Recipe: Seafood Thai Red Curry

In Thailand, red curry is frequently served with chicken, and this combination is available at a number of food stands. In our recipe, we used seafood instead and cooked the dish on a Japanese charcoal grill to enhance the flavour of the seafood.

We loved how Chef Roger Young created this tasty Seafood Thai Red Curry. He shared some tips at the end. Enjoy!

"Last weekend was red curry night, and when thinking about making a red curry paste from scratch, my go-to is David Thompson’s brilliant book Thai Food. I like to add little lime zest to mine and some bird’s eyes for extra heat. With the addition of eggplant and green beans, it’s the perfect one pot dish." - Chef Roger Young

You may need:

• A saucepan or a deep frypan for frying and stewing
• A small charcoal grill (optional)
• A large bowl and a serving plate 

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp red curry paste
• 2 cups coconut cream
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1/2 cup coconut mik
• Japanese eggplant
• Handful of green beans
• 1/2 kilo mussels
• 4 large scallops or 12 small ones
• 8 prawns
• 1 lime
• 2 cups Jasmine rice with 2 cups of water. Use a rice cooker. 
• Prawn crackers oil for deep frying

Red curry paste

• 6-8 long red chillies, deseeded, soaked and drained. Add a few bird’s eye chillies for heat. Large pinch of salt
• 5 slices of galangal
• 3 Tbsp chopped lemongrass
• 4 Tbsp chopped garlic
• 3 Tbsp diced red shallot
• 1 Tbsp scraped and chopped coriander root
• 10 white peppercorns or 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 Tsp shrimp paste, roasted. (see tips)
• 1 Tsp lime zest

For the garnish

• 1 long red chilli
• Julienned coriander leaves

Method

• To make the paste, pound all ingredients together with a mortar and pestle or blitz them up in a food processor.
• Fry the chilli paste in a little oil until fragrant. Add the coconut cream and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add the fish sauce and sugar. Next, add the coconut milk and simmer until reduced and thickened to your liking.
• If using a hibachi or BBQ, grill the prawns, scallops and eggplant until charred but not quite cooked through.
• Add eggplant and green beans to the curry. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add the mussels to the curry and cook until they start to open up. Then add the prawns and scallops.
• Before serving, squeeze some fresh lime juice into the curry.
• Serve with rice and prawn crackers.

Tips for making Seafood Thai Red Curry

1. Making the curry paste a couple of days earlier is a great time-saver, and pounding it out with your mortar and pestle is not just therapeutic but also saves a session at the gym!
2. You can, of course, cook the seafood in the curry, but for something a little more special, I like to use my hibachi or BBQ. After all, everything tastes better on the hibachi!
3. I used Thai eggplants but found them to be a little too bitter even after salting, so I would recommend the long Japanese variety for a creamier and more velvety taste and texture.
4. Komodo prawn crackers are the only way to go! After many fruitless shopping trips, I ended up buying them online. (Note from My Cookware: You can find these authentic Indonesian prawn crackers at the Indonesian grocery store.) 
5. It’s best to cook shrimp paste to release the flavours before adding it to dishes. To roast it, wrap it in foil and place it under the grill or in the oven at 180C for about 5-10 minutes. Cool and then use it in your curry paste.