Sunday night I tried a Thai curry short-cut that went horribly wrong as far as I was concerned.
I had some salmon baking in the oven and I needed something to liven it up. I thought I’d knock together a quick and very mild (kiddie-friendly) red curry sauce to dribble over the salmon.
Into the non-stick pan went the sesame oil and red curry paste (cheating I know but who has time to do it from scratch when there’s a one-year old following you around the kitchen) on a medium heat. Next went the coconut milk , a few dashes of Na Plam (fish sauce), a healthy dash of lime and a small helping of chopped tomatoes (cored and peeled). I brought it to the boil then let it simmer for five minutes.
So far so good…the curry tasted fine – not too spicy but enough tang to cut the oily nature of the salmon. And then I made my mistake. I was going to serve some rice noodles on the side along with sauteed snap peas.
The peas were no problem but I decided to cut a corner with the noodles. Instead of blanching them in boiling water for two minutes then serving on the side I threw them into the curry sauce – liquid is liquid after all right?
Wrong. Next thing I know the noodles are sucking the life out of my curry sauce turning my delicate pouring dish into a cloying cloggy mess.
An emergency input of boiling water averted a true solidified catastrophe but the end result remained a very lumpy noodle curry.
I was despondent. My kids – 4 and 1 – they ate every single last bit of it….and asked for more.
Go figure.
- Matthew
I have had this happen on many occasions when I am in a hurry. I never seem to learn my lesson. Usually additional liquid remedies the situation in the end. That curry sounds yummy though I have never tried using red curry paste..