Last week I flipped through the Williams-Sonoma cookbook Family Meals: Creating Traditions in the Kitchen by Maria Helm Sinskey and flagged a few recipes: crispy cornmeal fish, chicken potpie, braised beef stew, and chicken coconut curry. When I ran them by my husband, Bryan, he voted for the curry before I could even describe it to him. (Okay, I get it. Enough with the wintry comfort food.) I was leaning toward it, too, because even though I love Thai food, I've never made anything even close to it.
The most laborious part of preparing the curry was shopping for it, because I'd never bought fish sauce or lemongrass before, and I don't generally keep ginger, fresh basil, mushrooms, or limes on hand. (I also gave up on finding Kaffir lime leaves in my neighborhood.) But once I'd chopped and grated and sliced everything, it was shockingly easy and a joy to use some new and exciting ingredients. After throwing everything in a saucepan and letting it simmer for 25 minutes or so, I served the chicken on a mix of brown and jasmine rice, with plenty of the creamy coconut sauce spooned on top.
Bryan and I marveled at how flavorful it was (I squeezed in extra lime juice for some brightness), and how much lighter and healthier it tasted than our usual Thai takeout. Alex and Ben (3 years old and 18 months old, respectively) gobbled it up, too. Next time, I'll add some snow peas or red peppers, and maybe use two pans, so I can add sliced Serrano chiles to the adults' portions.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4 to 6 | Total time: 45 minutes
- 1 small yellow onion
- 2 lemongrass stalks
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 heaping tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 14.5-ounce can coconut milk
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 to 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 Kaffir lime leaves (optional)
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup thinly sliced white mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- Peel and thinly slice the onion. Trim the lemongrass to the white bulb only, then cut each bulb in half lengthwise and crush the pieces with the side of your knife.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion, lemongrass, ginger, and garlic, and sauté until the garlic is golden, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the cumin and brown sugar (and, if you want spicy curry, add chiles to taste), and let everything cook until the sugar bubbles, about 30 seconds. Add the coconut milk, broth, fish sauce, and lime leaves (if using), and bring the liquid to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low, and let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes to blend the flavors.
- Add the chicken, basil, mushrooms, and lime juice, and let everything simmer until the chicken is opaque, about 10 minutes longer.
- Remove and discard the lemongrass stalks and lime leaves. Serve right away.
