This Thai Prawn Curry I do... (advice)

[Dizeee]

Years ago I posted up about a Thai prawn curry I do. I have been doing it since 2005 but am always tweaking it - I'm now after advice on things to assist in my tweaking.

Currently I am using Madras Curry Paste, adding fresh garlic, fresh ginger, lime juice, warming that and then adding two cans of coconut milk. I then add a stick of lemon grass, more lime, pepper, fish sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil. When readi to eat I add some uncooked prawns, then I add loads of fresh coriander to the wok. Once the other half and kids have had their helpings I will then add bird eye chillis / scotch bonnets.

Works quite well like that - I have in the past blended down spring onions and coriander and used chicken stock, not convinced about the flavour as it seemed weaker. Have also used Kaffir Lime leaves, again, not much difference here to using lime juice from limes.

Should I be using both fish sauce and soy sauce - don't they do the same thing pretty much?

Any ideas on some ingredients I should be using or anything to tweak it and make it better?

Thanks

[TIGA84]

Thai would be fish, Chinese would be soy, so yes they are both salt seasonings really.

You are basically making a Goan curry by the sounds of things, Indian based, but with lighter Thai seasonings.

I can't recommend anything really to cure, but I always find that the braver you are with everything like herbs/fish sauce/lime, the better, so maybe add what you normally do, then chuck half as much in again, it should be properly punchy.

ETA - Don't bother with Pepper, Soy or Sesame Oil, your confusing things too much, and maybe try making your own paste, the results will be MUCH better, but it is a little more time consuming.

Edited by TIGA84 on Wednesday 28th September 16:57

[rich85uk]

Mind if i ask why your using a madras paste and not a Thai one? as above you could try making your own or use an imported one, i tried a few of this brand from my local Filipino shop and they are very good:

http://www.thai-food-online.co.uk/shopping/shopexd...

Try shrimp paste, and some sugar ( but i do love a sweet Thai curry!)

What coconut milk are you using? i found full fat good quality imported stuff makes a big difference, all the supermarket stuff was quite watery

[rsbmw]

White wine vinegar can be a good addition, otherwise sounds like you have all the main players.

[HotJambalaya]

to be fair to op, for a lot of the northern thai stuff you would use a madras paste. As a noodle dish this is basically a burmese khao swe (kaukswe) recipe

http://www.meemalee.com/2010/08/ohn-no-khao-swe-bu...

I havent tried the above recipe, but if you google the two versions it will give you some idea.

[Dizeee]

Thx for the replies.

The paste is what makes the base of this, and the reason I use Madras is because that's about the hottest you can get in supermarkets! Back in the day you could get Jalfrezi paste, but I've not seen it for years. Madras is hotter but less flavour. That does come through at the end dish - for me anyway.

I have tried to make it less hot more floral / genuine. I add my heat at the end with the scotch bonnets.

Galangal - what is that and where do you get it?

Thickness is what seems lacking. Flavour is there in abundance - its rude! But I would like some more thickness in the sauce.

[Mobile Chicane]

Thai curry is meant to be 'runny'. I'd add a tin of coconut milk (if you haven't already) and let it simmer down a bit.

Also dried mushrooms rather than soy sauce. Both are 'taste adders', but dried mushrooms don't add any extra liquid. These don't have to be wild or exotic: left over supermarket mushrooms will do if sliced and allowed to dry in kitchen towels over a radiator.

I never waste mushrooms. The most boggo of supermarket 'shrooms will dry beautifully.

[TIGA84]

Dizeee said:

the reason I use Madras is because that's about the hottest you can get in supermarkets!

Tesco's do Jalfrezi.

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id...

Waitrose do some good pastes too.

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-ins...

Red Curry paste might work, and go maybe 1 Coconut Milk, 1 Coconut Cream to add some thickness?

Don't use scotch bonnets, use birdseyes otherwise were veering into Caribbean as well!!

[rsbmw]

But Scotch Bonnet taste so much better!

[Lozw86]

Thai curries are served fairly runny. If you want to thicken it up a bit you could wither use less coconut milk or use coconut cream rather than coconut milk

[markoc]

Three ideas:

• Try putting the fish sauce in nearly last (with some fresh lime juice) to season at the last minute rather than cook out/through.

• Fresh kaffir lime leaves will be night and day (readily available in Waitrose) than dried stuff. slice it up (don't use it like a bayleaf)

• Possibly try swapping the coriander for a shedload of thai basil - will be much more fragrant.

Also echo why you're using a madras paste (obviously becasue you like it) versus something thai - or even something of your own creation (curry paste freezes well).

[C70R]

A good tip to get the most out of DIY curries is to make your own paste, by trial and error. Shop-bought pastes are a lot better than they once were, but there's still so much room for improvement.

Get your blender on standby, and buy a haul of ingredients from your local exotic supermarket (spices - raw/toasted, a variety of chillis, a couple of different oils, fresh garlic, fresh ginger).
Read up a few recipes online to get a feed for some of the blends/varieties that go into typical pastes, and get blending.
Have a frying pan on standby, and fry/taste small amounts, adding to the recipe each time and blending/frying/tasting again. Make notes on what improved/worsened the flavour, and try to keep improving iteratively.

A great way to spend a rainy afternoon, with a few bottles of your favourite curry tipple! Have a few ingredients on standby, and make a curry to finish off.

[omniflow]

Thai curry pastes can be hotter than Indian. Try your local Oriental supermarket.

If you want to make your own Thai curry paste then you really need corriander roots - you'll need a decent corner shop for this (or Oriental Supermarket) - you'll never find it in a mainstream supermarket

Thai basil as suggested earlier - Waitrose sell it.

If you need it thicker then try making your own Coconut cream. Get 1/2 dozen fresh coconuts and split them in half. Save the water if you're into that kind of thing. Then grate the flesh into a bowl - a coconut scraper is ideal for this. Steep the grated coconut in hot (but not boiling) water for an hour or so - stirring occasionally. You then need to squeeze all of the liquid out of the coconut into a jug (or several). I use a potato ricer for this, but I'm sure there are better ways. Put the jugs of liquid into the fridge for several hours, and they will separate into coconut cream and coconut milk. After about 8 hours in the fridge, the cream will be solid and you can remove it from the top of the jug in once piece. This will give a really rich coconut flavour without adding much liquid. If you want to use the milk as well, you could probably reduce it in a pan first, but I've never tried this.

[jbudgie]

As in a few posts above.

http://www.thai-food-online.co.uk/shopping/shopexd...

This is good stuff with coconut milk and a few extra chillies thrown in.