Two States and Beyond

A Recent Trip to A Dong!

A Dong is an Asian supermarket in Hartford, CT and a wonderland for foodies like me.  They have a wide variety of curry pastes, sauces and noodles.  It's quite fun shopping there and a really nice change from the mundane grocery trips to the regular supermarkets.  Taking suggestion from a post from One Hot Stove , I chose to buy a Maesri brand curry paste.  Below are two of the simple dishes I made using this paste along with other ingredients I bought.  Both dishes were fairly quick, easy to make and tasted good.  Moreover, what I like about these dishes is the fact that they are a complete and healthy one-pot meal, loaded with vegetables and protein.  

Notes:

• ·      The curry paste is flavorful, but not too spicy.  If you want some heat, add white pepper, chilli garlic paste or red chilli flakes. 
• ·      The curry paste is a bit oily but little or no excess oil is required for cooking.

Vegetable and Tofu Curry, served with noodles.

 Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups of mixed vegetables (I used baby corn, snow peas, zucchini, eggplant, carrot, cucumber, tomato and mushrooms)

1/2 cup extra firm tofu, diced into cubes

4 tbsp. Maesri Massaman curry paste

1 cup vegetable stock

1/2 cup coconut milk

Thai basil (a handful)

Scallion, chopped

Salt to taste

 Method:

1) Heat a wok or any cooking pot.

2) Fry the curry paste and coconut milk for 2 mins. until heated through and fragrant.

3) Add the vegetable stock and bring to boil. (keep it on medium-high heat)

4) Now, start adding the vegetables and cook them uncovered.

(Add the vegetables that take the longest to cook first and continue adding vegetables making sure to add the one with the shortest cooking time last.  Be careful not to overcook the vegetables.  They should have a crunchy texture)

5) Lastly, add the tofu.

6) Taste and adjust the salt.

7) Mix in the basil and scallion. 

Serve with rice or noodles.  

Massaman Curry Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil

3 tbsp. Maesri Massaman curry paste

A good amount of (~2 cups) mixed vegetables; and extra firm tofu, diced into small cubes

3 cups of cooked rice

2 tbsp. light soy sauce (divided)

1 tbsp. oyster sauce

1 tbsp. fish sauce

1/2 tbsp. sesame oil

2 scallion, chopped (whites separated)

Thai basil (a handful)

Method:

1) Heat 1 tbsp. of oil in a wok.

2) Add the curry paste and the white parts of the scallion.  Fry for 1-2 mins.

3) Add the vegetables, tofu and 1 tbsp. of soy sauce. Fry for another 3-4 mins.

(Sprinkle some water on the vegetables.  The steam created from the water helps the vegetables cook faster and remain crunchy).

4) Add the rice, remaining soy sauce, oyster sauce and fish sauce.

5) Taste and adjust the salt.

6) Garnish with the remaining scallion and basil.