Paht Thai and Green Curry Over Rice

How much does a granite, 2 inch mortar and pestle weigh? Well, I had no clue when I purchased it online, but it turns out to be about 30 pounds. I bought it with the wild hope of making my own Thai and Indian curries, which I had seen my sister-in-law make dozens of times when I first moved to Philly. Curries are some of the most flavorful, fresh, and relatively inexpensive additions I can think of to kick up chicken, seafood, vegetables, or simply to toss with rice or noodles. Cheap, flavorful...that's my thing.

Running late, I lugged my new toy boulder from my office where I have packages delivered, through the Reading Terminal Market, and back to West Philly. At RTM, I picked up some more of that stuffed Brie that they do so well--this time Fig and Almond stuffed. I also got a Young Minolette cheese--tastes like a richer cheddar.

Back home, the power was on the fritz. Luckily the lights were still working and I started prepping the ingredients for the Green Curry. About half-way, however, the power went completely out and I had to chop green chiles by candle light. I got a new Forschner chef's knife--highly recommended--and I'm lucky I didn't lose a digit in the dim light. Ten minutes later the power was back. Overall, the prep took a fair amount of time (~30-45 minutes) dry frying coriander seeds, mincing 3 tablespoons of garlic, slicing and peeling lemongrass, de-stemming and chopping 1/2 cup of green chiles (yeah, that's some heat).

My first experience with the mortar and pestle was a strong first attempt and everything was mixing/mashing well, but still a little fibrous and not completely pasty. So, with the good recommendation of my sous chef Sarah-Jane, I dumped it all in the blender with a little water and finished the job. Word to the wise: don't open a jar of shrimp paste, stick your nose right over the jar and inhale. I know what you are thinking. "Jeff, why on earth would you do that?" I recognize your confusion and I have no explanation. Nor can I explain why I did it again after blending the green curry. Nasal passage burn.

Next I put a few teaspons of the curry into a saucepan with coconut milk, chicken broth, brown sugar and a tablespoon of fish sauce. I let that reduce while prepping the Paht Thai. This dish, the staple of most Thai meals, involves very high heat and quick action with a wok or deep pan. Garnish with cilantro (did I mention my love affair with cilantro in a previous post?) and roasted, chopped peanuts. The meal turned out great, with the exception that the noodles were a bit al dente and could have soaked a little longer.

I poured the green curry coconut sauce over jasmine rice--garnished with cilantro and lime--and voila! This was the winner by knock-out. A great balance of flavors and intensity.

Now, why didn't I just buy green curry paste instead of making my own? Could have done that...but what else am I going to do with the mortar and pestle? And now I can start tweaking the recipe to get my preferred level of heat.

The meal was cheap, of course. Here's the break down:

1/2 lb peeled and deveined shrimp: $7.00
1/4 lb thai rice stick noodles: $.50
1/2 C roasted peanuts: $1.00
1 C bean sprouts: $0.75
1 bunch Cilantro: $0.40
fish sauce: $0.20
shrimp paste: $0.15
coriander seed: negligible
cumin: negligible
green chiles: $0.85
lemon grass: $1.00
shallots: $0.55
garlic: $1.00
ginger: $0.79
limes: $1.00

SubTotal: $16.19*
Total per person: $8.10

*This is an inflated number because I had enough curry paste to use for 3-4 more meals. The Paht Thai cost for the night were ~$4.00 per person.

These two recipes come from Real Thai: The Best of Thailand's Regional Cooking by Nancie McDermott. I would also like to go through some of the recipes posted here.

Also, Bryan and I are so proud of ourselves. We want to share with everybody our most recent handiwork. Where once there was unused, vacant, boring wall space, we created a spice and liquor shelf.

They haven't fallen down yet...pray for us.

Now this is the part in Sprockets where we dance: