Thai Seafood and Pumpkin Curry

Thai Seafood and Pumpkin Curry

serves 4-6

This is a bit decadent as I use scallops and prawns, but feel free to add extra fish if you choose not to add scallops or the prawns. I make my own curry pastes and store them in the fridge for up to 1 month, bit there are some really good store bought pastes. If using a store bought paste add 1 tbs of paste to start you can always add a bit more if you want extra heat.

Ingredients

2 tbs red curry paste (homemade)
600ml coconut milk
2 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs palm sugar/or brown sugar
250g diced pumpkin about 2cm dice
4 spring onion cut diagonally
2 stalks lemon grass white part only finely chopped
6 kaffir lime leaves finely shredded
500g prawns peeled and chopped into large pieces ( reserve 5 heads)
8 scallops
350g white firm fish cut into chunks similar size to the prawns
250g calamari rings
coriander leaves and fresh limes to serve and garnish

Method

Fry the curry paste in 1/4 cup of the coconut milk.
Add the prawn heads, remaining coconut milk, fish sauce, palm sugar, lime leaves and lemon grass.
Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Add the pumpkin and simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes.
Add the seafood and simmer until cooked, do not over cook the seafood.
Serve with steamed rice, garnish with coriander and serve with a lime wedge.















 

Pad Thai

serves 4-6



I love Pad Thai but I have has some really bad ones. Most recently I ordered this dish in a local restaurant, the noodles were over cooked and stuck together and the two prawns that accompanied the dish were questionable at best. So my quest to create a great Pad Thai began.







Ingredients

2 long fresh red chillis deseeded
2 shallots
4 cloves garlic
300 g dried flat rice noodles
500 g  green prawns peeled and deveined chopped
2 tbs oil
3 tbs tamarind paste
1/4 cup fish sauce
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs brown sugar
 juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup bean sprouts
3 tbs dry roasted cashews
3 tbs fresh coriander
2 tbs fried shallots

Directions

In a food processor or a mortar and pestle combine the chilli's, garlic, shallots and 2 tbs of water to create a paste.
In a separate bowl, combine the tamarind paste, fish sauce, lime juice, soy sauce and sugar stir to combine.
Place noodle in a bowl add boiling water and let stand for 15 minutes, drain the noodles.
Heat oil in a wok and fry the chilli paste for about 20 seconds, then stir in the combined sauces, add the chopped prawns and cook for 1 minute or until they are just cooked.
Add the noodles to the pan, along with the chicken stock, half of the coriander and the bean sprouts stir the mixture and cook for 5 minutes until most of the sauce has been absorbed.
To serve garnish with the remaining coriander, cashews and the fried shallots.