Shrimp in Yellow Curry

Name: Shrimp in Yellow Curry
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: asian
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil; 1 cup minced onion; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; 1 tablespoon minced galangal or ginger; 1 teaspoon minced hot chili, or crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste; 1 tablespoon curry powder, or to taste; 1 cup fresh or canned coconut milk; 1 1/2 to 2 pounds medium-to-large shrimp, peeled; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons nam pla (fish sauce), or to taste; 1/4 cup minced cilantro or mint leaves

By Mark Bittman

Total Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 5(2,629)
Comments: Read comments

Many Thai dishes are not unlike what we call curries, but although they may contain curry powder, they are more often based on a combination of herbs and aromatic vegetables, rather than dried spices. A typical curry might feature a mixture of garlic, shallots, chiles, lime leaf, sugar and galangal (or ginger). This simplified version leaves out the lime leaf and sugar, but benefits from the addition of a couple spoonfuls of fish sauce at the end of cooking. It is brightly flavored, but blessedly easy to toss together on a weeknight.

Featured in: The Minimalist; The Essence Of Thai Cooking

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

2tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1cup minced onion
1tablespoon minced garlic
1tablespoon minced galangal or ginger
1teaspoon minced hot chili, or crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
1tablespoon curry powder, or to taste
1cup fresh or canned coconut milk
1½ to 2pounds medium-to-large shrimp, peeled
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2tablespoons nam pla (fish sauce), or to taste
¼cup minced cilantro or mint leaves

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Place the oil in a large, deep skillet and turn the heat to medium. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and chilies and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender and the mixture pasty. Add the curry and cook, stirring, another minute.
Step 2
Add the coconut milk and raise the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is nearly dry. Add the shrimp, a few pinches of salt and a little black pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp release their liquid (the mixture will become quite moist again) and turn pink.
Step 3
Add half the nam pla, stir, then taste and add the rest if necessary. Garnish with cilantro and serve with white or sticky rice.

Ratings

5 out of 5

2,629 user ratings

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Comments

kitya7 years ago

This is a recipe staple in our house. We've made it for years. The only things we do differently: add spinach in the last two minutes, and use double the coconut milk for more sauce.

Ray7 years ago

Even better if you sauté some red pepper slices with the rest and then add a generous handful of unsalted peanuts near the end, giving an Indonesian character to the dish.

StanF7 years ago

Another recipe from the early Minimalist cook books. We have it often. You can use chicken or pork instead of shrimp. We prefer the cilantro to mint but otherwise prepared as written it a satisfying main course served over rice (or not).

B. Wheeler5 months ago

Easy, delicious, and not time consuming.

coolbeans from VA6 months ago

Totally delicious! Used only 1 lb of shrimp for serving two, but didn’t decrease other ingredients. Used 3 T yellow curry paste instead of 1 T curry powder. Used full can (12 oz) of lite coconut milk. Served over rice and steamed snow peas. Sweet mango chutney was a nice condiment. Easy and very satisfying,

Heather6 months ago

This is good! I added sweet potato.

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