Category: Regional Classics

Thai Red Curry. Beef Brisket

Either make the curry paste yourself, or buy a ready-made pack from a local Southeast Asian market — there’s no shame in that! The paste itself typically already includes lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves so there’s no need to add any more, but this recipe includes it just because they’re such fun ingredients to work with! Each curry pack is different in saltiness and heat, so it’s a good idea to add seasoning and additional chilis only towards the end. