The Gift of Gaeng...

I was fortunate to be on Erik's karii list this Christmas and finally got around to using it.





He sent along two recipes and I decided to go with the kaeng karii hang wua (aromatic oxtail curry). However, when I went to the grocery store, the short rib options were better, so I went with those.

Pretty straightforward. Seared and then braised the ribs in my Le Creuset Dutch oven with some onion, garlic, peppercorns, ginger, and salt until wonderfully tender, about 3 hours. Removed and reserved the beef. Also strained, separated, and reserved the liquid, though I ended up not using it tonight.

Then set about making the sauce, adding coconut cream to my cleaned LC on medium. I doubled the cans so that I could make the sauce richer and thicker. After the fat separated, I added 2 T of Mae Ploy yellow curry, 1 T of Mae Ploy red curry and stirred those in. Then I added 1 T of Erik's powder. Whoa, what fragrance! Simmered that briefly, then grated in some palm sugar and let that dissolve. Then added in the fish sauce. Thinned that a little with coconut water and added back in the beef, tossed, and covered until warmed through.

Meanwhile, I made rice and steamed large chunks of carrot to match the bulky ribs. I checked seasoning and added the ribs and carrots to a platter and poured the sauce over the top.





It's not pretty, but it was easy and quite tasty. Since I make curry fairly often, I could tell how much his powder had added both in aroma and flavor. It definitely matched the beef well and the carrots added a nice sweetness that balanced the curry.

With such a rich dish, I needed something lighter to go with dinner, and something my wife would eat more of. Decided to make a modified version of a pomelo salad in Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. It's basically segmented pomelo, shredded (or mostly powdered, in this case) coconut, peanuts, mint, and greens. I used cabbage instead of bibb, because that's what I had, and changed some of the seasonings to my wife's liking. But otherwise it's close. She really liked it and it's freshness certainly worked. And since pomelos are in season, the citrus was really good.





Thanks Erik. I still have leftovers from dinner, plus left over powder. I'm looking forward to future creations.

Wow! Both dishes look delightful. As per friends bearing gifts of curry: you lucked out. Returning from her honeymoon in Thailand, a friend of mine bought me what she thought was a dry red curry blend. Nope, turns out its simply dried bird's eye chili flake. I use it in abundance anyway and it came in a neat woven container. Perhaps, not as cool as a test tube.

Another dish made with Erik's curry powder. I'm on a low-carb diet (see my blog), but this was quite tasty and very simple. Coconut milk has a surprisingly low amount of carbs.

It's broiled flank steak with yellow curry. I used 2 T of Mae Ploy yellow curry and 1 T of Erik's curry (man, it makes a difference) along with one can of coconut milk. Didn't need to flavor it with anything else except a little fish sauce at the end and I tossed some lime leaves in while it simmered just for a bright note. When the curry sauce mixed with the jus down below, it was quite good. As long as you stay away from noodles and rice, SE Asian cookery is quite good for the low-carber. All the wonderful salads, the curries, the stews, the soups, etc. (I know it's counter-cultural to avoid rice, but better than avoiding the cuisines all together.)

Used up the last of the curry powder, sadly. It had lost some of its aromatic potency, though once it hit the heat of the coconut cream, it certainly came to life.

This one was a bit more complicated in appearance, but not really that difficult. Simmered some coconut cream, added in some slices of fresh galangal and ginger, plus some bruised lemongrass, and a couple kaffir lime leaves. Once ready, I added in 2 parts yellow curry paste to 1 part special beef curry powder. Let that simmer a bit, added the coconut water and simmer that a little bit. I cubed up about a quarter of a pineapple. Then I removed the galangal et al and added in the pineapple. Let that simmer a little until the pineapple started releasing its flavor, then added in shimp with the shells on. Meanwhile, I broiled a flank steak. (Oh, and I made rice.) While the flank steak rested, I broiled some Lao sausage that a local Thai market makes. Finished the curry with fish sauce and lime juice to taste.

Service was as it appears, though it's a crappy picture and one of the pieces of flank steak had a vein and was a bit of a bleeder: rice topped with curry, pineapple, and shrimp. Flank steak and sausage on each side of the rice.

The friend I made it for really enjoyed it. He's nuts for Thai curries and has become rather picky. He thought there was a little too much pineapple, but otherwise thought it was up there with the best curries he's had. I really liked how the pineapple sweetened the curry a little while adding its unique flavor. Didn't need any sugar at all. And the sausage added a nice tangy/sour break in the flavors. The shimp tasted fantastic with the curry. Cooking them in the curry, the sauce got between the shell and the meat and the sweet meat and spicy curry went great together. I would have liked to stew some beef instead, but didn't have time.

Thanks again Erik.

I, too, was fortunate enough to receive a vial of phong karii samrap neau from Erik.

