The king of southeast Asian red curry dishes. Serve with a side of Thai-style stir-fried vegetables and white rice.
The ideal cooking vessel for this is a slow cooker with a removable pot for browning on the stove.
Makes 4–6 portions.
Requires about half an hour of preparation, plus 2-3 hours of unattended cooking.
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds of beef loin flap or beef chuck or shoulder. Buy the meat in large cuts, not bite-size pieces for stew. Trim the beef to large chunks approximately 1.5 inches square or larger, much larger than normal stew chunks.
1/2 cup of onions, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons of chopped garlic
3 tablespoons of red curry paste (Mae Ploy brand, or other)
2 tablespoons of tamarind concentrate or paste
1 13.5 oz. can of coconut milk
1 large whole jalapeno pepper, roughly chopped
Soy sauce
Peanut oil
Salt and pepper to taste
PROCESS
Add 3–4 tablespoons of peanut oil to the pan and brown the beef at high heat until the corners and sides of the beef are well-browned. As the beef gets hot, add the onions to brown with the beef. Sprinkle on some soy sauce to aid the browning.
When the beef and onions are browned, add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and stir well.
If you have a slow cooker, add the beef and sauce mix to the slow cooker pot and simmer on high setting for about 2-3 hours, or until the beef chunks cut easily with a fork and are very tender.
If you have a Dutch oven or covered casserole pot you could put the pot in the oven at 200°F for 1.5 hours or so. Check the beef after 1.5 hours. The beef chunks should be very tender and easily cut with a fork. If the beef is not very tender, give it another 30–60 minutes.
Patrick Lynch 