One of my most entertaining cooking companions recently commented that his meals lacked spice. I love spicy food and realized that the last time I cooked with an abundance of spices was in Bali during a ‘raw food’ cooking class that, somehow, digressed into making snapper curry. That was almost two years ago and I had not applied the knowledge to my New York kitchen. It was time to pull out the recipe and start experimenting with spices again.
The recipe called for making the yellow curry paste from scratch, which I did, but not without error. It took an extra hour to finally get it right. I think the Balinese mixed up their teaspoons with tablespoons and the 2 tablespoons of sea salt should have been 2 teaspoons. Short of calling the nearest Thai restaurant to salvage my dinner, I added more and more spices to get it right. Lucky my dining companion was also running an hour late as he had to make his way through the inebriated Santas that appear the week before Christmas. It was ugly out there.
To save many hours, I’m recommending you buy a gourmet yellow curry paste instead, such as Hand Brand Kang Curry. You’ll have to order this online, so plan ahead to make this meal. It takes a little longer than salad assembly but it’s a great dish when you want to show off your cooking repertoire.
As for the Santas, they should be eating this too. The turmeric helps to appease a hangover.
Photo Credit: www.gourmettraveller.com.au
