Coconut Curry Sauce for Seafood Mix


 

Clark Deutscher

TVWBB All-Star
This isn't really a bbq request (sorry) but I was wondering if anyone had a recipe for a cocunut curry sauce. I was thinking about using it for a seafood mix of rice, scallops, shrimp and salmon. Thanks.

Clark
 
Do you want to make your own curry base, i.e., do you want to go with a SE Asian/Thai sort of thing or would you prefer an Indian? Or are you thinking curry powder?

Purchasing coconut milk or making your own?
 
Hi Kevin I would like to make my own curry base either asian or indian but preferably asian. I would definately like to make my own coconut milk but in all honesty I didn't really know I could? Thank you for all your help. I'm just really getting into all of the different types of cooking but have lots of time on my hands!

Clark
 
Of course you can make your own coconut milk. It's very easy but it requires grating fresh coconut out of the shell with an appropriate grater. To make milk one simply barely covers the grated coconut with water, mashes it for a few minutes, then squeezes out the 'milk'. The grated coconut is usually good for another round of soaking and squeezing then it's spent. The milk is then strained to remove any extraneous bits of coconut and chilled. If you're interested, I can recommend a couple different graters. If not, canned coconut milk is just fine.

Are you interested in a red, green or yellow curry or just want to wing it? Do you have access to any of the following: fresh ripe (red) chilies (jals, serranos, Thais, etc.); kaffir leaves (some markets carry them fresh or frozen); fresh ginger; fresh galangal; fresh lemon grass; fish sauce (nam pla); coconut or palm sugar; dried Thai or Dundicut chiles; fresh cilantro; fresh green chilies (jals or serranos).
 
I would definately be interested in any recomendations you have as far as graters. I will definately be attempting to make the coconut milk, no need to get the canned.

In all honestly for the curry I am basically your puppet. Whatever your recomendation is I will go with. I have only tried yellow in the past but am definately interested in your thoughts. For access I can get fresh ginger, lemon grass, fish sauce, coconut, palm sugar, and cilantro. All the chilis are possible but hit and miss. I am going into the city on the weekend so I can probably find any there that I need. Thanks again for all your help!
 
For a coconut grater/shredder go to www.gourmetsleuth.com and search coconut. There you'll find a shredder that looks much like a citrus zester (2/$5, shown below) with shredding holes on one end and on the other a loop for making wider coconut 'curls'. They also carry a shredder attached to a piece of wood ($7) that needs to be clamped to a counter, or the same shredder as part of a stool ($18; one sits on the stool for greater leverage). Additionally, at www.kashmirspices.com, you'll find a hand-cranked SS shredder ($20) that attaches via suction. Try the zester-looking shredder first. It works well, is inexpensive and, unless upgrading to something more involved is necessary down the road, should suit you well.

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You'll need coconuts, of course: select ones that are full of water (shake them to check); store them in the frdge till use.

A hack saw is handy. With it, you can score the coconut around its centerline (scoring is all that is needed) then, with a quick rap from the back of your cleaver (or hammer), the coconut will divide along the scored line. (If you wish, poke a hole in an eye first and drain the water; drink or discard).

You need chilies. See what you can get in the city and let me know. Both green curry (you'll need unripe serranos, jals or Thai peppers) or red curry (you'll need ripe peppers of any or all of the same varities) are good for seafoods (yellow is more of a chicken, veg or meat thing). Grab what you can. You can freeze them no problem.

Both ginger and lemon grass can be frozen (it is best to prep lemon grass first, though; let me know when you have some and I'll tell you the procedure). Get both. If you can get fresh galangal absolutely do so. It can be frozen like ginger. If not, dried is available from on-line retailers like Penzey's, but you might find it in the city at an Asian market (they very well might have fresh though). If not, no problem, we'll work around it.


Grab some palm sugar and fresh cilantro and nam pla as well, let me know what you've assembled, and we'll go from there.

