Ingredients
- goulash. This one is made with ground beef, macaroni, canned tomatoes and a can
- except for the ubiquitous use of Cream of Mushroom Soup. The advantage to cooking this way is that dish can be prepared
- pork. (If you’d prefer, it can also be made with ground Chicken.) To make it Thai, she used Red Curry paste and
- and incorporate as much Red Curry Paste as your taste buds desire. Fortunately, this can be accomplished at the
- Curry Rice with Pork adapted from Molly Yeh in Food and Wine Magazine Serves 4. Active
- Time 30 mins. Total time 1 hr. 15 minutes
- 1 cup Basmati Rice
- 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp. canola oil
- 1 lb. ground pork or chicken
- 4 tbsp. Thai Red Curry Paste
- 1 13.5 oz. can of unsweetened coconut milk
- 2 tbsp. light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. Asian Fish sauce
- 1 red bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 small onion, cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 carrot, sliced into ½ inch rounds
- 4 oz. snap peas cut into ½ inch pieces
- Lime Wedges, Cilantro leaves and crushed roasted peanuts
Summary
One-Pot Thai Curry Rice with Pork or Chicken
Recipe Summary & Steps
Molly Yeh
More often
than not, my inclination is to try any recipe that appeals to me that week. So
it was with this warming dish of coconut-scented rice, curried pork,
crisp vegetables, a splash of lime juice and the crunch of peanuts. A recent issue of Food and Wine introduced me to a blogger who
lives in the far reaches of northern Minnesota hard by the border of North
Dakota. Given her location, it makes all
the sense in the world that she’d would be making Thai Food, doesn’t it? In a sense it does. This is American food today.
We are unrestricted by geography, our population and our supermarkets more and
more diverse. And nothing says that
better than the popularity and continuing story of Molly Yeh of East Grand
Forks, Minnesota, the blogger in question.
Originally from Brooklyn, Molly Yeh has embraced her new home with a
vengeance. But she certainly brought a
lot of Brooklyn with her. The first of
her recipes is for Halvah-Stuffed Challah bread. But what she must truly pine
for is New York’s Thai Food. So she has created a version of it using a
technique that is pure Midwestern.
A Farmgirl Dabble's Tater Tot Hotdish
That technique involves a Hotdish, “a staple at potlucks
and church suppers throughout the Midwest”, and particularly popular in
Minnesota. At their most basic, the
ingredients used in Hotdish are pasta, ground beef, green beans, corn and
canned soup. Potatoes are also used and
there are literally dozens of recipe calling for Tater Tots as shown in this
version from http://www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com/. There’s even a version
called Minnesota Goulash that has nothing to do with the original Hungarian
goulash. This one is made with ground beef, macaroni, canned tomatoes and a can
of creamed corn. There aren’t many rules
except for the ubiquitous use of Cream of Mushroom Soup. The advantage to cooking this way is that dish can be prepared
in advance, travels well and comes together in One Pot so it can get to the
Church in one piece. In fact, it’s not a Hotdish if it requires any more than one
pot. What Molly Yeh has done is to create
a Thai version. In her recipe, Ms. Yeh
put together with bell peppers, onions, carrots, snap peas along with rice and
pork. (If you’d prefer, it can also be made with ground Chicken.) To make it Thai, she used Red Curry paste and
fish sauce. And in blatant disregard for
Cream of Mushroom Soup. Ms Yeh wisely substitutes coconut milk. To be honest, I liked the dish but critically
it lacked any heat to speak of. It was a
very distant cousin of the Thai food we love in New York for its complexity of
flavors and its blends of great spices.
In
researching further into the Hotdish culture of the state Molly Yeh now calls
home, I think I discovered the reason.
The earliest immigrants to Minnesota were overwhelmingly from Northern
Europe and Scandinavia. Their taste
preferences continue to influence Minnesota to this day. In general that means an avoidance of hot
spices in favor of earthy and aromatic ones. What Molly Yeh’s One Dish Thai Curry lacked in
heat, it more than makes up for in heartiness. It’s a perfect winter warmer.
But if you want to make it feel really Thai, please feel free to up the ante
and incorporate as much Red Curry Paste as your taste buds desire. Fortunately, this can be accomplished at the
end of the cooking process by stirring in the paste one tablespoon at a time
until the spice level passes your taste test.
Here is the recipe with twice the heat of Molly Yeh’s original. You can still take it up several notches from
here.
One-Pot Thai
- Curry Rice with Pork adapted from Molly Yeh in Food and Wine Magazine Serves 4. Active
- Time 30 mins. Total time 1 hr. 15 minutes
- 1 cup Basmati Rice
- 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp. canola oil
- 1 lb. ground pork or chicken
- 4 tbsp. Thai Red Curry Paste
- 1 13.5 oz. can of unsweetened coconut milk
- 2 tbsp. light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. Asian Fish sauce
- 1 red bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 small onion, cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 carrot, sliced into ½ inch rounds
- 4 oz. snap peas cut into ½ inch pieces
- Lime Wedges, Cilantro leaves and crushed roasted peanuts
for serving.
1.Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium saucepan,
combine the rice and stock and bring to a boil.
Cover and cook over moderately low heat until all the liquid is
absorbed, about 6 minutes. The rice will not be completely cooked.
2. In an enameled medium-sized cast-iron casserole, heat the
oil. Add the pork or chicken, season with salt and pepper and cook over
moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and cooked through, about 5
minutes.
3. Stir in the curry paste and cook until very fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Add the parcooked rice, the coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce, bell pepper,
onion, carrot and snap peas and mix well.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
4. Uncover and bake for about 10 minutes
longer, until the rice is tender and all of the coconut milk has been absorbed.
Now is the time to taste the curry and
gradually stir in by the tablespoonful, additional red curry paste until you
reach the your desired level of heat and spice.
5. Serve warm with lime wedges, cilantro leaves and crushed
peanuts.