Adventures in curry
I got very excited about my trip today. (My now-corrected posting of four identical entries may have tipped you off.)
In a gleeful fit of preparatory madness, I decided to make a vegan Thai curry for dinner. Mostly this was because I had nothing in the house worth cooking aside from a can of coconut milk and a jar of curry paste from some time late in the last century, but I was also just pumped about the trip. My guidebook advises me that if I want to truly see life as the residents of Bangkok do, I am to spend every waking moment thinking about nothing but food. I'm not worried about culture shock.
So to get a head start, I made this curry. It was, easily and without a doubt, the single worst Thai curry anyone has ever made, anywhere at any time. I could have scooped up dirt from my front yard, or added in some of the many broken-down cardboard boxes residing in my living room, and improved the flavour of this curry.
I blame, variously:
So, to sum up: if you ever get the urge to make curry,
a) Buy coconut milk produced in the present decade;
b) Add fish sauce. On its own, it is foul, but your curry needs it;
c) Don't sautee an eggplant; and
d) Don't use this:
Make your own curry paste instead. It's long, hard work, but your mouth will thank you.
In a gleeful fit of preparatory madness, I decided to make a vegan Thai curry for dinner. Mostly this was because I had nothing in the house worth cooking aside from a can of coconut milk and a jar of curry paste from some time late in the last century, but I was also just pumped about the trip. My guidebook advises me that if I want to truly see life as the residents of Bangkok do, I am to spend every waking moment thinking about nothing but food. I'm not worried about culture shock.
So to get a head start, I made this curry. It was, easily and without a doubt, the single worst Thai curry anyone has ever made, anywhere at any time. I could have scooped up dirt from my front yard, or added in some of the many broken-down cardboard boxes residing in my living room, and improved the flavour of this curry.
I blame, variously:
- the rather suspect age of the can of coconut milk (I'm developing a suspicion that the term "non-perishable" is a mild exaggeration);
- the absence of fish sauce, necessitated by my Lenten vegan fast (and yes, I know today is Easter Monday... we in the Coptic Church are on a different calendar. Our Easter is next Sunday);
- the total failure of the chefs at the "Thai Kitchen" company to make a curry paste that tastes anything like curry; and
- my own misguided experiment with the "it-sounded-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time" art of sauteeing eggplant.
So, to sum up: if you ever get the urge to make curry,
a) Buy coconut milk produced in the present decade;
b) Add fish sauce. On its own, it is foul, but your curry needs it;
c) Don't sautee an eggplant; and
d) Don't use this:
Make your own curry paste instead. It's long, hard work, but your mouth will thank you.