I always love to order panang curry when I go to Thai restaurants. It has a slightly bolder flavor than the red, green or yellow curry dishes and is so tasty when paired with coconut milk. I once stumbled across a recipe for it online and I realized that just like making red or green curry it all begins with the paste.
Spicy Thai basil beef is always one of our favorite dishes to get when we go out for Thai food and this was the first time that I have tried to make it. It turned out to be pretty easy and was really good, and since it was made at home, the portion was much bigger and cheaper than you would ever get out at a restaurant.
These are the veggies that were used and that is Thai basil. I sauteed them in their own pan to begin with in sesame oil. I started these up, minus the basil and had them going while I got started on the beef.
For the beef, I used flank steak which is not the usual type of cut that you would use for a dish like this. Usually, a cheaper cut like top round would be used, but the flank was amazing! We were so glad that I used flank because it was so much more flavorful and more importantly, it was so much more tender. Sometimes the beef can be the weak spot in this dish, but with the flank it was the highlight.
Cut into thin bite sized strips
I got another pan with sesame oil heated up and lightly coated the beef in cornstarch and pan fried it for a few minutes. This was the first time that I had ever used cornstarch and the consistency of the cornstarch itself freaked me out a little bit! It was like finely powdered styrofoam the way it would grind against whatever it touched.
Once the beef was just about fully cooked, I added it to the vegetables and added the Thai basil also.
It was close to done at this point. Fish sauce and beef broth were added and allowed to simmer and thicken for a few minutes. It was served over brown rice that was cooked in a half and half mixture of water and beef broth.
It was excellent and I even got a “one of the best things you have made in a while” quote! I can’t emphasize how easy it was to make what would seem like a more complex dish.
Recipe for Spicy Thai Basil Beef
Greg
Posted in Beef
Tagged Beef, beef broth, cornstarch, fish sauce, garlic, Green onion, jalapeno, peppers, restaurant favorite, spicy thai beef, Thai, Thai Basil
When we made the pork and peach spring rolls we also made a delicious peanut sauce to dip the spring rolls in. I intentionally made a lot of the sauce because it is that good and I knew I would want to use it in another dish. Alas, here is what I came up with! The peanut sauce was made in advance and stored for about 2-3 days before I made this.
I started off with some onion, which I sauteed in some toasted sesame oil. I kept the onion pieces pretty big as you can see- I guess they were technically quarters. Typically I add my aromatics (garlic, ginger, etc) once the onions cook for a few minutes, however, this step was not needed here because the peanut sauce already includes these ingredients.
Next, I added some carrots.
And then some spinach.
Time for the peanut sauce! I thinned it out using some chicken broth.
I blanched some broccoli and then added it to the mix.
For my protein I used skirt steak. I went to Whole Foods for lunch and they were giving out samples of their skirt steaks, which were also on sale. One bite and I was sold. It worked really well in this dish too!
I seasoned it with a little salt and pepper and grilled it. When it was ready I sliced it up and threw it in with the veggies and sauce. This dish really came together nicely- I give a lot of credit to the peanut sauce. As I mentioned it packed a ton of flavor, so for this dish it was really just a matter of putting it all together.
I wanted a more broth like sauce, so I thinned it out to my liking, but you can easily adjust this depending on your taste. I ate it as is, but I am sure it would be great over rice or some thin rice noodles. It was also great leftover.
And this was going on while I was cooking! So starving!
All in all, I thought this came out great. See our post about the spring rolls for the link to the peanut sauce recipe!
– Eileen
Posted in Beef
Tagged Asian, Beef, good leftovers, homemade, low carb, one pan, Peanut sauce, sesame oil, skirt steak, stir fry, Thai, vegetables
Wahoo! A day off! It’s always great to have Monday off. First you get a long weekend and then you face a short work week when you get back on Tuesday. It’s also really nice when on the day you have off it is almost 60 degrees outside! I got in a nice long run, did some pilates, and then hit the supermarket for tonight’s dinner: Red Coconut Curry with Shrimp and Vegetables. I was actually the visionary behind this one, but got some assistance from Greg because he is an excellent shrimp cooker. I also have to give credit to Thai Kitchen for creating and selling this curry paste. This took a lot of the trickery out of creating our own curry, which we lack the skills, knowledge and time for.
I started off by chopping the veggies:
On the cutting board: carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, onion, ginger, and garlic. To the left of the cutting board: water chestnuts and bamboo shoots.
I sauteed the onion, garlic, ginger and mushrooms in a combination of chili oil and sesame oil until they were softened. I then added the coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce and brown sugar as the recipe on the jar suggested.
Once that got nice and hot I added the broccoli and carrot and let it simmer for about ten minutes.
I then added the water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and shrimp. The shrimp do not need long to cook before they turn pink. Once they do turn pink, they are done!
This is great served over rice or by itself.
Topped with some fresh green onions and basil
Posted in Seafood
Tagged coconut milk, curry, dinner ideas, low carb, seafood, shrimp, Thai
Starving Kitten 