Thai red seafood curry

Carrying on with aquatic theme, I have a recipe involving some of the seafood shacked up in my freezer. Like many of the recipes I use, it's totally adaptable to other meats or vegetables so if all things fishy doesn't take your fancy, by all means swap it out for beef, chicken or even something like butternut squash. 

I was lucky enough to be treated with a trip to a wing yip supermarket (amazing Asian superstore) the other weekend. It was a compromise really as first on the list was IKEA but this was quickly ruled out by my other half. Instead he got to watch me marvel at every single shelf while trying not to cry with boredom, I know, he is a lucky guy. 

I already had the seafood and curry paste (cheating a little bit but they are so handy!) All I needed was some fresh herbs and vegetables, to stock up on some rice and get some tinned goods. Obviously I ended up with a little more than that but I don't think I did too badly in terms of pointless purchases.

I did find some coconut oil which is meant to be great to cook with. I used it in the curry and I have to say it did seem much less oily than usual. I also picked up some palm sugar and tamarind paste which is pretty essential in finishing Thai dishes but I've just been substituting with brown sugar and lime. They definitely made for a more authentic tasting dish and I'm very pleased that I invested in them. 

The key of all Asian cooking is achieving balance with hot, sour, sweet and salty and it's the secret to its addictive taste. Obviously I'm nowhere near an expert on Asian cuisine but I know what I like and I'm ok with playing around with it and getting it wrong once in a while. Confidence is key and worse comes to worse you can always just have beans on toast if it all goes tits up. So give it a try and remember to taste, then season and  then taste again. 

Thai red curry

Serves 4 

1 shallot or onion, finely chopped

50g red curry paste (add more or less depending on your spice levels)

1 aubergine, cut in to cubes

1 tin of coconut milk

2 kaffir lime leaves (this really makes a difference!)

2 tbsp tamarind paste or to taste

1 small piece of palm sugar,chopped or some brown sugar to taste 

1 small tin bamboo shoots

1 handful of sugar snap peas and/or baby sweet corn

Half a red pepper chopped

1 handful of mixed seafood/prawns/meat of choice

Fish sauce to taste

Roughly chopped coriander, Thai basil and some bean sprouts to finish. 

Start by frying off the shallot in the coconut oil or vegetable oil for a minute or so until translucent then add in the aubergine. Fry for a little while, the aubergine will soak up some of the oil but this is ok. Next add the paste and fry that off for a few minutes then you can add in the coconut milk and kaffir leaves. 

Now add the tamarind, bamboo shoots and sugar then leave the curry to cook down for 5-10 minutes allowing the flavours to develop. If using meat then add in now to give it time to cook through. 

The last stages are to add in your vegetables in the order of their cooking time though they should be nice and crunchy. Lastly the seafood goes in, if using, making sure not to over cook. Serve with some jasmine rice, the herbs and bean sprouts sprinkled over top. 

Top tip: large supermarkets should sell kaffir lime leaves and they keep beautifully in the freezer ready to go straight in to Asian curries and stir fries. They add that extra something!