(I have a friend selling his house in Alert Bay, north of you and on the other side of the island. I never got a chance to visit. He hasn't had it long.)
 
Thanks for the advice on the shredder, I'll order one asap. I will pick up any and all peppers I can find in the city, I've never frozen any types of fruits or vegetabels but it seems the most logical way given I can't get them fresh. I am going to Nanaimo on Monday so hopefuly I can find a decent selection. I do have lemon grass now so if you have a chance I can prep it whenever. The other ingredients I don't think I'll have a hard time tracking down so I should be good to go by Tuesday!

So what does your friend do up in Alert Bay? I have never made it there but apparently it's a nice place. Fairly small though. I've only been out here for a year (on the prairies before that pretty much all over).

thanks for the help, it's much appreciated!

Rusty thanks for your links as well, I will check them out!

Have a good one folks!

Clark
 
It is/was a B and B with guide fishing services. Nice pics he sent a while back. Would have liked to have visited.

Peppers that you're unconcerned about textural integrity can be washed, dried and stuck in Zip-locs, air squeezed out, and frozen whole.

For the lemongrass: Select stalk that are of good color with no dried, separating outer leaves. Strip off the outer, tough leaves, one at a time, till you reach the more tender interior. From the bottom, measure up the stalk about 2 inches and cut at that poin, crosswise. Discard this piece.

Slice the stalk, crosswise, making the slices as thin as you comfortably can. Slice up the stalk up to just above the halfway point--or to the point where the stalk loses its fleshiness and starts to become for fibrous and tougher. Reserve the upper stalk separately. Repeat the process with the rest of the stalks you have.

When finished, take each upper sliced stalk and make a few cuts in them. These stalks can be added to whatever you're making (or to brewing tea or simmering soup) to add more lemongrass flavor. They are not edible. Place in a Zip-loc and freeze to store.)

For the slices: Place all the sliced lemongrass into the bowl of a food processor and process about a minute. This breaks up the lemongrass--it should end up looking like lemongrass flakes--allowing for easier cooking. The flakes can be placed into a plastic container, covered, and frozen. When you need lemongrass, uncover and simply scrape a spoon across the surface, scraping out what you need. Just over 3 T of scraped lemongrass equals 1 stalk.
 
I put the lemon grass together tonight, no problems. Thanks!

Also a word about the Gourmet Sleuth site you mentioned above. I ordered the grater this afternoon and a few other things (since shipping was $20 to start with and didn't seem to go up much at all!), anyways they had it in the mail by this evening with a tracking number. I was very impressed. Thanks. I'll let you know how the shopping goes when I get back on Tuesday!

Clark
 
Hi Kevin, I have coconuts, serronos, jals, anaheims, habaneros, bird, bell, and pablano peppers. I have ginger and lemon grass. I also have cilantro and palm sugar, the only thing I'm missing is galanga. I can order from Penzeys if needed, I would prefer to wait though becauswe I just made a big order from them last week. Although I can again if required. Thanks for the help!
 
Don't worry about it now. Whenever you order next pick up some. Do you have fresh Thai basil or 'regular' basil? Coriander seeds? Any fresh limes?
I guess kaffir leaves weren't around but that's okay--we'll improvise.
 
Clark, I have a couple of small kaffir lime bushes growing in pots on my deck (if they survive the 100-year dought). Can I send you come leaves? They will freeze for at least a couple of months; longer if FoodSavered. (My email is in my profile.)

