Yield: 20 tasting portions
Ingredient Amount
Coconut milk, 4 cups
Peanut oil 1 oz.
Yellow Curry Paste ¼ Cup
Shrimp, 31-35 count, 1.5 lb.
peeled and deveined, halved lengthwise
Fish sauce 3 Tbsp.
Sugar, palm 3 Tbsp.
Kosher salt 1 tsp.
Tomatoes, small - cherry or grape - cut in quarters 10 ea.
Chilies, Thai bird, strips 2 ea.
Wild Lime Leaves 7 ea.
Method
1. Heat peanut oil in a sauce pot, add curry paste and cook until aromatic.
2. Add coconut milk and lime leaves, mix well to incorporate with paste.
3. Add fish sauce, sugar, salt, bring to a simmer.
4. When sauce is fragrant and slightly thick, remove from heat and hold for service.
5. At service as needed heat needed amount of sauce in a small pan, add desired amount of shrimp and tomatoes and chili slices and gently poach shrimp and tomatoes until just cooked. Remove from heat and serve.
Yellow Curry Paste
Yield: 1 Cup
Ingredient Amount
Cumin seeds 1 tsp.
Coriander seeds 1 Tbsp.
White peppercorns, ground 4 ea.
Chilies, dried, small red, split, seeds in 1/4 Cup
Vegetable oil as needed
Garlic cloves, sliced 4 ea.
Shallots, sliced 4 ea.
Turmeric 1 Tbsp.
Galangal, thinly sliced 1 Tbsp.
Lemon grass, thinly sliced 1/4 Cup
Lime zest 1 tsp.
Wild lime leaves, chopped 3 ea.
Shrimp paste 1 tsp.
Kosher salt 2 tsp.
Vegetable oil 1 Tbsp.
Method
1. Toast the cumin and coriander seeds. Transfer to a small bowl.
2. In the same pan, roast the peppercorns in the same manner. Transfer to same bowl.
3. Then place the red chilies in the pan and roast very lightly until dark spots begin to appear. (Do not let them blacken). Remove from heat and set aside.
4. In a small sauté pan, heat a small amount of oil and gently sweat garlic and shallots until golden and tender. Remove from pan and drain excess oil on paper towels.
5. Using a spice grinder, grind the roasted cumin, coriander, chiles and peppercorns and set aside.
6. In the blender, place the remaining ingredients except for oil and ground spices and grind into a fine paste.
7. Combine the paste with the ground roasted spices and oil and blend together until smooth. Store in refrigerator in tightly sealed container.
Adapted from: The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking © 1996 Mai Pham, Prima Publishing