The Adventures of Kerri & Matt

Matt made a spicy red curry. These were the starting ingredients:

• 5 dried chillies, seeded and soaked.
• 12 cloves garlic, finely chopped.
• 3 shallots, finely chopped.
• 1 tbsp lemongrass, finely chopped
• 1 tsp galangal (thai ginger), finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp tumeric, finely chopped.
• 5 peppercorns.
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, roasted with no oil on low heat.
• 1 tsp cumin, roasted with no oil on low heat.
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves, roasted with no oil on low heat.
• 2 tsp curry powder.
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp shrimp paste.
• 1 tbsp peanut, roasted.

This was all put into a mortar and smashed to oblivion.

This made the orangish curry paste on the left of the plate.

To make the curry you take:

• A chunk of the curry paste
• 100g chicken breast/thigh
• 1/2 cup coconut cream
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 100g potato, boiled and diced.
• 1 bay leaf.
• 1 roasted cinnamon stick.
• 2 roasted cardamom pods
• 3 roasted star anise.
• 1-2 tsp palm sugar
• 1-2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1-2 tbsp tamarind sauce.

You heat the coconut cream in the wok and then add the curry paste and stir over medium heat until fragrant and the oil surfaces. Then you add the chicken and stir for 1-2 minutes. Then add palm sugar, fish sauce and tamarind sauce. Continue stirring for another minute then add potato and coconut milk. Cook over medium heat until chicken is cooked.

Add cinnamon, cardamom pods, star anise and stew for 10 minutes. Then add bay leaves and remove from heat.

 

Kerri made Panang Curry, the least spicy curry.

The ingredients were:

• 5 dried chillies, seeded and soaked
• 10 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp lemongrass, finely chopped
• 1 tsp galangal, finely chopped
• 1 tsp coriander root, chopped.
• 1/2 tsp kaffir lime rind, finely chopped.
• 1 tbsp peanuts, roasted and ground
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stp shrimp paste

 

This is Kerri doing the fine chopping.

And then she ground the whole mess with a mortar and pestle.

After making the paste we had to decide how spicy we wanted our curry. Elementary school, high school or University level.

Kerri answered “newborn”.

So she gave me the tiny daub on the left. Matt’s is on the right with much more of the spicier red curry paste.

Then it was heated in a wok with 1 cup coconut cream, 100g chicken breast 1 tbsp pea eggplant, 2 tsp palm sugar and 2 tbsp fish sauce.

And then some other stuff was thrown on top for garnish.

It tastes like spicy coconut milk. The only way to make it worse would be to add chocolate.

So Matt got double curry.

To make the spring roll filling you need:

• 50g  minced chicken
• 100g bean sprouts.
• 20g shredded carrot
• 20g glass noodles, soaked and cut into 1 inch lengths.
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped.
• 5 garlic chives, cut into 1 inch lengths.
• 2 tbsp cooking oil.
• 1 tsp sugar.
• 1 tsp fish sauce.
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce.

Heat the oil over medium heat, add garlic and fry until fragrant. Add chicken and stir until chicken is cooked. Add sugar and sauces and mix. Add vegetables and noodles. Stir until all ingredients are cooked, then remove from heat and allow to cool so that you don’t burn your fingers.

Lay out the square wrapper diagonally so you have a diamond shape in front of you

Put a couple tablespoons of filling near the bottom.

Roll the wrapper up to the halfway point.

Fold the two corners in so they cross each other.

Tuck the edges in, which will make another little fold so you only have a little unfolded bit at the top.

Roll them the rest of the way and seal the tip with a bit of beaten egg.

Then put them into 3 cups of boiling oil.

It will bubble lots.

Turn them so that the floating parts get cooked too.

When they are golden brown pull them out.

And put them in a strainer.

Put it next to a bowl of sweet chilli sauce for aesthetic reasons only. Under no circumstances should you ruin perfectly good spring rolls by allowing them to come in contact with the sweet chilli sauce.

If for some crazy reason you wanted to make sweet chilli sauce the recipe is:

• 1/2 cup water
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tsp red spur chilli, finely chopped.

Combine 1st four ingredients and simmer over medium heat until thick. Add garlic and chilli, boil for 3 minutes over low heat, then remove from heat and allow to cool.