I sent him this, just wondering what you think!
(Sorry if formatting is terrible, I just copy and pasted from the email I sent him.)
Thai Curries:
I don't make my own pastes cos I'm lazy, but the ONLY brand I will buy is MAESRI which comes in little tins, or in bigger tubs. You can get them at most supermarkets and of course asian stores. I usually use green, but the red is good too. Haven't tried any of the others.
With green, as far as I'm concerned it should absolutely have eggplant, snowpeas, broccoli, and capsicum (at least green, I use green and red). At least. On top of that I also use yellow squash, green beans, a big tin of sliced bamboo, and chicken.
Red curry is good with exactly the same. If you ever want to use duck instead of chicken, it's usual to add something sweet, either pineapple or lychees.
In terms of what meats/veges you use, just go by what you get in ordered curries, or whatever you like really.
Typically you only need one tin of paste, but I use more cos I like it stronger. I usually buy the tubs because of this, tonight I just used two whole tins.
So:
Cut all your veges and chicken up. Not too small, not too big. :)
Stir fry your chicken for a minute or two in some cocnut oil. Add the curry paste and stir around til it's all coated and fragrant.
Add coconut milk. Now I usually make quite a lot, so I use a whole 1L box of cocnut milk, and I usually get an extra can as well in case I need it. (didn't use that tonight.)
Bring to the boil, then turn it down a bit and let it simmer for 5 mins or so. Then start adding your veges. I start with eggplant (i use long thin eggplants, not the big ones, just cut into chunks.) After about 5 mins, I add the squash (which are halved or quartered depending on size). Then after about 5 mins, I add beans and broccoli, 2 more mins and then capsicum, 1 min and then snowpeas. Oh and in there somewhere I add extra chilli as well.
Oops! Forgot, after the chicken I add a small handful of kaffir lime leaves that I crush in my hand (I keep these in the freezer), and also quite a lot of thai basil.
So once the snow peas are in, it only needs about a minute or two more, it should be bubbling. Then it's done!
I serve it with rice, and some extra thai basil and quite a lot of fresh coriander on top. Because yum.
A tip on rice: I know you use the boiling method, but a reason the absorption method is good when cooking asian stuff, is that the actual cooking part of asian things is very quick and busy. You don't really have time to be doing other stuff at the same time. So absorption is good because the last part of the cooking is in the pot, with the lid on, and not on the heat anymore. Which means once it gets to that stage you can just leave it for half an hour even and it just stays ready and hot for whenever you need it.
Stir frys:
Pretty much same shit.
Prep all your meat and veges first. Whatever you want.
You can marinate the meat if you want. Not always necessary.
Garlic and ginger are good here. Shallots can be good too. Chilli. etc.
for my honey soy I use bok choy and snowpeas. Bokchoy sliced, snow peas in half.
HOney soy chicken:
stir fry chicken in coconut oil and sesame oil a few mins, til browned, mostly cooked.
add ginger (grating is easiest for ginger). stir around a bit. til fragrant.
add garlic (chopped small/minced)
add a big splash of rice wine
big glug of light soy sauce. I also add some mushroom soy beacause yum.
let that bubble away a bit. Add a big tablespoon of honey, stir around.
add bok choy, cooked til it's wilting a bit and the stalks are getting a bit tender.
add snow peas. cook a min or two. Oh and chilli somewhere in there again.
Done!
Once again, fresh coriander for serving is delicious.
Stir Fries are something that's very easy to just experiment with! You can use whatever meat and veges you want (try something new from the asian grocer! experiment with veges/herbs you've never seen before!), and you can also experiment with sauces and flavours easily. soy, hoisin, shrimp paste, chilli paste, chilli soy paste (this is good for tom yum), lime, kaffir lime, garlic, ginger, galangal, miso, lemongrass, etc, etc, etc.
Just google stir fry, get ideas! That's what I do.
When it comes to cooking times for different veges, it's really just something you have to experiment with. I often overcook my veges. try and try again! Again, look up recipes online and see what they say in terms of when to add what. Even if you over/undercook them, it'll still be tasty. Just takes testing it, especially as it also depends on your cooking vessel, stove etc. (I use a proper wok.)
One more dish that's great for one person.
Miso salmon:
Get a steak/fillet/whatever you call it of salmon. (I recommend Faros Bros down on Buckley st)
Make a marinade with a table spoon or two of miso paste, (can use red or white, red is a bit richer.), a small splash of mirin, small splash of sake or rice wine, a little sugar or honey (a tsp or so). That's really all you need, but if you want you could also add a bit of sesame oil, soy, ginger, etc. Actually I do recommend a bit of sesame oil.
Marinate your salmon in that for half an hour or so, make sure it's totally covered in it. Then bake it, I guess about 180. Maybe ten minutes depending on thickness of salmon. I bake it skin side down, it gets a nice glaze from the marinade and the sking gets all crispy. Mmmmmm....
While it's in the oven I just stir fry some green veges to go with it. Bok choy, snow peas, beans, asparagus. Whatever really. Stir fry with a bit of ginger and garlic, sesame oil, maybe a splash of soy.
Can just have delicious salmon and veges, or if you need carbs then make some rice before you start cooking.
That's all I can think of for now. You really just need to stock up on the basics (soy, sesame and coconut oils, miso, rice wine, mirin, hoi sin, whatever other sauces and pastes etc.) and then you can just mix it up.
In terms of storing some fresh things that are good to always have on hand:
kaffir lime is sold at the grocer in containers, keep this in the freezer.
chillis i buy in bulk, put them in a plastic container in the freezer. They last forever, but be careful, they seem to get hotter the longer they're in there.
pandan leaves are nice for flavouring rice. these can also be kept in the freezer.
The best way to keep fresh herbs fresh, is to wrap them lightly in a wet (damp) cloth, and keep them in an airtight container in the fridge.
I apologise for my shitty recipe giving, I don't use actual quantities, I don't measure things, I just eyeball everything and go by taste. Trial and error!
Happy cooking!
bon appetit
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