thai red curry with chicken, eggplant, green beans and bamboo

i bought one of those super saver packs of chicken thighs a couple weeks ago and froze what i didn't use for that recipe (which was a simple pan-fried chicken recipe from the joy of cooking cookbook, very good btw). brainstorming ways to use up that chicken, and having had a great pork basil stirfry from a thai restaurant last nite, i decided to go for chicken curry tonite.

thai curry is relatively easy to make. it's a one-pot meal, minus the pot you use to make rice in. i think the most time-consuming part is ingredient prep. as i discovered tonite. but the result is a rich stew that will last you at least 3 or 4 more servings the week after. yummers.

here are the things i used to make my curry (from left to right): lemongrass, green beans, ginger, garlic, eggplant, cilantro, jalapenos, chicken thighs, coconut milk, thai red curry paste, bamboo shoots, and lime.

to prep, i sliced the eggplant into wedges, trimmed the beans, deseeded and sliced the jalapenos, rough-chopped the garlic, peeled a small block of ginger, minced the lemongrass heart, chopped half an onion, and chopped some cilantro.

in a large pot, i sauteed the onion, garlic, ginger and lemongrass in some hot canola oil.

once that started turning color, i threw in the eggplant. eggplant soaks up oil fast so watch it carefully or your onions will start to burn from having no oil left to cook in.

while the eggplant was coooking, i deskinned and deboned 4 chicken thighs, then sliced them into thin strips. you want them thin so they poach quickly in the curry sauce.

once the eggplant was slightly soft, i added 2 big tablespoons of the red curry paste and the can of coconut milk. at this point i was supposed to add a 1/4 cup of fish sauce, only to find that when i opened my cupboard, i had no more! argh. i had to substitute 2-3 tablespoons of salt. i also added the juice of 1 1/2 limes and about 3 tablespoons brown sugar. this part is really to your taste. the key is to taste after adding each seasoning so you can shape the flavor of the curry. to me, thai curry is spice-y (not necessarily "spicy" hot), slightly sweet, and a little tart. i also like curry with more body, not thin and soupy.

as that reduced, i added the sliced chicken thighs and left it to poach for 10 min. leave the burner high enough so it continues to simmer well.

when the chicken is almost done (i.e. no pink, and it'll take longer for thigh meat to cook than breast meat), i threw in the bamboo shoots (drained), beans, cilantro and jalapenos.

after another 5 minutes, the beans are warmed through and it's all ready to plate.

a nice scoop of rice is perfect for soaking up all of the tasty curry. garnish with cilantro leaves and you've got yourself a soul-warming meal on a cold nite, as it is tonite in sf.

overall this turned out pretty good. i think the fish sauce would've added a nuanced, undertoned note that you just can't get by adding salt alone. but the chicken was tender and moist, the beans had a tender snap, and the lime contrasted beautifully against the spices of the curry paste.

and the best part? i have enough for 3 more meals. leftovers anyone?

jalapeno beef stirfry

last nite in new york city's chinatown, i had a surprisingly tasty last minute meal at nice green bo shanghainese restaurant on bayardad street. as benji ordered beef with jalapenos, i thought to myself, whoa. that's gonna be super spicy. i couldn't imagine eating strips of jalapenos without reaching for a glass of cooling milk or even horchata. but when the dish did come out, it was a tasty, savory stirfry of tender strips of beef and sliced jalapenos that really weren't that hot. it was actually more akin to green bell peppers with a slight kick. and it was good. so good, that i recreated it tonite for dinner. so here we go.

i picked up a pound or so of skirt steak at the market after work, along with some jalapenos, an onion and garlic.


i then prepped the ingredients, deseeding, deveining and slicing the jalapenos, slicing the onion and thinly slicing the garlic cloves. i cut the skirt steak into thin strips as well.

i then marinated the beef with some oyster sauce, mushroom flavored dark soy sauce, a bit of sesame oil and freshly ground black pepper. i also decided to throw in a couple splashes of sake and mirin, in honor of all the great japanese food i've had lately.

in went the garlic into hot olive oil...

and the marinated beef, stirfried quickly for about 3-4 min.

i removed the beef from the pan and threw in the jalapenos and onions, stirfrying them for another 3-4 min...

until there was a bit of caramelization going on in the pan. i then tossed the reserved beef and sauce back in and...

plated! yum looking huh?

compared to nice green bo's version, mine was less salty but more oily. the beef was more tender than ngb's, probably because i used skirt steak instead of top round, which has more fat and is more tender.

i was really surprised by this dish. jalapenos cooked in this manner really aren't that hot and have a nice crunch and plenty of fiber. i wonder what other non-typical ingredients i can stir fry. that'll be a future post.