Rita
 
Clark is in Canada. I think Customs on both sides would frown at sending plant material across borders due to possible pests, plant diseases, etc. California even frowns at bringing plants, fruits and vegetables across the state line from other U.S. states. We have inspection stations on major highways leading into California from Nevada, Arizona and Oregon.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rusty Barton:
We have inspection stations on major highways leading into California from Nevada, Arizona and Oregon. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, they're looking for...uh...pests. Ya, that's the ticket! Pests.

icon_biggrin.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rusty Barton:
Clark is in Canada. I think Customs on both sides would frown at sending plant material across borders due to possible pests, plant diseases, etc. California even frowns at bringing plants, fruits and vegetables across the state line from other U.S. states. We have inspection stations on major highways leading into California from Nevada, Arizona and Oregon. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well here's a trick to stop the Canadian border patrol. If you wrap and pack with so much of that brown reinforced tape, that all one has to do is look at it and say I really don't want to go through all that to see what's inside of the package and put everything in it's own box, inside the main box, them Canadian Mounties won't open it. I know because I sent some stuff to Shawn W from the forum here up North and he said it was the only time he got something from the states that wasn't opened up by the border patrol.
icon_biggrin.gif
Plus not telling on the form what's all inside won't hurt either.
icon_wink.gif
 
Coconut Milk

Drain the water and drink or discard, as desired. Score and open as noted above, or crack with a hammer.

Grate the coconut into a shallow wide bowl or pan. Barely cover with water (about 1-1.5 c, depending on the coconut's size) that is not too cold and mash for several minutes. Pick up single handfuls of the coconut and squeeze. Deposit the squeezed coconut into another bowl. Repeat till all the coconut has been squeezed. Strain the milk into a clean container. Repeat the process again with the squeezed coconut, adding water to it, mashing it for several minutes and squeezing. Strain the milk and add to the container. Feed the spent coconut to your chickens. Fridge the milk.

In some places cocnut milk is made a bit differently. Here is an alternative:

Grate the coconut as noted above then cover with a cup of boiling water and allow to sit foran hour. Strain off the milk, put the coconut in a triple-thickness of cheesecloth, and squeeze to extract as much milk as possible. This is called the first milk. Fridge separately.

Repeat the process, but this time soak the coconut for 12 hours, squeeze in fresh cloth then strain again. This is called the second milk. This second milk is used for cooking the curry instead of water or stock. The first milk is stirred in just a few minutes before serving to add a richer, creamier texture to the finish.


A Modded Green Curry Paste


1 stalk prepped lemongrass (or 3 T of already prepped frozen lemongrass)

1 T nam pla

1/2 T soy sauce

2 T coriander seeds, ground in a grinder

1 tsp. shrimp paste*

1 tsp. palm or coconut sugar

2 green hot chilies, seeded, if desired

1 1.5-inch piece of ginger, scraped and sliced

3 cloves garlic, peeled

the zest of 1 small lime

the zest of 1/3 of a lemon

1 small bunch (about 1 cup) cilantro, roots trimmed, washed and patted dry

1/3-1/2 cup coconut milk (start with a scant 1/3 c)

1 cup basil leaves (tenderstems are okay)



Put everything in a blender and puree well, stopping the blender and scrpaing down the sides as needed. Add more cocunut milk, in 1 T increments, as needed, so that the mix actually blends. Store in the fridge for up to 10-12 days or freeze in 1-2 T quantities for later use.

To use: Put a little neutral oil (I use sesame) or coconut oil and fry the paste a bit before adding the coconut milk or stock, meats (pork is good with green curry, so is chicken) or seafood(s) and vegs. Adjust salt by adding soy or nam pla; adjust heat by adding chilies (I usually add fresh hot and mild chilies (like jals or serranos, Anaheims or poblanos) during cooking.

Let me know if this makes sense. I can give you additional suggestions on approach and ingredients as well, if you'd like.


*to make a reasonable shrimp paste: Peel 1/4 lb shrimp. Place the shells in a very small pot and put enough water in the pot to come halfway up the sides of the shells. (If you can get head-on shrimp use the shells and the heads and just cover with water.) Bring the water to a boil then cook 10 min. Meanwhile, chop the peeled shrimp finely. Strain out the shells and retuen the water to the pot. Reduce the water to 1-2 T. (If using head-on, reduce to 1/4 c.) Pour the reduction into a bowl; reserve.

