Eons ago, I wrote a post about flavor balance and by now you might have noticed I have romanticized the idea ad nauseum. What can I say? I’m obsessed. I make it a personal goal to pack as many wedges of the flavor wheel into a dish as I possibly can. Sometimes it works out. This time, it did. Introducing…Coconut vegetable curry, another Thai-inspired recipe.
I love the vibrant red and orange colors of bell peppers, sweet green sugar snap peas, and a golden coconut sauce to blend them all together. Who knew eating vegetables could be so sensory?
Typically I’d add a protein to this dish, but my workouts these days have shifted to cardio more than weight lifting, so carbs and I are friends again. (Not that we ever weren’t.) Plus, I’m pretty sure it’s healthy to eat just vegetables every now and then, you know, since we’re not living the life of Neanderthal meat heads sitting at our kitchen table on our laptops for eight hours a day.
I’ve been on a big Thai kick lately and just can’t get enough of these south east Asian flavors. Sweet, savory, salty, spicy, acidic, and creamy ALL IN ONE. Yeah. Big deal alert. If Guy Fierri were in our kitchen, I picture him exclaiming in delight, “That is packed with flavor!” May I also add that this dish goes swimmingly well with a Black Thai Affair cocktail if you’re looking to go all out?
Further…have you tried scooping rice with an ice cream scooper??? I give this method 10/10 for presentation! I’ll make yet another plug for Better than Bullion and recommend that you cook all of your rice (jasmine, of course) in water with Better than Bullion Chicken Base. It adds a touch of really nice flavor without being overpowering. A good sidekick to a good curry!
So this recipe has lots of ingredients…such is the nature of southeast Asian cooking. However, it actually comes together in under 30 minutes! Faster if you have help with dishes, too! The recipe probably looks obnoxiously long, but it’s really not that complicated. I’m just trying to give more explicit instructions ever since I charged Jim with the task of making homemade pastaroni on his own.
Here is the gist of it:
- Get the rice going (cooking in Better Than Bullion Base, duh) so it’s ready with the rest of it. Do yourself a big favor and use a rice cooker.
- Caramelize onions. If you’ve done this before, you know it takes a little while, a touch of sugar, oil, and salt.
- Add garlic, ginger, jalapeño, lime zest, lime juice to the onions. Oh, and salt. Always salt along the way. Probably add chicken if you want some oomph.
- Veggie dump into the pan. Bell peps and peas. Salt again. (It’s in tiny increments, don’t worry!) And peanuts!
- Once that’s all pretty cooked and tender, you add a saucy mix of soy sauce, sriracha, vinegar, peanut butter, fish sauce, ground mustard, and coconut milk. Simmer and then you’re done! Garnish with basil and/or green onions. Scoop the rice with an ice cream scooper.
Hope you and your family enjoy this immensely and get loads of flavor and nutrition from it! Feel free to share your pics and tag @bakerstheory on Instagram!
Coconut Bell Pepper Peanut Curry
Equipment
- Rice cooker
- Zester
Ingredients
Vegetable Curry
- t tbsp Sesame seed oil
- 1 Onion sliced thinly
- 1 tsp Salt staggered in ¼ tsp intervals
- 2 tbsp Brown sugar
- ½ tsp Ginger peeled and grated
- 5 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 Lime, zested and juiced
- 2 Jalapeños seeded and chopped
- 2 Bell peppers sliced
- 6 oz Snow peas or sugar snap peas whole
- 4 oz Shitake mushrooms sliced
- ¼ cup Salted peanuts plus more for topping
- 1 tbsp Sriracha
- 2 tbsp Seasoned rice vinegar Kikoman
- 3 tbsp Soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Peanut butter creamy
- 13.5 oz Can of coconut milk
- 1 tsp Fish sauce Red Boat
- 1 tsp Ground mustard
Rice
- 2 cups Jasmine rice dry
- 4 cups Water
- 4 tsp Better than Bullion Chicken Base optional
Instructions
For the rice
- Combine rice and water in a rice cooker, pressure cooker, or pot. Add chicken base, if desired, or other spices. Cook until tender and fluffy, about 20 minutes. *Serve with an ice cream scoop for a nice, rounded serving.
For the vegetable curry
- In a large skillet on medium heat, warm the sesame seed oil. When hot and shimmering, add onion slices and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.
- While onions are cooking, peel and grate the ginger, crush and mince the garlic, zest and juice the lime, and seed and chop the jalapeño. Gather them all in a small bowl.
- When onions start to brown and caramelize, add 2 tbsp of brown sugar and ¼ tsp of sea salt. Stir again, but not too often, to allow onions to caramelize further with the sugar.
- While onions caramelize, chop bell peppers (sans seeds) and mushrooms, and gather in a bowl with the snow or snap peas.
- Once onions look golden, limp, and browned--almost noodle-like--add to them the small bowl of ginger, garlic, zest, juice, and jalapeño. Stir and add another ¼ tsp of salt. (It's important to salt along the way rather than all at once!) Sauté this combination for 2-3 minutes. Then add the peppers, mushrooms, peas, and peanuts. Sprinkle in the remaining ½ tsp of salt.
- Stir the contents of the pan and then allow to it cook unattended while you prepare the sauce, about 5 minutes.
- In a small bowl (perhaps the one from the garlic-jalapeño mixture if you haven't put it in the sink yet...) whisk together sriracha, vinegar, soy sauce, peanut butter, coconut milk, fish sauce, and ground mustard. When vegetables are tender and soft, pour the sauce into the pan. Cook another 5 minutes or until sauce is thick and simmering.
- Serve in large bowls with rice.
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