Everything’s Better with Massaman
I just adore Thai Massaman curry. Here’s a couple of examples. From the other day, an appetizer dish for friends: meatballs. I used Justin Owings’ recipe, with one modification: 1/2 tsp fennel seeds in addition to everything else. And, yes, this recipe makes for an awesome meatza base. I especially like the red pepper flakes.
So, once the meatballs have been browned & cooked a bit, just add some coconut milk, curry paste, simmer and you’re in business. Oh, one other addition to the sauce: crumbled blue cheese I had in the fridge. Interesting combo. As always, click photos for bigger, better.
Curry Meatball
Last night I made the standard massaman curry, only I used wonderful lamb kabob meat from a local high quality market. I got stated really early so I could simmer the meat for a couple of hours in the curry, before eventually adding the onion, carrot, white sweet potato and non-paleo peanuts. But sometimes you just gotta have the peanuts.
To make up for that indiscretion, I went with cauliflower "rice." Just pulse it in the food processor until it’s like rice, stir fry in a wok with coconut oil until nicely browned and then at the end, sprinkle with cinnamon.
Lamb Curry with Cauliflower "Rice"
I think I’m going to use the rest of the lamb tonight to make a Thai-Texas fusion chili. We’ll see how it works.
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Lamb curry with cauliflower rice – excellent combo! I have to make that one.
Massaman is my favorite Thai dish. I haven’t had it since I went Paleo but I was just thinking how Thai food in general is fairy Paleo-friendly. Good post Richard, I might have to try this.
I don’t even LIKE curry – but these look so yummy!
Jeanie:
Q: Have you tried the Thai curries? I ask because they are world’s apart from Indian curries (which I also love, but they give me nuclear heartburn, Thai doesn’t).
Does Thai food have soy? At work, everyone eats at a Chinese buffet most days. Today I had a chicken and vegetable stir fry (with some kind of sauce), two chicken drumsticks and a whole lot of broccoli and other stir fried veggies. The only non-paleo thing I could think of that would be in there was soy sauce and maybe a little sugar in the bbq sauce on the drumsticks.
Real authentic Thai food uses fish sauce, made from fermented anchovies, for most things, instead of soy sauce. Curries, definitely.
@Chris P
Yea in addition to the soy and sugar in conventionally cooked chinese food also note too that probably a lot of vegetable/seed oils in anything fried. And of course, soy has wheat (not sure about tamari, however).
@Nathaniel
Yes, I’ve used the fish sauce before but have found it really makes no difference because I make my stuff so spicy. I might try doing it again by the book though and see if it makes a difference now.
Looks like I also see potatoes, I love massaman stew. I wish I could get your mom to fix it for me. But I like it fairly hot, so you know how she is about hot.
Massaman is also my favourite – green curry is great too. Never cracked what to have as a replacement for standard rice. That cauliflower rice looks and sounds awesome.
Call me ignorant, but can you explain “massaman”? At first I thought it was a brand but that hasn’t panned out in google so what makes it massaman curry?
@musajen
It’s a particular mix of spices, made into a paste for addition to coconut milk for the sauce.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massaman_curry
“The flavoring for Massaman curry is called Massaman curry paste (nam prik kaeng masaman). The dish usually contains coconut milk, roasted peanuts, potatoes, bay leaves, cardamom pods, cinnamon, palm sugar, fish sauce, and tamarind sauce. Muslim, and later Portuguese, traders brought spices such as turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, cloves and nutmeg from the Middle East and India to the south coast of Thailand. The dish is served with rice and sometimes with pickled ginger or “Ajaad” sauce made with cucumber and peppers macerated in vinegar.”
Richard, could you make a post with exact recipes for all of your sauces written for people who have no idea at all how to cook whatever and don’t know the terminology such as “reduce” ?
You’d be a hero of the low carb movement.
Can’t Cook:
First, yes you can.
I really don’t have the cycles available right now to do that. Plus, I don’t really cook from recipes most of the time and a lot of my stuff is one-off; that is, even if I make the “same thing” again I do new things with it.
The best way to learn to cook is get in there are do it, and don’t be afraid to fail and toss something in the trash. I still have to do that sometimes, but it’s rare. No fear. Just do. Watch some cooking shows to get an idea of basic methods.
Now, as to reducing a sauce, this took 5 seconds searching google for “how to reduce a sauce”
“Reducing is simply thickening and concentrating a sauce by boiling it—moisture evaporates, and the sauce reduces in volume while the flavor intensifies. The longer a sauce boils, the thicker it gets; eventually it will reduce to a glaze that will coat the back of a spoon. Don’t season your sauce until it’s reduced to the desired consistency; otherwise, the flavor could become too intense.”
That’s a very good description. I would emphasize the bit about seasoning. Only season (salt, pepper, or strong herbs & spices) once you are at of near your desired thickness. Also, don’t boil but simmer, like low-medium low. Another way is to boil on high, turn off, wait until the visible steam rising off the sauce stops, repeat until you’re there.
One more thing is that you may need a certain volume, like when cooking for other people so if it’s not yet thick enough but you can’t afford to lose any more volume, then you need to thicken. My favorite way to do that is to take some potato starch (potato flour), about a heaping tablespoon and stir it up in about 1/2 cup of water to make a “slurry.” Then add that to your sauce a bit at a time while it’s boiling, stir it in until desired thickness is reached.
I agree, curry equals delicious comfort food. That, and I’ve discovered the glory that is mustard since going Paleo.
Thanks for the reduction info!! I looked at the ingredients in the wiki for massaman, but which do you use? Or do you buy a can that has it already in there? I have seen you post on this massaman before and really want to try it, but don’t know exactly waht to put in it.
Thanks Richard, love the food porn.
Yea, I always use a massman curry paste which can be had from most markets with a heavy asian section. If not heavy, you might only get green, red, yellow curry.
Massaman is kinda like the bastard stepchild. Bit it’s also the best.