To the pot add a little neutral oil (about a T) and a t or so of butter. (Skip the butter if you've used head on shrimp.) Add the finely chopped shrimp and cook over med-high heat, stirring often, till the shrimp is firm (overcooked). Add about 2 T of nam pla, 2 cloves of pressed garlic and several turns of the white peppermill. Lower the heat to low and cook at a simmer, 3 min. Add the reserved shrimp shell water reduction and cook another minute. Pour into a blender and blend, adding a little oil if needed, to a thin paste. Cool; fridge or freeze.


I'll write you a red curry as soon as I can get to it. Good with seafood and beef. Made with dried hot ripe chilies, lemongrass, garlic, shrimp paste, and ginger.
 
Thanks Kevin! Looks like I should be able to do all that. Makes perfect sense so far. I have all of the ingredients on hand now so it shouldn't be a problem. I will put it together on Monday. Thanks again for all your help and enjoy the long weekend!
 
Thanks. I'm cooking in Ga this weekend and still figuring out what I'm going to do.

You have the choice of sauteing your fish/seafood/vegs first then adding the paste, frying it, then adding the coconut milk to finish; or you can saute just the vegs, add and fry the paste, then add the coconut milk, simmer a while to develop flavors, then poach the seafood/fish/meat to finish, etc. For short-time-to-cook items I usually take the latter approach as I like to get the coconut milk fully flavored with chilies, onions, other vegs before adding the seafoods.

If desired, boost flavor by sauteing the vegs, frying the paste, then deglazing with an appropriate stock (seafood or fish stock for seafoofd/fish, chciken for pork or chicken), about 1/2 c, and reduce the stock till syrupy; then add the coconut milk. (If you do the first milk/second milk thing, remember to poach/cook in the second milk, finish with the first.) Garnish with cilantro for serving.

At some point, try using this last approach 9saute plenty of onions and some slivered hot and mild chilies, and some diced red bell peppers) and deglaze with chicken stock. Add some thinly sliced chicken breast (you can velvet it first if you wish) and some toasted cashews and poach gently till the chicken is almost cooked through, just a few minutes. Add some diced ripe avocado, cover, shut off the stove, then allow the residual heat to finish cooking the chicken. Serve over or with brown jasmine or basmati rice (the white versions are fine too). Garnish with cilantro.

Remember: If you saved the top tougher portions of the lemongrass when you prepped it, add 1 or 2 to the pan during cooking.


Red Curry Paste


This is good with beef, especially, and/or with sweet vegs. I like it with beef (I use sliced chuck top blade) and calabaza, Kabocha squash, butternut squash or pumpkin, plus onions, additional minced ginger, green and/or red fresh chilies, and red bell.

It's also good with the darker portions of pork like hunks of butt, blade and sirloin.

For hard items like the squashes above, cook them partially--till mostly but not quite done--in water first, while the onions/chilies/etc. are simmering in the coconut milk, then drain well and add them to the milk too.


30 dried hot red chile peppers like Thais, birds, chiles de arbol, etc.

1 T salt

4 cloves garlic, peeled

3 stalks of prepared fresh lemon grass (or 9 T of prepped frozen)

2.5 T shrimp paste

a few turns of the white peppermill

1/4 t ground turmeric


In an electric coffee grinder or spice grinder, grind the peppers with the salt, in batches, till fairly well ground but not a fine powder. Remove to a mortar or blender and add the rest of the ingredients, blending well to form a paste.
 
Hi Kevin, the red looks excellent as well. I am going to make them both on Monday now and just keep them on hand. I do have a couple more questiongs for you if you have the time though. For this go at it I have the fresh lemon grass and cilantro. I also have both of these from penzeys in dried form though. When I do this again in the future would it be ok to use these, I'm guessing the amounts would have to be reduced but by roughly how much? Anyways have a good weekend in Georgia!

Clark
 

 

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