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Special Thai Lime Leaf Green Curry with Burmese Style Rice


This recipe, while requiring some not-always-stocked kitchen ingredients, is easy to follow. And, once you taste it, you won't believe it came from your own kitchen instead of from a restaurant. I promise you.

Follow the instructions and you'll be fine. Personally, I omit the shrimp paste because I think it's conceptually gross. But, never skimp on the kaffir lime leaves. They cannot be replaced with simply lime juice, as some food bloggers will suggest. It's a different taste profile altogether. You can find kaffir lime leaves in Asian and Southeast Asian groceries. I use it often enough that I buy a small plant and grow it in a pot so the leaves are always on hand. In a pot, it has grown easily in the midwest (brought indoors for the winter), in Texas (kept in a pot but outdoors, unless it was going to freeze), and now in North Carolina (growing in a sunroom). Easy to grow. It's not a particularly attractive plant, but once you start cooking with it, you'll see.

Many options online to buy one of these plants. This time, I got mine from the reputable plant seller Logee's. I had left my last one behind in Texas, which has strange plant laws - I had to buy mine on eBay when I lived there.

But back to the food. This is delicious. This week, I paired it with Burmese Style Rice and used the turmeric-flavored onions as a side.

(Note - I have been using this recipe for years. Originally, I found it on that website about-dot-com. It had no author. The website doesn't exist anymore. I see that other bloggers have picked it up as their own, most notably The Spruce Eats. But, I have been using this for at least a decade and my hat is permanently tipped to the anonymous person who provided the recipe on About.)


 Special Thai Lime Leaf Green Curry
About.com

Curry Paste:
10-12 kaffir lime leaves
6 cloves garlic
4 spring onion, sliced (scallions or leeks will do)
3 T Asian fish sauce
4 T-squeezed lime juice
3 T soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
3 T coconut milk
1/2 c fresh basil
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp shrimp paste (as noted earlier, I omit this)

Curry:  
2 T vegetable oil
2 shallots, diced
2-3 T sherry (or cooking sherry)
1-1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken in pieces
1 red bell pepper, chopped to the same size as the chicken pieces
1 green or yellow bell pepper, chopped to the same size as the chicken pieces
1/2 can coconut milk
1/2 c basil 
Using scissors, snip the lime leaves into thin strips, discarding the stems and central veins.
Combine the leaf strips plus all the paste ingredients in a mini food processor to create a paste.
Heat oil. Add shallots and stir-fry until aromatic, about 1 minute. 
Add the chicken and sherry. Cook 2-3 minutes, until chicken is nearly cooked.

Add peppers and 3 T curry paste. Cook 2-3 more minutes, until peppers have softened.

Lower heat to medium. Add the remaining paste plus the coconut milk, stirring well to mix.

Gently simmer a few minutes while you taste-test and adjust the flavorings. If you want more sauce, add more coconut milk. If too salty, add more lime juice. If too sour, add more sugar. If not salty enough, add more fish sauce.

Burmese Style Rice

2 c sticky rice
3 onions (or to taste - this will be a side dish, so cook up only as many as you will eat)
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 c vegetable oil
4 c water
1/2 tsp salt

Wash rice and drain it.

Slice onions and sprinkle with turmeric.

 

Heat oil in saucepan and fry onions until they are brown, but do not let them burn.




Remove onions with slotted spoon. Set aside for serving alongside the rice.

Add rice to the pan. Stir well to mix with oil. Add water and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
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