Xesla Research Organisation

I love Thai food, but have had a real hard time finding good Thai in Austin ( Although I’m told Thai Fresh downtown is excellent ). I finally decided that if I was going to have good Thai I’d have make it myself and spent the last few weeks on the lookout for shrimp paste, galangal, lemon grass and other things that can be hard to find in this Maccas and Kraft Dinner country.

Eventually I found all the spices and other ingredients I needed after a trip to MT Market.

Green Curry Paste

1 tsp coriander seeds
generous 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 cardamom pods
1 tsp white peppercorns
pinch of grated nutmeg
20–30 small green bird’s eye chillies
good pinch of salt
2 tbs chopped lemongrass
1 tbs chopped galangal
3 tbs chopped red shallots
2 tbs chopped garlic
1 tsp lime zest
2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp Thai shrimp paste

Toast the spices in a pan until aromatic. Put them in a spice grinder ( dehusk the cardamon ) and grind to a fine paste. Chop the chillies and add them to a mortar and pestle ( or blender ) with some salt and pound to a paste. Add the rest of the ingredients one at a time pounding to a paste before adding the next. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the shrimp paste ( you can do this in the mortar if you want, but I prefer not to put fishy stuff in mine ).

Braised Beef
1 cup coconut cream
good pinch of salt
250g flank steak
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
1 carrot
10 whole green chillies ( optional )
2 sticks of celery
2 red shallots, bruised – optional
2 cardamom pods, roasted and husked
1 bay leaf
about 3 cups coconut milk

Slice your steak and salt it. Brown the Beef in a hot pan in some oil, careful not to overcrowd the pan. While browning chop the vegetables. Remove the Beef from the pan and pour out any oil. Add the coconut cream to the pan and cook over high heat until it splits. Add the vegetables and cook briefly, then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.

Once cooked take off the heat, strain off the liquid ( save it to go in the rice ) and discard the bay leaf and chillies.

Putting it together

Heat a cup of coconut cream in a wok until it spits. Add 2 tablespoons of the curry paste and cook for a few minutes until fragrant, stirring to stop it from sticking ) add about a tablespoon of fish sauce and about a tsp of palm sugar ( soft brown sugar will do ). Cook for another minute or so then add the beef and about a dozen green chillies. You can add some green beans or other vegetables at this stage as well, also squeeze half a lime into the wok. Simmer for about 10 minutes until thick and creamy ( may need to add some coconut milk or water as it cooks down).

Serve with Rice.

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Tags: Beef, chillies, curry, Thai