Jan 25th - Red Coconut Cod & Shrimp curry

A staple in this house, coconut curry. We normally make Green but the Mae Ploy or Cock Brand tubs we bought also make red and yellow so we thought we'd try it out. It is definitely more spicy and sharp than the more lemon-grassy and herbal green counterpart. I like it! You don't have to use Mae Ploy but I insist you read the ingredients. If the green variety does not contain Lemon Grass, move on. If it has alot of filler move on. The version we use has the basics: garlic, chili, lemon grass as the foundation. I've read alot of labels to find the ones we use. This one currently is Cock Brand Red Curry Paste. It is a little 500ml plastic tub with a red label. You'll find it in the asian food section or spice section, not the fridge. But you'll need to refridgerate right away because it's all fresh stuff. We keep ours in the freezer since the tubs are a fair size and it keeps well in the freezer since inside the tub is a vacu-bag so you can still squeeze out a few tablespoons when you need it. YUMMO

Red Coconut Cod and Shrimp Coconut Curry
for 2 servings with a small seconds

1 small sweet potato
1 medium zucchini
1 small onion
1 inch fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 orange bell pepper
2 T red curry paste
1 can coconut milk

300 g cod, cut into 1inch cubes
10 shelled shrimp

3 chopped scallions or 1 bunch cilantro chopped for garnish

In a large pot or wok, heat some vegetable oil, sautee the onions until soft. 2 minutes. Add the vegetables. Stir and brown the zucchini. Add the garlic, ginger and the red curry paste. stir briefly. 1 minute.

Chop the veg into bit sized pieces. Spread the sweet potato out on a plate and microwave for 2-3 minutes just soften a little. Otherwise you'll need to simmer longer in the curry.

Add the coconut milk and 1/2 tin of water or more if the tin contains alot of solids. Course, the more solids, in my opinion the better. I've had some watery coconut milk. This one today was 3/4's solids. Yay! Simmer covered for 5 min. Add the seafood. Stir. Cover for 5 minutes

Serve over jasmine or basmati rice and top with scallions, and a little squeeze of lime.

YUMMO. I love coconut curry and you can play with the different veg or protein as you like. If you're doing red meat or poultry, cook with onions or in a separate skillet before adding back to the curry.