Thai Green Curry

There's such a beautiful art to Asian cooking. I remember eagerly watching my grandma prepare our meals as it it was such a ritual. She always served vegetables with meat and rice. These came in forms of soups and stir fry's where the meat and vegetables were in one dish and the balance of everything came through in each bite. She would cut all of her vegetables with such ease and precision and reserve them for later, she did the same with her meats and sauces. It was enchanting, I would look on fascinated as if watching a wizard prepare a secret potion. Little did I know that there's a culinary term for assembling all your ingredients called "mis en place". She is a very sophisticated cook and a lot of her methods were given terms when I trained professionally. It dawned on me then that my grandmother was my first culinary instructor.

Today I really felt her presence in my kitchen. I made Thai green curry and felt like a little girl again as I prepared my mis en place before I started cooking. I don't like buying pastes from bottles if it can be avoided and this recipe is a perfect way to enjoy it from scratch!


Green Curry Ingredients:
2 cans full fat coconut milk
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
3 garlic cloves smashed
1 inch piece of ginger roughly chopped
2 cups fresh coriander (stems and leaves)
1.5 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sambal oelek or 1 birds eye chili
1 lime zested and juiced
1 stalk lemon grass (peel away the outer layer and use the softer inside)
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 Japanese eggplant
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 green bell pepper
1 cup cut green beans
1 lb boneless chicken meat cut into cubes
1 zucchini sliced in large pieces

Method:
In a food processor, combine lemon grass, ginger, garlic, sambal, coriander, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime zest, juice and oil. Blend until it's a smooth paste. Mix chicken with 1.2 teaspoon of salt. In a wok or sauce pan, heat the paste and add chicken. Cook until it's translucent. Add the coconut mill and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook covered on low heat for 30 minutes- making sure to stir every couple minutes. Add  the vegetables making sure to add the harder veggies first followed by  the softer ones as they have different cooking times. Check for taste and modify seasonings if needed. Add Basil leaves and serve on a bed of rice.