Mixed Vegetable Jungle Curry

A seasonal bounty of vegetables shine in this northern Thai-style jungle curry that doesn’t include coconut milk. When available I use krachai, a rhizome in the same family as galangal, it’s difficult to find fresh outside of Thailand—the frozen variety can work. I have outlined the vegetables in categories based on cooking time, if there are others you would like to include just try to add them into one of these categories and cook accordingly. Remember to tell your guests that the whole aromatics (lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and galangal) are not meant to be eaten, or you may opt to simply take them out before serving.

Serves 4–6
 Preparation time: 10 mins
 Cooking time: 15 mins

2 tablespoons oil

¼ cup (70 g) green curry paste

4 cups (1 liter) vegetable, chicken or pork stock/ broth

1 tablespoon Thai palm sugar or light brown sugar

1 tablespoon fish sauce or soy sauce

3 stalks lemongrass, tender inner part of bottom third only, bruised

6 slices galangal (substitute ginger)

6 kaffir lime leaves (substitute 1 teaspoon grated lime zest)

4 cups (50–100 g per cup) vegetables—cut into bite-sized slices, pieces or strips

• Long Cooking (5 minutes)—Eggplant, long beans, onions, carrots

• Quick Cooking (3 minutes)—Mushrooms, chilies, bell peppers, beans, peas, asparagus, green papaya

• Instant Cooking (just stir in)—Asian greens (choy sum, bok choy…), snow peas, cooked bamboo shoots

1 tablespoon green peppercorns (optional)

¼ cup (7 g) Thai basil leaves

1 red finger-length chili, sliced into thin rings or slivers

1 Heat the oil and curry paste in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and cook for 1 minute.

2 Pour in the stock, sugar, fish sauce, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to simmer for 3–5 minutes. Add the vegetables in stages according to their cook time.

3 Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning with fish sauce, salt and/or sugar. Stir in the green pepper-corns (if using) and basil leaves.

4 Remove from the heat, transfer into a serving bowl and garnish with sliced chilies. Noodles and Rice

The history of rice goes back more than 4000 years in Thailand when they began to cultivate this staple grain, it’s possible that it was in Thailand that people first started to cultivate rice.

Although it seems like every Thai restaurant serves steamed Jasmine Rice (page 102), this is not true. Technically it’s not steamed, it’s cooked submerged in water until it absorbs the water, yielding a steaming pot or aromatic, it’s what Thais call “Thai Ho Mali Rice.”

When I want a bit more excitement, I cook up a batch of Pineapple Fried Jasmine Rice (page 103), fried rice is actually my favorite breakfast food, I usually use leftover rice, once chilled it separates easily into individual grains. Instead of scrambling the eggs I sometimes like to fry an egg sunny-side up and top the mound of rice with it, whooah, get ready for a great way to start the day. Regardless of how it’s served, I cannot go a few days without some plain white rice. Its sweet aroma, savory taste, and shear simplicity is one of life’s great pleasures. When I don’t have some for a while, I begin to crave its taste and when I have broken my fast I savor that first bite.

Are you a big shot, or what Thais call a sen yai or “big noodle.” This expression demonstrates how important noodles are in the Thai culture. Many people are surprised to see how many dry noodles are used in Thai food, they are so convenient to keep on hand and when you need some noodles you can soak them while you get everything else ready. They can be stir-fried without ever boiling them, that’s what you do for the Tamarind Noodles with Chicken, Pork or Shrimp (page 94) that were inspired by Pad Thai noodles. You also have the option of cooking them first for 2 minutes in boiling water, leeching out some of the starch, this is done with the Rice Ribbon Noodles with Basil (page 96).

Thais invent food every day, one recent addition to the Thai repertoire is instant Japanese ramen noodles. Street food vendors keep the packs of noodles on the shelves for those that have become addicted to these wheat based, fried until dry, noodle nests (that’s why they cook so quickly). I have re-created the Bangkok “Night Market” Ramen (page 100) so you can try this at home.