Thai Food Adventure

I have never even tried making Thai food before last night I was intimidated by the level of complexity in the flavor of my favorite Thai dishes. I figured I'd need a bunch of hard to find ingredients and a lot of time. I was dead wrong. I found a Thai market close to my office that had everything I could ever need while cooking Thai food. Then, when researching Thai curry recipes, I discovered that cook time is quite minimal. All excellent things!

Fancypants' Thai Curry

1 can coconut milk
1 can water
3 tbsp. curry paste (I used a mix of Thai red curry paste and another one)
1 onion, chopped
1 nub ginger, peeled and chopped
1 nub ginger-like root (I can't remember the name offhand), peeled and chopped
3-4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 red bell pepper
1 yam, peeled and cubed
1 Japanese eggplant, chopped
2-3 dried red chilies
dried black mushrooms
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped into quarters
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp peanut sauce
Thai Basil - a few sprigs, chopped
Lemon Basil, a few sprigs, chopped
Green onions, 3-4, chopped
dash white pepper

Heat oil in a large dutch oven. Add onions, garlic, ginger and other root to pan and saute 5 minutes. Add yam and curry pastes. Stir to combine. Add the other ingredients and stir. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes or until yam is cooked through. Serve over brown rice or jasmine rice.