Two Easy Thai Curries – Transportation Is a Big Responsibility

Beef curry (#1) was easy because I had made Red Curry Paste a few months ago, languishing in my freezer and and crying out to be used:

Appetizing, non?

Fish curry (#2) was easy because I used this, also languishing, in my fridge and calling out to be used:

I don’t have enough experience to make a judgment about refrigerated vs. tinned curry pastes, but so far they don’t seem especially better. Usually when I can’t be arsed to make curry paste from scratch I use Maesri brand from Thailand, which some of my friends may have personal experience with. With one or two exceptions, they are all very good:

Beef Curry (#1):

Scrape the cream from two cans of coconut milk and put into a large skillet:

Cook over medium heat for five minutes, stirring constantly, until the oil separates from the cream:

(I used one can of “Top Coco” brand, which is very oily, so if you don’t get as clean a break, don’t worry about it.)

Add the curry paste:

And stir for a couple of minutes until well mixed and fragrant:

Add aromatics of your choice (I used onions, chopped ginger and chopped garlic) and stir again for a few minutes until again fragrant:

Add 1-/2 to 1 lb. beef, sliced 1/4 – 1/8″ thin, then again stir for a few minutes. It will look like this:

Add the rest of the coconut milk, then add the vegetables of your choice, starting with the one that will take the longest to cook, with a few minutes between each:

When the vegetables are done to your liking, add 2 Tbsp. fish sauce and 1 Tbsp. sugar (I used palm sugar, but any is fine) and stir for a bit. Taste and add seasonings until you get to the balance of sweet/sour/salty/hot that you like.

Fish Curry (#2): IM (limited) E, Thai fish curries tend to be more “delicate” in flavour (but no less tasty) than meat-based ones. So, less frying of aromatics, often no coconut milk. This one seems typical:

Boil 3 C. water, then, as usual, add the longest-cooking veggies first: