Third time making my "Yellow Curry with Chicken" and it just gets better each go around. The first two times followed the recipe right out of the book with the only deviation being seeded bird's eye chilies to replace the green peppercorns that I can't find anywhere around here (Internet here I come). The book I primarily use is The Food of Thailand: A Journey for Food Lovers, Whitecap Publishing.
After cracking open a Stella and queuing up the latest Master Chef, I got right to work. One thing I enjoy about cooking Thai is the prep work that goes into it. Slicing meat, measuring liquids and chopping veggies can be very therapeutic as you watch it all come together bowl after bowl. The anticipation of what it's all about to become gives me great satisfaction. Once it's all cut and placed in small bowls, I fire up the wok and make some magic.
Yellow curry isn't the most colorful of the varieties as the turmeric color of the mixture tends to, well, yellow everything. Who cares about color... it's damned good. I'll include the process below but the ingredients are simple: chicken thigh, yellow curry paste, coconut milk and bamboo shoots would be the primary ingredients if I made it right from the book but I added Thai eggplant because I love it and the decision was the right one. Not too spicy but full of a flavor that lingers, is a dish that I will continue to make.
Recipe (italics are my additional notes or ingredients):
Put 1/4 cup of coconut cream in a wok on medium heat and cook until the oil separates and forms a layer on top. The book calls for 5 mins but it only takes about 1 min on my stove.
Add 2 tbsp (I go for 3) of yellow curry paste and stir well, cooking until fragrant. Add 1 tbsp Fish sauce, 2 tbsp palm sugar (the more you add the sweeter it'll be) and 1/4 tsp of turmeric. Cook until the mixture is darkened.
Throw in 1# of thin sliced chicken thigh (the thigh is much better than breast when it comes to this recipe). Mix the chicken around well to ensure that every last bit is coated in the sauce. Now cook for about 5 minutes or until your chicken is thoroughly cooked. Throughout this 5 minutes add in a full can of coconut milk about 1 tbsp at a time. Just keep adding until the can is empty.
Here is where I deviated a little. Once all the coconut milk was added I tossed in about 1# of Thai eggplant, cut in quarters, to allow it to soften while the chicken cooked.
I also chose to add 4 bird's eye chilies, seeded during the "chicken" phase.
Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the curry is simmering, add 3oz of finely sliced bamboo shoots, 12 Thai basil leaves and 6 to 10 kaffir leaves. Simmer for 5 more minutes and you're all set.
Serve alone or over 1/4 cup of jasmine rice.
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