I saw Eric Ripert make this fried rice on Avec Eric about a year ago. It was inspired by his time spent in the Cayman Islands, and it looked quite unique. I've only ever made variations on traditional fried rice, with the classic flavors and ingrdients. Using fruit in such a dish was not something that had ever occured to me. I made a mental note to find the recipe and give it a try. However, as is the case with so many of my mental notes, it disappeared into the ether. After finally picking up (as a birthday present for myself) and reading Avec Eric, my mental note was refreshed. So I decided to make this recipe my first blog entry.
Shrimp in Coconut Curry Sauce
From Avec Eric
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 shallot
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 stalk lemongrass, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
1 teaspoon Madras curry powder
½ cup chicken stock
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1½ pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
¼ cup fresh lime juice
½ cup fresh basil, julienned
Heat the canola oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot, garlic, lemongrass and ginger and sauté until softened. Add the Thai curry paste and curry powder and stir to combine. Add the chicken stock and simmer for about 10 minutes, until lightly reduced. Add the coconut milk and simmer for 5 more minutes for the flavors to come together. Remove the curry sauce from the heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into another saucepan.
Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and add the shrimp to the curry sauce. Bring the curry sauce to a simmer and cook just until the shrimp start to turn opaque, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice to taste. Divide the curry among 4 bowls, then garnish with the basil and serve immediately.
Caribbean Fried Rice
From Avec Eric
1½ cups uncooked basmati rice
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons sliced scallions
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
½ cup diced apple
¼ cup diced banana
¼ cup diced pitted peeled mango
¼ cup golden raisins
¼ cup sliced almonds
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- cilantro chiffonade, for garnish
Rinse and drain the basmati rice. Place the rice in a small saucepan with 2½ cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring the rice to a boiil over high heat, then lower the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes, or until most of the water has been absorbed. Place a tight fitting lid on the pan, then remove the pan from the heat and let sit for another 10 minutes or until all the water is absorbed and the rice is tender. Spread the rice out on a sheet pan and chill.
Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick sauté pan over high heat. Add the scallions, jalapeño and ginger and very quickly toss until fragrant. Add 2½ cups of the chilled cooked rice, apple, banana, mango, raisins and almonds and season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne.
Transfer the fried rice to a platter. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
A few notes. I can never seem to find Madras curry powder, so I always substitute standard curry powder from Central Market. I should probably give the local spice shop another try. The pseudo-grudge I've held against them for ignoring my order for Piment d'Espelette has gone on long enough, perhaps. Also, both markets I went to were out of basil. In the middle of summer? Bizarre. I made due without, instead finishing the entire dish with the cilantro chiffonade from the fried rice.
I used my Kyocera mandoline to thinly slice the aromatics. I highly recommend this kitchen tool, it makes short work of what could be otherwise arduous prep, it's easy to clean, and isn't unwieldy like some other larger mandolines.
The dish was a success, and was beatifully complimented by the suggested wine pairing. The curry sauce was the star of the dish. Despite the presence of full-fat coconut milk, the sauce was light, yet intensely flavored, thanks to the lime juice. Poaching the shrimp in the sauce was a rather straightforward, yet very effective technique for imparting the wonderful curry flavor into the shrimp. I need to incorporate this technique into more of my cooking, I have a tendency to think of dishes as individual components that are cooked separately and brought together at the final plating.
The fried rice was everything I hoped it would be. Sweet and spicy, with the flavors of the Caribbean. I ended up using somewhere slightly under ¼ teaspoon of cayenne, which was just right for my palate.
Simply wonderful, and a perfect match to the curried shrimp. I'm sure he doesn't need this endorsement from me, but every time I make one of Ripert's recipes, I'm always struck by how balanced it is. Nothing is out of place; each ingredient complimenting the next.
As a closing note, I just wanted to thank Smitten Kitchen, Skillet Doux, and Ideas in Food. Reading those blogs helped me organize my thoughts, and provided me with the inspiration to start my own blog. I'm mostly using this blog to track my thoughts on food and what recipes I have prepared, but over time I hope it results more and more in the creation of my own original recipes. Nonetheless, in this initial stage, as I struggle with photography and composition, I aspire to their lofty heights.
Comments