It’s Songkran this weekend, so here’s a recipe from Singha beer and Andy Oliver, head chef at Som Saa, one of the most acclaimed Thai restaurants in London to celebrate.
This is a mouth-watering classic Thai red curry recipe with a twist; winter melon and crispy tofu making it the perfect autumnal vegetarian meal. It is best served as part of a shared Thai meal along with jasmine rice and paired with a bottle (or two) of Singha beer, the original beer of Thailand.
Singha’s blend of sweet, earthy and spicy flavours to compliment the spectrum of tastes in Thai cuisine, which makes it the perfect beer for food enthusiasts to pair with all Thai curry recipes.
Serves: 2-4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 150g of vegetarian red curry paste (no shrimp paste), ideally homemade
- 450ml of thick fresh coconut cream
- 300ml of simple vegetable stock
- A little coconut oil – optional extra
- 150g of firm tofu, torn into bite sized pieces
- 2 tablespoon of palm sugar
- 1 pinch of maldon sea salt
- 3 tablespoons of light soy sauce
- 5-6 fresh or frozen makrut lime leaves
- 1 cup of morning glory, cut into 3 inch lengths
- 250g of winter melon, daikon or even butternut squash peeled and cut into irregular large bite sized chunks
- 2 Thai apple aubergines, each sliced in to 6 pieces or 2 tablespoons of picked pea aubergines
- 2-3 long red or green chillies, sliced at an angle
- 1 large handful of picked Thai basil leaves
Method
To braise the winter melon and cook the tofu
- Add winter melon to a pan and covering with cold water, add a generous pinch of salt and bring to the simmer
- Allow it to simmer until just tender to the point of a knife (around 10 – 15 minutes). Drain and set aside
- Now cook tofu by tearing it into bite sized chunks, and frying it in a deep fat fryer at 180C (or shallow frying in a pan on a medium high heat and turning it once)
- When golden and crispy remove the tofu onto some kitchen paper
To make the curry
- Add half the coconut cream to a pan and place on a medium high heat, option to use a splash of coconut oil here too
- Allow the cream to boil rigorously until it becomes shiny and oily
- When it does, add the curry paste and stir in to ‘fry out’ in this oily cream for 4 minutes on a medium heat
- When the paste smells less raw and more fragrant and the oil is showing on the surface, add the seasonings – palm sugar, soy sauce and salt
- Stir for another minute before adding the pea or apple aubergines, the cooked winter melon (or squash), vegetable stock, remaining coconut cream and tear in the makrut lime leaves
- Allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes before adding the sliced chillies, fried tofu and the morning glory. Again, simmer for 2 more minutes
- Now taste – it should be rich, fragrant and both slightly salty and sweet from and just a little shiny on top
- Finish by stirring through the Thai basil leaves and serving
Thanks,
