“Don’t be afraid of the lemongrass!”
I’ll never forget those words spoken to me in 2012 by Farina Kingsley as she gave me a cooking lesson on how to make Green Thai Curry. Farina is a culinary instructor and multi-time cookbook author who focuses on making Asian cooking easy to do at home. She makes it so easy, in fact, that even the ultimate non-cook like me can do it! Watch this video to see how I managed to whip up a Thai curry dish that was DeathbedFood despite my dearth of knife skills.
You can make the recipe yourself because Farina shared it on her website, FarinaKingsley.com. And remember, if I can do it, you can too!
Green Coconut Curry Shrimp & Vegetables
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined (or you may use chicken instead)
1 cup carrots, peeled and cut into 3 x 1/4 inch thin strips
1 cup string beans, cut into 3 inch pieces
2 tablespoons canola oil
Curry Paste
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 shallots, peeled
3 green jalapeno or serrano chilies, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons galangal, peeled and chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced cilantro stems
2 minced kaffir lime leaves or 1 teaspoon lime zest
Sauce
2 cups coconut milk
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon chopped palm sugar
Garnish
4 sprigs Thai basil
4 sprigs cilantro
Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.
Use a mortar and pestle or food processor – grind the curry paste ingredients into a fairly smooth paste.
Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the canola oil and saute the curry paste until very fragrant and turns a shade darker, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the sauce mixture to the pan and stir until well combined. Add the carrots and simmer the over low heat until the carrots are just tender, about 15 minutes. Add the string beans and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Right before serving, stir in the shrimp and simmer over low heat until the meat turns orange and opaque all the way through.
Transfer the curry to a warm bowl and garnish with Thai basil and cilantro. Serve warm.
