Seafood Curry

I'm so happy that my 2 sons have acquired the taste for spicy food :-) It definitely widens the scope of our gastronomic adventures. I remember 2 years ago, Tita N. came and we took her to a Thai restaurant. Son #1 was 8 at that time and Son #2 was 6. So while the adults enjoyed our pad thai and curries, we had to buy pizza for the boys. It's a good thing the restaurant was so accommodating!

But now, they actually request that I make our food even spicier! Today, we had dimsum for lunch and they put chili oil in their soy sauce. Yes, I have made them into spicy food fiends. Success!!!

So while this curry might be a tad hot for some people, our family enjoys this level of heat.

Yellow Seafood Curry

300 grams peeled black tiger prawns or large shrimp
300 grams squid or cuttlefish, cleaned and cut into 2 inch squares (I used frozen ready to cook, that's why it looks so fancy)
2 cups snow peas, topped and tailed
8-10 stalk chinese broccoli, cut into manageable pieces
6 slices ginger
3-4 kaffir lime leaves
1 small onion, quartered
1 can coconut milk
3 tbsp. yellow curry powder
1 tbsp. shrimp paste
1/2 tsp. sugar

1. In a pot, put the coconut milk, onion, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, sugar, shrimp paste and curry powder. Simmer over low heat for about 7-10 minutes.
2. Once the coconut has thickened slightly and has given off some oil, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for a few minutes more. It won't take long because the seafood and the veggies need only a few minutes to cook. The squid, particularly, will become tough if cooked for more than a few minutes.

Just some notes. The saltiness of shrimp paste varies greatly with brand and country of origin. I used to use belacan, but I've now gone back to Filipino bagoong (I always use the Barrio Fiesta brand). It's gentler and less smelly and has that sweet-salty balance that I like. Also, belacan needs to be sauteed before using, which adds another step. If you don't have shrimp paste, fish sauce is an ok substitute but it doesn't have the depth of flavor that shrimp paste has. My suggestion is to taste the coconut milk before adding the seafood and veggies so you can adjust your seasoning then.

You can use any combination of protein and vegetables for this curry. I've made this with chicken and will try it with beef next time. Mushrooms work very well and so does broccoli. I just tend to use whatever I have on hand :-)