Squash Curry

Now that you have a recipe for Thai curry paste, here's something to put it in.

Ingredients


1 button or butternut squash (approximately 1 lb)
2 14 oz cans of coconut milk. DO NOT use the ones marked as "dessert" coconut milk. I use Aroy-D brand
1 lb pork or chicken
Red Curry paste
2 Tbsp Green Mountain seasoning sauce or soy sauce
5 Tbsp Fish sauce (I use Tiparos)
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
3 tsp sugar
.5 cup loosely packed Thai basil leaves

Prep


Halve the squash lengthwise and scrape out all the seeds and gunk. Cut the squash into 3/4 inch slices, remove rind, and further cut into pieces approximately 1 inch to 1.5 inches long, as shown. Place the chunks in a large bowl, covered with water.

Slice the meat into .5 inch thick pieces.







Stir it up
Equipment: large stock pot (8 qt or more), table spoon (not a measuring spoon, but a large spoon that you would actually use at the table).

Curry paste and coconut milk head

Begin by opening the first can of coconut milk. There should be a thick creamy head on it that is not liquidy. Add four spoonfuls of the coconut milk head along with 5 heaping spoonfuls of the curry paste to the stock pot and turn it up to medium heat, stirring the two ingredients together. One the heat brings out the fragrance of the curry paste and the room starts to smell really good, add the sliced meat and cook, stirring constantly (about 3 minutes).

Cooking the meat

Once Add 2 spoonfuls of soy or seasoning sauce, 1 spoonful of oyster sauce and 5 spoonfuls of fish sauce, and 3 tsp of sugar. Add all of the remaining coconut milk. Bring to a boil.

With the squash added

Drain squash from water and add to the pot. The coconut milk should cover the squash and pork. Simmer until squash is soft. Once the squash is done, turn off the heat and stir in most of the Thai basil leaves. Serve alone or with rice, garnish with remaining Thai basil.