Only recently have I been taught by a lovely Thai friend how to make pumpkin curry. I’ve even simplified it further by employing a slow-cooker. I’ve also reduced the amount of oil and sugar my friend uses at her restaurant. We just love the results and the hardest part of making it is prepping the pumpkin!

The “trick” I learned from my friend is the cooking of the curry paste in oil for a while. This is the magic of Thai curry paste, which having made Indian food a few times, what with the cooking of spices in oil, I get.

Prep the Curry Paste

In a sturdy pot (I use a cast iron wok) heat up 1/2 cup of oil and add a 14 oz tub of red curry paste (I like Arroy-D, which is reliably vegan)*. Reduce heat to low and cook until curry is highly fragrant. Put into larger jar, cool, put in fridge to use as needed. That’s it, that is the magic.

The Stuff

• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 1 can of water (use warm water, helps to rinse coconut milk out of can)
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup of red curry paste, prepared per the above note
• 1 2-3 pound kabocha squash, peeled and in bite-size chunks
• 1 package of water-pack, extra-firm tofu (12-14oz), cut into 1″ cubes
• 1 pound of green beans, stringed and snapped into bite-sized pieces (or 2 crowns of broccoli)

The Making

Into a slow-cooker set on high add the green beans, coconut milk, water, curry paste, and pumpkin.

Cook for a 2 hours and add tofu*. Cook another 45 minutes. *If you’re using broccoli instead of or in addition to green beans, add it now)

Enjoy with rice noodles, rice, or with a spoon.

*A note about oil:curry paste ratio. The 1/2 cup to 14 ounces of curry paste works out to around 2 teaspoons per ounce of curry. The smallest jar you can purchase is 4 ounces, which would be just a little more than 2.5 Tablespoons needed to cook it. Since it keeps for a while in the fridge once prepared, I always just use a 14 ounce tub of curry paste and use it as needed.

I love Thai food. The soups, the curries, the stir-fries, the salad rolls, the big fat rice noodles… You get the idea.

I’ve played around with a few favorite dishes at home, including making curry paste from scratch. In addition to some online resources, I’ve had good luck with the cookbook Real Vegetarian Thai for inspiration and guidance on how to achieve a more authentic flavor when cooking at home.

One dish that I make fairly regularly is tom yum soup. Tom kha is more common, particularly if you’re eating out at a Thai restaurant. The big difference between them is the use of coconut milk; tom kha uses quite a lot of it. Although I enjoy some rich coconut milk dishes once in a while, the tom yum is nice to have more often as it is far lighter and lower in calories. This also means you can easily make tom kha soup by using this recipe, reducing the stock by 2 cups, and adding one can of coconut milk.

The real key I’ve found is using the right, fresh ingredients: lemongrass, galangal, ginger, Kefir lime leaves, lime juice, fresh coriander (cilantro), and Siam Queen Basil. These flavors are indispensable in most Southeast Asian dishes, and particularly so in Thai dishes. Seek out an Asian market for these or check to see if your market might carry them. I must admit that we’re lucky enough to live near a Southeast Asian market and a very well stocked “regular” market that both carry these items.

The Stuff

• 5 stalks fresh lemongrass
• 1 oz. Kefir lime leaves (or the juice of 2 additional limes)
• 2 limes
• 6 oz fresh galangal
• 4″ piece of ginger
• 8 cups vegetable stock (or the equivalent made with bullion)
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 small kobucha squash (or other sweet winter squash)
• 2 crowns broccoli
• 1 fresh bamboo shoot (or 4 oz. canned; be sure to drain and rinse first)
• 8 oz tofu (I like to use fried tofu for this dish, sometimes a lemongrass & chili tofu made locally)
• fresh cilantro
• fresh Siam Queen basil
• Rice udon-style noodles (optional)
• salt and ground pepper (preferably white) – to taste

The Making

Pour stock into pot, bring to heat and then reduce to simmer. Chop up the galangal and ginger roughly, about .5″ pieces. Remove woody tops, the bottom, and one outer layer of the lemongrass before chopping into 3″ pieces. Then use flat side of knife to smash open the lemongrass – this is a very important step! Tear up an ounce or so of Kefir lime leaves to release oils. Put galangal, ginger, lemongrass, and lime leaves into the pot with the stock, the juice of one lime, and the halves of the juiced lime. Simmer on lowest heat for at least one hour. Note: This Thai-style stock can be made in large batches and frozen.

While stock is simmering peel and remove seeds from small kobucha squash. Chop into 1″ pieces and set aside. Remove stem from broccoli crowns and reserve for a later dish. Separate crowns into small pieces and set aside. Cut up tofu into 1″ pieces, bite-sized and set aside. Slice bamboo shoot into 1″ pieces, if using fresh and set aside.

After the stock has simmered with the aromatics for at least an hour remove from heat and strain out all the aromatics; discard these or compost them. Return stock to pot, add juice of second lime (and additional limes if you didn’t use the lime leaves), rice vinegar, and squash. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until squash begins to get tender. Add broccoli, bamboo shoot and tofu. Simmer for an addition 5-10 minutes, until broccoli is slightly tender. Add salt and ground white pepper – to taste.

Serve with fresh coriander and Siam Queen basil as garnishes to be added into soup right before eating. This soup is very mild and I often add a little Sriracha chili sauce to my serving.

Although it isn’t as traditional, I like to serve this over rice udon-style noodles for a more hearty dish for dinner.

Serves 4-6

Hot and Sour Soup is a world favorite. This recipe is makes enough soup for the next day!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 cups (three boxes) “chik’n”-style broth
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 thumb-size pieces galangal or ginger, grated or finely sliced into matchstick-like pieces
• 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
• 2 Tbsp. red miso paste
• 3 Tbsp chilie & garlic paste
• 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce
• 2 Tbsp chilie oil
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 4 kaffir lime leaves (frozen, fresh, or dried) OR 2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 heaping Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tbsp. water (whisk)
• 1-2 cups cubed tofu

VEGETABLES (choose from the following, or add your own selection):

• 1 red or green bell pepper
• handful fresh or dried shiitake mushrooms (if dried, soak them in hot water for several hours)
• 1 cup Chinese cabbage such as bok choy, roughly chopped
• handful of fresh or frozen spinach
• frozen or fresh broccoli
• bamboo shoot strips

NOODLE OPTION:

• Serve soup over pre-cooked rice noodles. We used a very thick and chewy kind (not flat-wide rice-stick. Think more like “rice-udon”) that we were dubious of before hand, but worked out most excellently, although rice-stick would work well.

GARNISH:

• handful of fresh coriander OR fresh basil
• lime
• mung bean sprouts

PREPARATION:

1. Heat broth in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, galangal or ginger, soy sauce, miso paste, chilli, vinegar, brown sugar and lime leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and allow to simmer while you add next ingredients.
2. Grill meat/tofu on a cast-iron grill or the like to give it some character, then add it to the pot, plus the vegetables. Simmer 3-5 minutes, or until vegetables are lightly cooked (but still on the crisp side).
3. Prepare the cornstarch thickener by using some broth. Whisk until smooth, then add to soup pot and stir to blend.
4. Ladle the hot soup into bowls (by itself or over noodles) and garnish with fresh coriander or basil.

Andy made massaman curry tonight.  He tried to lobby for vegan brats since the Packers were playing the Vikings on Monday Night Football, but he’d already suggested Thai and I said I’d rather we stick with it.  Besides, I wanted rice!