Keep Calm and Curry On!

     Here in Vegas, there is a very renowned restaurant called “Lotus of Siam.” It’s not in the greatest part of town, it’s in the middle of a shopping center, and you wouldn’t take a second look at it if someone hadn’t passed along their secret. Inside that tiny restaurant, they make an amazing curry. Technically, multiple amazing curries, as well as lots of other delicious dishes. A woman and her daughter run the restaurant, and your order is served in a covered dish where you scoop hot rice from a rice cooker onto your plate and then pour your curry over it at the table. The walls are lined with signed celebrity photos of all the stars that have made a trip to their restaurant.

     I have made the trip there with friends and co-workers several times, and without fail, I spend the next month or so obsessed with ingredients that will get me those Thai flavors. This dish is so comforting and so delicious. It can be made with beef, chicken or shrimp and the sauce has that perfect balance of red curry and coconut milk. That sweet and salty balance is perfect over rice, and the addition of veggies and salted cashews pushes this over the edge. I think I could eat it every day.

     Before sharing the recipe, I must stress that curry powder cannot be substituted for Thai red curry paste. Curry powder is used in Indian curry, while red curry paste is a Thai curry. Indian curry has a sweet, slightly cinnamon-y flavor, while Thai curry has a salty-nutty flavor. It is my favorite curry by far. Now that we have cleared that up:

Ingredients:

1 lb. thinly sliced sirloin (or chicken or shrimp)

2 tbsp. canola oil

14 oz. can coconut milk

1 tbsp. red curry paste

2 tbsp. brown sugar

2 tbsp. soy sauce

8 cups chopped bok choy

1 sliced red bell pepper

½ cup salted cashews

½ cup chopped cilantro

Cooked rice

Steps:

1.     In skillet, sauté beef in 1 tbsp. oil until browned. Set aside.

2.     Spoon ½ cup cream from top of coconut milk and place in pan. Add remaining oil and bring to a boil. Add curry paste; cook and stir 5 minutes or until oil separates.

3.     Stir in brown sugar, soy sauce, and remaining coconut milk. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 5 minutes until thickened. Add bok choy and red pepper. Cook and stir 2-3 minutes until vegetables are tender. Stir in cashews, cilantro and beef. Heat through and serve over rice.