Before I became vegetarian I used to always get Pad Thai when as my Thai food of choice, but as it tends to be made with fish sauce, I've since abandoned ship on that one unless I'm at a completely vegetarian restaurant. I've tried making it at home but it never quite has the right flavor.
However, you can easily make a green curry without fish sauce without compromising on the flavor. A lot of recipes for green curry are very complex, but here is a simplified version that I make in 15 minutes.
1. The most difficult part-find vegetarian green curry paste. I buy mine in Holland, this tends to be the main one sold in Asian food shops there. It is an import from Thailand to Holland, and it will set you back a few Euros, but with one this container you can make this meal at least 20 times.
Maybe Christina G knows where to buy it in Germany. I have seen the Thai Kitchen and Blue Dragon brands have it, but it's more of an oily sauce than a dry paste, and both contain fish sauce.
2. Fry tofu squares in oil. Then set the tofu aside.
3. Open a can of coconut milk. Personally I go for the 'light' coconut milk, but regular is also ok. I buy a refrigerated version from an Asian shop in Koeln or from Holland, but you can get the non-refrigerated kind also.
4. Put the coconut milk into a skillet on low heat. Put 1 or 2 tablespoons of the curry paste into the skillet also (depending on how strong of a curry taste you like). Keep stirring constantly. One clove of chopped garlic can also be added now, if you like.
In the meantime put the container of unused curry paste into an airtight container or ziploc baggy and put it into the refrigerator.
5. Throw in a few handfuls of chopped up mangold (chard), including the chopped up stems. Any dark, leafy green thing could also be substituted if you're not in Germany where mangold is currently abundant.
6. I like my dark, leafy greens to be barely cooked, so at this point I throw my tofu back into the skillet, so that it gets coated with the sauce. Stir some more.
7. If you're feeling especially adventurous, throw in a chopped up green Thai chili pepper (optional). Throw in a few basil leaves (optional). Take off heat.
8. Serve over rice or noodles of your choice. Today I was in the mood to have some Japanese noodles.
The final result:
9 comments:
Nooooo! Not tofu!
The only place I eat Thai food in is Thailand.
J: you know my thoughts on the topic...the more someone complains about tofu, the more I keep wanting to give it to him. :-)
So I'm guessing you only eat German food in Germany then. ;-)
@j: You wouldn't even trust my Thai food? ;-)
@heather: I don't know where to buy it, but I do have a recipe:
Take 1/2 tsp whole coriander seeds & 1/2 tsp whole anise seeds and dry roast them in a skillet. Put them in a mortar with 12 whole white peppercorns and crush to a powder. Put this in a food processor. Now put 2 1/2 tsp minced Kaffir lime peel (or regular lime peel) in mortar with 1/3 cup chopped cilantro stems, 2 stalks of lemon grass (tough outer leaves removed and finely sliced - only use the bottom 3 inches of stalk), and 1/3 cup peeled chopped fresh Siamese ginger (or regular). Pound for a minute to break down fibers. Transfer to food processor.
Pound 1/4 cup chopped garlic and 1 cup chopped shallots in mortar until just crushed. Put in food processor.
Add 3 Tbsp creamy peanut butter and 6 large roughly torn lettuce leaves to the processor. Process mixture until a nice thick paste is formed.
Can be stored in fridge for 1 week or freezer for 1 month. (I'll actually store the paste a little longer than this, but then you need to look at it and make a judgement call about whether it's still good)
Oh, and to make a dish that calls for fish sauce vegetarian, just substitute thin soy sauce in equal amounts!
I love tofu! And all the stuff you make looks SO good. I just checked the jar of VitAsia green curry paste (bought at our local Edeka) in my fridge and yeah, it says "Fisch Extrakt" so I guess it's not for you. You'd think the vegetarian kind would be easier to find.
2nd try:
Actually, yes. I'd never been to a German restaurant before I came to Germany.
Granted, some German food is the same as American food (potatoes, etc) so that doesn't count.
I do eat Mexican food outside of Mexico, though (but not in Europe) and the same with Italian food outside of Italy, etc. So, perhaps I will try the local Thai restaurant (it's supposed to be pretty good).
cg, okay, since you're 1/2 Thai and your mom owns a Thai restaurant, I'd give it a go.
Actually, I was thinking about it and there shouldn't be any fish sauce in green curry paste at all! When buying curry paste, always try to get Mae Ploy brand. It's the best. I just checked my container and yup, no fish sauce - but there is shrimp paste in it. The recipe I posted above substitutes peanut butter for the shrimp paste.
christinag: wow, I never imagined it would be possible to make it. i've saved your recipe for later use. and thanks for the mae ploy tip, i will look for it.
christina: i'm glad to hear that your edeka kind also has fish extract, otherwise i would have thought i was extremely unlucky in always finding the fish version here.
j: on one of your visits to Koeln i have the most fabulous Thai imbiss for you to try, (run by very nice Thai people, so you can pretend you're in Thailand.) ;-)
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