I closely followed the recipe he provided for kaeng karii hang wua (aromatic oxtail curry), except for the substitution of braised neck bones for the recommended oxtails. The curry powder gave the dish a very unique character. Delicious.

I'd like to visit TAC Quick to compare the version I made with the one described by Erik in THIS THREAD. That'll have to wait for my next trip to Chicago.

Thanks for the powder and recipes, Erik!

Scott

I miss that stuff!

I finally mustered up the time and inclination to follow one of Erik's recipes that accompanied the curry powder. (Easter weekend offers up a lot of peace and quiet for a Jewish guy). Saturday afternoon, I gathered up all the ingredients for the Aromatic Oxtail Curry (kaeng harii hang wua).

After a lot of baby-sitting and skimming the braising oxtails for about 3 hours, I got all my mies en place and started to heat the thick coconut milk.:


A few short minutes later, the curry sauce was in full effect. Ms. EC was roused from a late afternoon nap and said, "This place smells like a Thai restaurant".


The oxtails, carrots, and potato hit the pot for the home stretch:


And into a bowl for dinner:


The depth of flavor and color of the broth were beautiful, and the heat level was just perfect. Next time I might thin it a little more with some of the beef broth (I only used a couple tablespoons worth).

Thanks, Erik, for the powder and recipe. It was, as you said, familiar and comforting. Truly, a success.

Best,
Michael / EC

I put in my "order" for more of Erik's curry powder and got a couple treats along with it. One was a tablespoon or so of a Burmese-style curry powder. Erik suggested Thompson's recipe, so that's what I began with as a template.

I cubed some country style pork ribs, browned them in my Le Creuset, and meanwhile used a mortar and pestle to make a paste of garlic and ginger. I removed the browned meat, added in some more lard, and sauteed the paste until golden.

I then added back in the meat along with the curry powder and about the same amount or a little more red curry paste. Stirred that around to bring out the aroma.

Added in about a dozen peeled shallots and about the same number of halved heads of pickled garlic. Then poured in a little of the garlic brine. Added in some tamarind water, fish sauce, and palm sugar and put enough water in so that the meat was just a little less than covered. Added some slices of ginger and galangal brought it up to a simmer, covered it, and turned down the heat.

Left that on for about 1.5 hours until the pork was nice and tender. Uncovered it and turned it up a little to reduce the sauce. Put some rice on and some locally made Thai sausage in the oven.

Served the curry over the rice topped with crushed peanuts. Sliced the sausage and put it on the side. Had some fried pork skins on the side as well, which I crushed in my hand and served over the top of the curry also. Call it: Thai pork 3 ways.

I really enjoyed it, as did the friend I was making it for. Thought I might miss the coconut milk. Really thought my friend might as well. But we didn't. The nice sourness and flavor from the pickled garlic made for a very interesting flavor along with the unique spiciness of the powder sent by Erik. I'm going to have to bug my favorite northern Thai places to add such a curry.

I made ErikM’s oxtail curry last night, and the flavor was fabulous.

I have learned, however, that one must cook oxtails one helluva long time. I had purchased a few tails from Peoria on Saturday, had them cut into 1-2 inch sections, blanched them, and they took about 4 hours to get soft enough to eat (I was okay with them in a rougher state, but the delicate women I live with required less toothsome morsels).

I avoided the optional red curry paste (again, for the ladies), but added the yellow curry paste and ErikM’s curry powder, and the overall result was excellent. It also made my head glow; the sensation, after eating, was of sitting in the sun: not an unpleasant sensation at all, but I could feel my body temperature rising just a little, and the cool of slight perspiration.

Andy Rooney moment: Ever wonder why we still call oxtails oxtails? They cannot be the actual tails of oxen (castrated bulls) – must be cows, right?

David Hammond wrote:I have learned, however, that one must cook oxtails one helluva long time. I had purchased a few tails from Peoria on Saturday, had them cut into 1-2 inch sections, blanched them, and they took about 4 hours to get soft enough to eat

I braised them for just over 3 hours, but it probably wouldn't have hurt to take it closer to 3.5 or 4. This is the one step that prevents me from making this more often.

David Hammond wrote:Andy Rooney moment: Ever wonder why we still call oxtails oxtails? They cannot be the actual tails of oxen (castrated bulls) – must be cows, right?

Everything that I've read indicates that oxtails were once from oxen, but are now all beef. Why they haven't started calling them beeftails or cowtails is probably a matter of marketing?

Best,
Michael / EC

Since far more bull calves are castrated and sent to feedlots than heifer calves are sent to feedlots, the beef you buy is more likely to be from steers than heifers. An adult steer is an ox just as an adult heifer is a cow. IIRC a steer becomes an ox when it is four years old although some might apply the name to a three-year-old steer.

The term that really gets me is veal ox tails, though. Both Tony's and Cermak produce regularly carry them under that label.