How to make spicy curry paste
Thai red curry paste
Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped fresh ginger
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 tbsp hot chili-garlic sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp lime zest
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
Directions:
1. Whirl all ingredients in a food processor or blender, scraping down sides as needed, until puréed, 1 to 2 min. Use immediately or refrigerate in a jar for up to a month.
Makes 3/4 cup
Per tbsp: 15 calories, 4 g carbs, 130 mg sodium.
Switch it up
Spicy green curry paste: Instead of red onion, use 1 unseeded, chopped jalapeno. Add 1/4 cup each packed fresh basil leaves and cilantro.
Mild & creamy yellow curry paste: Instead of lime zest and juice, use 1 tbsp lemon juice and 2 tsp lemon zest. Add 3/4 tsp turmeric.
Hot & sour curry paste: Combine 2 tbsp green curry with 1 tbsp yellow curry and 1 tsp vegetable oil.
Two ways to use it
Spicy Thai fish
Heat a large frying pan over medium-high. Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Sprinkle 2 firm fish fillets (such as tilapia) with 1/8 tsp salt. Add fish to hot pan. Cook until a knife inserted into the thickest part of fish and held for 10 sec comes out warm, 3 to 5 min per side. Transfer to plates. Reduce heat to medium. Add 1 tsp vegetable oil, 1/2 cup finely chopped red pepper, 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste (recipe on previous page) and 1 to 2 tbsp coconut milk. Cook until pepper is soft, 2 to 3 min. Spoon sauce over fish. Serves 2.
Curried chicken noodles
Soak 200 g medium rice noodles in boiling water for 8 min, stirring occasionally, until soft. Drain and set aside. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high. Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 sliced onion, 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips, and 1 julienned Japanese eggplant. Sauté 5 min. Add 1/3 cup green or yellow curry paste (recipe on previous page), 398-mL can coconut milk, 2 tbsp natural peanut butter, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 2 cups broccoli florets and 1/2 sliced red pepper. Cook until broccoli is tender-crisp, 3 to 5 more min. Stir in noodles until warmed through. Serves 6.
GET CHATELAINE IN YOUR INBOX!
Subscribe to our newsletters for our very best stories, recipes, style and shopping tips, horoscopes and special offers.