I was so excited to find fresh kaffir lime leaves at the local farmers market this last week! They are one of the essential flavors in Thai dishes but hard to find. I bought a packet excited to try some new recipes out!
Try number one. I made Thai coconut soup and green curry. Turns out the tofu was not the right match for the soup and for some reason I hate vegetable stock. It also had half chicken stock but I could still taste the vegetable stock. (I'm never using that again in a recipe). The curry had great flavor but I used a store bought paste and it was way too spicy!
I still had half of my little bag of kaffir lime leaves so I went to the farmers market again and got some more ingredients and tried again a few days later.
Tonight I decided just to make the curry again and to keep it from being too spicy, I made the curry paste from scratch!! When we were in Cambodia we observed that the food was very similar to Thai food but everything was at a spice level I could handle so I loved it even more! I found a Cambodian recipe that they call kroeung. It is their version of spice paste very similar to the Thai version but less spicy! Perfect!
I still wanted a little spice so I bought some little Japanese green chilies. The problem was I had no idea how spicy they were! Logan was so brave and took a bit out of one for me!! He confirmed they were very spicy!! Like burn your lips for an hour spicy!! Thanks to his brave sacrifice I put 1/4 of the tiny chilie in and it was perfect after cooking.
The picture below really doesn't do it justice - it was a beautiful fresh bright green! It looked so much better than the store bought stuff!
I think this is the best dish I have ever made! It tasted so fresh and there is just something about the lemongrass, galangal root and Thai basil that just make so so happy! Too bad the ingredients are so hard to find or I would make it all the time!
At least I had enough curry paste to freeze and get to make this again soon!
Green curry paste recipe
6-8 cloves garlic
4 kaffir lime leaves
3 stocks lemongrass
3 green onions
1 green chilie pepper (or less for mild)
1 oz galangal root
1/4 tsp turmeric power
1/2 tsp salt
Cut everything up and put in a blender until everything is blended up. Use coconut milk as needed to help it emulsify.
Curry recipe
1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons green curry paste
8 oz chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup chicken stock
4 oz bamboo shoots
5 kaffir lime leaves, lightly bruised
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup Thai basil leaves
Heat up a pot over medium heat and add the oil. Saute the green curry paste until aromatic, add the chicken and stir to combine well with the curry paste. Add the coconut milk and chicken stock and bring it to a quick boil.
Add the bamboo shoots and kaffir lime leaves. Lower the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes or until the curry slightly thickens.
Add the fish sauce, sugar, and basil leaves. Stir to mix well. Turn off the heat and serve immediately with steamed rice.
After I perfect the coconut soup, the next food I want to learn is Pad See Ew. It is my favorite Thai dish!
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