so it doesn't burn

Next, stir-fry the chicken

After all the eggplant and chicken is out of the pan, add the green onions, ginger, garlic, and chile; stir-fry for a minute until fragrant. Add the broth. Pour the soy sauce mixture into the wok and cook another minute, until the sauce has thickened. Put the eggplant and chicken back in the pan, tossing quickly, until the sauce is absorbed. Garnish with sesame seeds, Thai basil, and cilantro and serve.

Quickly stir-fry the aromatics, then add the sauce ingredients

The final product, before serving over rice.  Kill the heat before you add the basil and cilantro, or it wilts

Thai Red Curry Chicken (Gaeng Gai)

I've noticed a trend so far on my recipes - either a bunch of meat, or Thai food.  Well, today it's a meaty Thai food recipe.  Don't worry, one day soon we will break out of this trend.  Last night's dinner was my Thai Red Curry Chicken, known in parts that know these things as "Gaeng Gai", where "Gai" means chicken, and "Gaeng" means either 'curry' or 'freaking awesome', depending on which dictionary you use.  It's a very easy recipe if you have about 3 weird ingredients, all of which can be found routinely at asian grocery stores.  If you don't have an asian grocery store nearby, I recommend importfood.com, which seems to have the right assortment of foods, though I can't vouch for their freshness.

With that questionably useful tip, let me jump right into the recipe.  And at last, this one can't be attributed to another author, because I have made it dozens of times, and I've been tweaking both the ingredients and the instructions to get something I'm most pleased with.  It's still not perfect, but it's pretty close for home-cooked Thai food.

First, a word on ingredients.  In this recipe, I use Thai eggplants whenever possible, which are green globes about the size of a golf ball.  Next up, the red curry paste.  There are some standard curry pastes available both in asian grocers and now in most regular grocery stores.  I use Maesri brand red curry paste for this, although I have recently gotten my hands on some excellent imported curry paste I acquired at an asian grocery store, found in their freezer section.  Feel free to ask around, but Maesri does a pretty good job.  Next, the Thai basil.  This looks a little like basil, but with smaller, less rippled leaves.  There is also a plant called holy basil, which has more purple-colored leaves.  I like them both for this dish - they both add a licorice flavor to the basil backbone, with a hint of mint on the Thai basil side.  I happen to grow Thai basil specifically for this recipe, but it's fairly easy to come across one or both of these in the asian grocery store.  Finally, the kaffir lime leaves.  If you can find them fresh, good job!  However, you are much more likely to find these in the freezer section, in small bags.  Try looking in the smaller grocery stores - this is a somewhat hard to find item, and while not essential to the dish, it does add a tart citrus flavor to the sauce.



Thai eggplants.  Try to find them at an asian grocer, but substitute regular eggplant if you really have to



Red curry paste.  This brand is good, and easy to find.  Look for the little old lady on the side - that's always a good sign



Kaffir lime leaves.  From importfood.com - they have all of the Thai ingredients listed, if you can't find any at the store

 

 

Think about this recipe as a stew - that's all it is.  Saute your meat, throw in the liquid and vegetables, and simmer for a while.  It's very easy, and tastes just like what you'd get at a restaurant.  Very impressive results.

 

Thai Red Curry Chicken (Gaeng Gai)

Serves 2-3

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10-15 minutes

• 1-2 tbsp cooking oil (I use canola)
• 2 tbsp red curry paste, more if you prefer more spicy
• 2 cups coconut milk (go for the full fat version, it does make a difference)
• 4 Kaffir lime leaves, shredded (optional, but I like the taste)
• 1½ tbsp brown sugar (use palm sugar if you would like something more authentic)
• 1½ tbsp Thai fish sauce
• 1 pound sliced chicken breast (or lean pork, or shrimp, or tofu...)
• 4-5 pea eggplants, quartered (substitute regular eggplant in 1" cubes if you can't find)
• 1 bell (less preferred) or poblano (more preferred) pepper, sliced into thin strips
• 1 small red chili, sliced (optional)
• 1 can Bamboo shoots
• 2 tbsp fresh Thai, holy, or standard basil leaves
  
  
  

Heat the oil in a wok. Add the curry paste and stir-fry for about one minute, but before it starts sticking to the wok.   WARNING: THIS MAY FILL YOUR KITCHEN WITH PUNGENT CHILE FUMES, SO TURN ON YOUR HOOD FAN AND OPEN WINDOWS!!!  If you start coughing, all is lost - you just get more worked up, and then cough even more.  You might consider drinking water... or giving up and ordering in.  No?  Good, you are a truly dedicated cook.  Throw in the chicken and quickly stir-fry to cook the surfaces of the meat and turn them white, but not necessarily all the way through.  This will infuse the chicken with the curry flavor while still allowing for them to finish cooking in the sauce, and prevent excess boiling of the coconut milk (most recipes have you just simmer the raw meat in the milk / sauce), which breaks it down too much and loses some of its fresh taste.

 



The setup.  Not a ton of things to prep this time

  

Stir-frying the chicken in the red curry paste.  Don't overcook, or else it will wring out the moisture and end up tough and dry

Now add the coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce and sugar.  Bring the coconut milk just to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Add eggplants and whatever peppers you're using.  Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until eggplants are tender.  Add bamboo shoots towards end of the cooking time - they just need to be warmed up, and won't add anything to the overall flavor.  Kill the heat, then add the basil leaves, tossing to coat.  Serve with steamed rice. 



The full mix after it's been simmering for a few minutes.  Keep things moving so you get all of the eggplant cooked.  A lid would have helped.




The final product, served over rice.  Tastes like restaurant food, but made by you on the cheap



Ramble alert!!  I will add a caveat - I'm still not sold on when to put in the eggplant to make sure it cooks through without damaging the coconut milk.  The step for stir-frying the meat with the curry paste came from a coworker's Thai girlfriend, who told me not to overcook (or even boil) the coconut milk.  To avoid this, I once tried blanching the cut up eggplant by boiling it for 2 minutes and then dunking it in ice water, to cook it mostly through and avoid having to boil the whole stew for too long, damaging the coconut milk flavors.  However, this didn't work so well - the eggplant had very little taste when boiled in water.  Another recipe I saw called for boiling the eggplant in coconut milk, then adding it to the stew for the last few minutes.  This also seems like a decent plan, except it's the same damaging effect on the coconut milk.  So in the end, I would just recommend the original recipe posted above, and be careful not to bring the liquid to a rolling boil.  Just keep it at a simmer, or else you will both damage the sauce and make the meat tough.