Shrimp: Prik Khing
July 10, 2013
File under: absurdly simple and quick.
Prik Khing could be my favorite Thai curry. The lack of coconut milk lets the curry shine. It's a deeply flavored curry, a bit spicy, a bit sweet, and the kaffir lime leaves. My goodness, the kaffir lime leaves.
Thankfully, someone has already cooked 90% of this dish for you, in the form of the little tin of Prik Khing curry paste. I'm relatively certain that most Thai restaurants use the same exact stuff.
You can find these little tins or tubs at any number of Asian markets, and of course on Amazon.com. Mae Ploy and Maesri are the brands that I've been using for longer than I care to admit. Here in New Jersey, you can try these sources for your ingredients:
Terri Lee Oriental Grocery: Maywood, NJ (you can get fresh kaffir lime leaf here)
Asian Food Markets: Middletown/North Plainfield/Plainsboro/Cherry Hill/Piscataway/Marlboro, NJ
Kam Man Food: East Hanover, NJ
Chinese long bean
You can google for some recipes, but there really isn't a recipe. It's just a matter of cooking the stuff:
- 3 tablespoons Prik Khing curry paste
- 1 lb shrimp
- 4 FRESH kaffir lime leaves, chiffonade
- slices of red pepper
- palm sugar (or regular), to taste
- Fish sauce, to taste
- 1 cup of Chinese long bean, cut into 1.5 inch pieces (or regular French green beans). Hell, use more than you think you'll want, because the beans with the sauce is just wonderful.
- Some water
The process of heating it all up:
- Add a bit of peanut oil to a hot wok or pan
- Add the curry paste and saute for 2 minutes to release the flavors and wake it up (don't let it burn)
- Add the shrimp and cook halfway
- Add the green beans and sugar (if you want), along with some water if it's getting dry (you want a bit of sauce to form)
- Cook for another minute or two, until the shrimp is just about done
- Bang in some fish sauce, maybe a tablespoon.
- Add the red pepper and kaffir leaf and toss about for a few seconds
- Serve
Do this. And by all means, do this with tofu or chicken or whatever protein you'd like. Especially tofu.