Thai Night

Red Curry Shrimp, originally uploaded by Kim De.

I want to make Thai food that is as good as at our favorite restaurant. I have tried, really I have. Most other food from our kitchen is MUCH better than that at a restaurant - Thai food we just cant seem to replicate.

Last night I made Red Curry Marinated Shrimp a Bobby Flay recipe from his Boy Meets Grill tv show. Step one, mix the coconut milk with the red curry paste. Taste. Add the onion, cilantro and lime juice. Taste. Add the oil - decide the sauce isnt hot enough, add 1/2 a chopped serrano pepper. Taste.

So far, everything tastes great. I only added 1/2 pepper, not knowing how much heat it would add. I poured enough sauce over the 1 lb of shrimp (it called for 2) to cover it, then put the shrimp in the fridge to marinate.

To the rest of the sauce I added chopped yellow pepper and carrots. I tasted one more time, decided to add the rest of the serrano, then put it in the fridge untl ready to cook *NOTE this would be good with broccoli, green pepper etc. The recipe didnt call for veggies, this was my own addition and I used what was in the fridge**

Thirty minutes before dinner, I put the veggie mixture on the stove to quickly boil, then simmer until the veggies were slightly cooked, but still crunchy. It was raining, so I pan cooked the shrimp before adding it to the veggie mixture. This was spooned over brown rice and served with a nice dry martini.

We both took bites, nicely said it was good, took more bites, then agreed there was a flavor we didnt care for. I mentioned vinegar, he mentioned sour - so the conclusion we came to was the lime juice. It was too prevalent. The sauce wasnt as rich tasting as at our restaurant (plus we really would have liked to have had fresh thai basil at the end, but none to be found.)

This recipe will go into the archives as a "do not use again" and the Thai search continues.

Red Curry Marinated Shrimp (Adapted from Boy Meets Grill)

* 1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
* 2 tablespoons red curry paste *One of these days I intend to make homemade paste*
* 1/2 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
* 1 lime, juiced
* 2 to 3 tablespoons canola oil
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 2 pounds shrimp, shell and tail left on *I used 1 lb and added veggies*

Heat grill to high. Whisk together coconut milk, curry paste, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and oil in a large bowl. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Place shrimp in the bowl and toss to coat. Cover and let marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.