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Have I told you about my love affair with Thai food? Yes…. I have one. I could live on Thai food alone, and never get tired. Because I absolutely adore those flavors. My hubby told me various tales about his trips to Thailand, he said he had the most amazing delicious food just being cooked in the middle of the street. I’m dying to go there and try to learn as much as I can about their food.
I love the combination of spicy chilies and sweet coconut milk and the fragrant Thai basil. So from time to time I try to recreate the taste, the best Thai food I ever had was in a little but extremely cool restaurant in Sydney Australia called Stir Crazy. It was kind of a neighborhood place very close to the place I used to live in. I loved to go there and see them cooking their dishes, and the place had this amazing aroma of basil that was intoxicating.
Ah! I miss that place a lot; it was a BYO restaurant so people were all outside holding a bottle of wine waiting for a table. Sometimes we would almost finish our bottle outside while waiting, but it was totally worth it. So this dish I made, was something I always had there and I tried to do as best as I could to recreate the flavor. My hubby told me it was as good as theirs but I’m a bit suspicious of his opinion. For my Thai dessert click here.
Coconut Thai Shrimp
ingredients:
- 1 pound medium-sized prawns shell on
- 3 large shallots
- 2 stalks lemongrass finely minced
- 2 inches piece ginger minced
- 3 garlic clove minced
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 2 small Thai chilies thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 cup of sugar snap peas
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1tablespoon of curry powder
- 1 small bunch of Thai Basil
Directions:
First start by mincing everything and setting a side all separated in small little prep bowls. This will make your cooking easier. Now clean and de-vein the prawns and keep the shells in a separate container. Heat a deep-sided sauté orfry pan over medium heat and add the oil. Add the prawns shells you saved before and slightly sauté it for few minutes to infuse the oil with some extra prawn flavor. Discard the shells and add the shallots, lemongrass, ginger and the curry powder, cook for 3 or 4 minutes or until the shallots are translucent. Add the minced garlic and half of the sliced chilies. Cook a little more. Now add the peppers and snap peas sautéing them but being careful to not overcook the vegetables, add now the prawns and cook them slightly until they became pink. Add the coconut milk and stir well to combine all the flavors. Taste for seasoning, add the rest of the chilies and finish with the basil leaves. Serve with white rice.