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Fresh Green Curry Sauce

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Fresh Green Curry Sauce

  • make ahead MAKE-AHEAD
ACTIVE TIME: 20 MIN
TOTAL TIME: 40 MIN
MAKES 2 1/2 CUPS
On Vongerichten's most recent trip to Bangkok, he ate at a small restaurant where the waitress set out bowls of curry sauces alongside platters of cut-up raw vegetables, herbs and rice noodles. (You could also serve chicken or fish.) Customers assembled their own meals. At home, Vongerichten now offers several curries at the same time because he likes the balance of sweet, spicy and herbal flavors.
ingredients
  • 2 cups packed chopped cilantro leaves and stems
  • 3 green Thai chiles, thinly sliced
  • 1 ounce fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced (3 tablespoons)
  • 2 stalks of fresh lemongrass, tender inner cores only, thinly sliced crosswise
  • 1 garlic clove, smashed
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 cup water
  • One 13 1/2-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth
  • Salt
directions
  1. In a food processor, combine the cilantro, chiles, ginger, lemongrass, garlic, coriander, cumin and water and process to a fine paste.
  2. In a medium saucepan, combine the coconut milk, chicken stock and the spice paste and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Season with salt.

NOTES Beer Wine is a tough match for these spicy curries, but cold beer is ideal. Lager beers tend to be light in color, brisk and moderately hoppy (the floral-bitter character imparted to beer from the flowers of the hop vine, used in brewing). Kingfisher, from India, is a classic with curries; Yuengling Traditional Lager, from Pennsylvania, is another good choice.

Recipe by Jean-Georges Vongerichten
From Jean-Georges Brings Thailand Home
This recipe originally appeared in September, 2005.