Thai yellow beef curry

From Foods of the World: Pacific and Southeast Asian Cooking

Last night we made the red curry and tonight was for the yellow curry! This recipe did not call for any fishy ingredients, so we were able to pull off the recipe nearly as printed in the cookbook. We opted for the far-easier canned coconut milk than 'squeezing' it ourselves.

Ron has already posted this recipe, but I'll repeat it here since we followed it very closely - and I'll change it to reflect the canned coconut milk.

Kaeng Kari Nua Yellow beef curry To serve 4 to 6: 3 cups canned coconut milk (2 cans) 2 tablespoons red curry paste 2 teaspoons turmeric 2 star anise A 2-inch piece of stick cinnamon 2 medium-sized bay leaves 1.5 pounds lean chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch cubes 3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes 3 medium-sized onions, cut lengthwise into quarters and then crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices Skim the heavy cream off the top of the canned coconut milk - about 1 cup - and transfer it to a heavy 3- or 4-quart saucepan. Set the remaining coconut milk aside. Stirring frequently, bring the top milk to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and, stirring occasionally, simmer uncovered until coconut oil begins to bubble to the surface and the liquid has been reduced to about 1/4 cup. Add the curry paste and turmeric, and cook briskly, still stirring, until most of the liquid in the pan has evaporated. Stir in the star anise, cinnamon and bay leaves, then add the beef and turn it about with a spoon until it is evenly-coated with the spice mixture. Add the potatoes, onions, and the reserved coconut milk. Stirring occasionally and regulating the heat so that the sauce does not boil rapidly, cook partially covered for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the meat and potatoes are tender but still intact. Taste for seasoning and serve from a deep, heated platter or large bowl. Kaeng kari nua is traditionally accompanied by hot, boiled rice.

Here's the ingredients we used:



The curry paste (lower left of the left hand spice bowl) was made from the recipe posted here but with the omission of shrimp paste. You can see more about making it in the post about the red curry. Unfortunately, the recipe was supposed to make 8 tablespoons and we needed 3 for the recipes we planned. We had just under 3 so this dish got skimped a tiny bit on the curry paste.

The beef was from a cut called "Seven Steaks" which I thought had a bone in it but never came across one! I looked it up and sure enough its name comes from the shape of the bone. I'm not sure if this was incorrectly labeled or what.

My husband was out mowing the lawn during cooking (it got to 85F today!) so I had to keep the toddler entertained. Good thing she loves to help 'chop'!



So, on to the recipe. I skimmed the top milk and set it to simmering, knowing it would take somewhere around 30 minutes from the previous recipe we followed.



I wish the recipe had said it would take this long - I like to be able to judge how long something will take to make. If a step doesn't include a time, I figure it has to be less than 10 minutes. So keep in mind that this is going to take some time here! After 45 minutes, the oil was just barely seeping around from the mass of coconut solids. I must have been better about skimming this time and there was VERY little liquid.



Add the curry paste and turmeric...and this is why it's called yellow curry!



After mixing that in and cooking just a bit longer to give the herbs and spices time to become fragrant:



Then add the whole spices, beef, potatoes, onions and reserved coconut milk. I had been eyeballing the heap of ingredients and wondering if my 3 quart pot was really going to fit it all. I had started the coconut milk reduction before chopping all the ingredients, so I hadn't realized just how much there was going to be and the recipe said 3 to 4 quart pot. Well, sure enough, it was full to nearly overflowing!



Quick switch to a 4 quart pot, which I considered JUST big enough to hold it. Something bigger would have probably been better. I simmered for 45 minutes before I thought the potatoes were done and added a LOT of salt. I didn't measure, but I'm guessing nearly a tablespoon!



Finally, it was done and we served it simply with plain hot rice.



It was quite good. I liked the additional ingredients of onion and potatoes from the red curry. This sauce was much more subtle though. I'm not sure if it's because we had to skimp on the curry paste or if the potatoes and meat just sucked up a bunch of the flavor. But it wasn't as strong at all. I'd love to try this again with more curry paste...and something other than beef. This was only my second dish of 'chunks' of beef (the first was kalio) and I didn't really care for it. The beef in the kalio was practically falling apart and this stuff was chewy. Might have just been the cut though.

All in all, a great meal and certainly worth playing with again!