Thai Shrimp Curry (and a super cute baby!)

My good friends Dave and Kathy just welcomed their first little one into the world a few weeks ago, and boy, is that that little girl precious! I had the joy of meeting her last night when I stopped by with dinner for her parents. I love little kids, but infants make me nervous. They just look so squishy and breakable. Irene came three weeks ahead of schedule, so she's especially tiny, weighing in last week at just 6 lbs, 1 oz. She has her dad's cheeks, her mom's nose, and big grey-blue eyes that are uniquely her own. I was a bit nervous to hold something so precious, but after a few hours of watching how her parents interact with her, I felt ready. She wasn't fussy at all, although she is a very vocal baby, and the girl loves to stretch! She is still learning to control her eye movement and her eyesight isn't completely developed, so I'm really glad that I had my glasses on; the dark frames seemed to make it easier for her to focus on my face. We enjoyed some nice time together, her sort of reaching around for my necklace and hair, and then...she pooped! She's still cute though....I've got proof!

Now that I've talked about how cute baby Irene is, I can tell you about the delicious curry I brought her parents for dinner. I'm a big fan of MealBaby, by the way. It's a website that allows you to register your due date and recruit friends to make/deliver dinners once your baby has arrived. I noticed a lot of chicken on the menu, so I opted for Thai curry with shrimp. It's one of those meals that turns out better than expected and leaves your whole house smelling like your favorite Thai restaurant. Since you make the curry paste from scratch, it takes a bit of time, but the good news is that you can make the paste anytime you'd like and store it in the refrigeration in an air-tight container for up to a month! I knew I'd be pressed for time yesterday, so I made the paste on Sunday and spent only about 30 minutes putting together the meal last night. Let's start with the paste!

Thai Red Curry Paste

From Emeril Lagasse

12 dry chili peppers, seeded and soaked in warm water for 30 minutes (use only the liquid)

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

1/2 cup shallots, chopped

14 cup garlic, chopped

3 lemongrass stalks (discard tough outer leaves, chop only tender center)

3 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

2 tsp lime zest

1 tsp shrimp paste (I used tom yum paste, which contains shrimp)

Begin by soaking the peppers. Toast the coriander seeds and black peppercorns over medium heat for about 3 minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat, cool, and grind. Place the chopped shallot and garlic in a pan over medium heat and cook for 3 minutes or so until beginning to brown. Remove and cool. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor along with 1/4 cup of liquid from the chilies and blend until smooth. 

Thai Shrimp Curry

From Emeril Lagasse

1 lb of medium shrimp, peeled and deveined 

1/2 cup shallots, chopped

2 tsp garlic, chopped

1 red bell pepper, sliced

2 medium carrots, julienned 

3 tbsp of Thai Red Curry Paste (recipe above)

1 can of bamboo shoots, drained (this is my personal touch!) 

2 tsp brown sugar

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 can coconut milk

3 tbsp Thai basil leaves, chopped

Add 2 tbsp of canola oil to a hot wok or large sautee pan. Add shallots, garlic, pepper, and carrots and stir fry until tender (2-3 minutes). Add 3 tbsp of Thai Curry Paste and stir until fragrant (30sec-1min). Add brown sugar and fish sauce, stirring constantly, and then add coconut milk. (I hate fish sauce. Hate it! It smells awful, but you actually need its potency and flavor in the dish. It's balanced out by the sugar and coconut milk, I promise!). Bring to a boil and then simmer for 2 minutes until thickened. Add the bamboo shoots and shrimp, and cook until shrimp are just pink (only a few minutes). Remove from heat, add the basil and serve over rice. 

I am planning to make a "vegetarian" version (keeping in mind that there's fish sauce in the curry paste) this week for myself just to up my veggie consumption this week. I love bamboo shoots for their texture, so I've always thrown them in; I think water chestnuts would be equally great. This week I found my very favorite enoki mushrooms (which are aptly called 金針菇 or "golden needle mushrooms" in Chinese because are a creamy off-white yellow and are also very thin) and some fresh pea pods as well as some extra firm tofu at the Asian market, so I'll be subbing those things for the shrimp. And since I made a double batch of the curry paste on Sunday, all I'll need to do is whip up some rice and throw all the veggies together. I'll even have enough for another pot or two of curry later this month! I'm sure Mike and I will have it for dinner when he visits next week! Only nine days left (you know, in case you were wondering)!