Thailand: Reddish curry with seafood and veggies

I cheated again. This time for no real reason. It just seemed like a good day for curry.

So I decided to jet onto Thailand. No random pull from the wine bag of fun. Just a craving for curry.

As usual, I started seeking out recipes and comparing notes, looking for a good foundation. I ultimately ended up adapting a recipe from Cooks Illustrated: The Best International Recipes. (A birthday/bon voyage gift from my siblings when I started the blog... Thanks guys!). I made some adjustments based on what I could find at my local Publix. They didn't have the fresh lemongrass called for in the recipe, so I used lemongrass paste. And I couldn't find fresh red jalapenos, but there was one jar left in the canned goods aisle. I knew it was meant to come home with me. The recipe says you can also substitute green jalapenos. I guess the red is supposed to give it color. Mine came out kind of brownish anyway. I was hoping for pink.

The final product came out all right. At some point in the process I realized this is a hell of a lot of spices and flavors that go into this recipe. Never again will I underestimate a good curry. A note to my vegetarian friends, you could easily do this one without the seafood and go straight up veggies. Not sure what to make of the fish sauce ...

What you need:

For paste ...

8 dried red chiles (I used the de arbol kind)

6 cloves garlic, minced

4 shallots, minced

1/3 cup water

4 tbsps. lemon grass paste (or 2 stalks ... bottom 5 inches only)

3 medium red jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed

2 tbsps. minced cilantro stems

2 tbsps. peanut oil

1 tbsp. zest from a lime

2 tsps. coriander

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. grated ginger

1 tsp. tomato paste

1 tsp. salt

For other yumminess ...

1 1/4 cups water

2 tbsps. fish sauce

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 lb. shrimp

1/2 lb. scallops

2 cups carrots (I bought the crinkle kind that looks like a chip)

1 package snow peas

1 package mushrooms (I used portabella, for lack of anything more interesting)

1 cup sliced red and green bell peppers

1 can coconut milk (14 oz)

1/2 cup basil leaves

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

2 tbsps. juice from lime

Jasmine rice for serving

What to do:

Preheat the over to 350. Place the dried chiles on a baking sheet and toast for about five minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Meanwhile, combine all of the other paste ingredients. When the dried chiles are cool, add those (minus the seeds and such) to the mix. Blend into a fine paste (I used my immersion blender).

Prepare the veggies and steam until they start to get a little tender. They will cook somewhat when added to the curry paste, but you want to give them a little jump start.

When the paste is mixed, put it in a skillet and cook until sizzling. Add the water and fish sauce and bring to a boil. Add the seafood and veggies and bring mixture back to a simmer.

Remove the seafood and veggies from the curry and set aside. Add the coconut milk and cook until curry sauce thickens. Add the seafood and veggies and remove from heat. Add the basil, cilantro and lime juice. Serve over jasmine rice.

A post script on this recipe: I was extremely tired by the time I finished making this on Saturday. Long story, but after an early morning and a day of cooking I could barely taste the dish and wasn't sure how I felt about it.

I heated some up for dinner Monday night and it's definitely much tastier on the re-up. The sauce thickens and the flavors meld together nicely. I still think it could use a little more spice. There is a little kick to it, but I could stand to go hotter.