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I love Thai food. I love Vietnamese food. Well, to be honest, I love most foods. Duh.

That being said, when I go to a restaurant and order something really good it becomes my obsession to figure out how to make it. Not because I don’t want to pay the prices at a restaurant… Believe me, there are days when I would give my last dollar to eat a wonderful meal in an incredible atmosphere with a bunch of friends… and have someone else do the dishes! No, it’s not because of that. It’s just that in my own twisted little Cookbyist mind it becomes a challenge. A Bobby Flay just walked into my kitchen throwdown of sorts.

I will research, and read, and Google it all. I will find a store that carries the ingredients even if it’s 10 miles out of my way. I will add a dash of this and a pinch of that, experimenting with different recipes until I find just the right one… The right combination… Much like my Pho’ Soup Challenge.

One of those recipes was Thai Red Curry Coconut Chicken.

I had never cooked with Curry, and hadn’t cooked much with Coconut Milk, but those two ingredients together are so harmonious, and so unlike any other flavor in the average american diet, that I just had to figure this one out.

The recipe I started with is just titled ‘Curry Chicken’. I got it off the website of one of the Premier Asian Stores in all of Seattle. Uwajimaya - pronounce oo-wa-ji-ma-ya. Sidenote: The name is a combination of the Village that the founder of the store learned to cook in, Uwajima, and the word Ya -roughly translated into store.

I digress…

I call mine ‘Thai Red Curry Coconut Chicken’ because there is a green curry version that you can also order, but I have never cheated on the one I fell in love with by ever even trying the green.

Ingredients:

2 Tblspn Red Curry Paste
1 14 oz can coconut Milk
1 Tblspn Sugar
1 Tblspn Fish Sauce
1/4 cup Chicken stock
1/2 of a thinly sliced Red Bell Pepper
1/4 cup thinly sliced Red Onion
3/4 cup Fresh Basil Leaves
3/4 cup shredded, Cooked Chicken (one Breast, Sauteed)
Japanese Sticky Rice, cooked

Optional Ingredients:
1 tspn Fresh Ginger
Lime juice to taste
Bamboo Shoots

There are a ton of Red Curry Pastes you can buy. This is the one I use and I think it’s perfect.

May Ploy Curry Paste

Start your Rice… I love my li’l rice cooker!

Heat the pan a little and add 2 Tblspns Paste:

Then add half the Coconut Milk. You do this because the Curry Paste is hard to chase around in if you put in all of the Coconut Milk in at once.

Throw in the Red Onion, Bell Pepper and 1/2 the Basil. If using Ginger and/or Bamboo Shoots, now is the time to throw those in as well.

Incorporate the rest of the Coconut Milk. Bring back to a boil.

Add the Cooked Chicken and the rest of the Basil; simmer until heated through:

Serve over Cooked Rice Immediately;

Yum!