I recently visited one of my Portland favorites Pok Pok for some incredible street-style Thai food. Inspired by one of the curry noodle dishes, I decided to make some good curry paste from scratch which I think is the reason their food tastes phenomenal.
Ingredients:
For the dry spice mix:
4-6 dried red chilies or to taste
2 tbsp. coriander seeds
2 tsp. cumin seeds
6 green cardamom pods, de-seeded (just use the seeds)
1 tsp. dried mace
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. nutmeg, grated
1 tsp. turmeric powder
2 tsp. fish sauce (optional)
1 tsp. soy sauce (optional)
For curry paste:
ginger - 1" piece
6 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. coriander stems, chopped
6 shallots
1 small can coconut milk
veges (sliced green and red peppers, bokchoy, mushrooms, tomatoes)
chicken or meat (optional)
1 small sprig cilantro
1 package noodles
Method:
Cook flat egg noodles according to the package instructions and set aside. I prefer to rinse in cold water to prevent overcooking while I prep the rest of the curry.
Dry roast the spices in a pan until it's aromatic and golden. Grind it to a powder using a spice grinder. Add the turmeric, curry powder and grate fresh nutmeg to this, mix well.
In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, ginger, shallots, cilantro stems with coarse sea salt to make a fine paste. Combine the dry spices with the wet paste, fish and soy sauces.
In a wok on medium heat, add the coconut milk, keep stirring until it reduces to a thick glossy paste and you smell the coconut oil in it.
It helps to use a really good quality coconut extract...not the lite, tasteless ones. The good news is that I actually did not use any oil to make this and just that tiny can gives you all the flavor.
Then add the prepared curry paste and saute until fragrant. Add the veges and/or chicken and saute with the curry paste until cooked through.
Then add 3-4 cups of water and let the curry simmer on low heat until thickened. Turn off the heat, add the noodles and toss until heated through and garnish with chopped cilantro.
This curry paste is pretty versatile with meat or veges and also soupy or fairly thick depending on what you prefer. I served it soupy, Chiang-Mai style, which was delicious!
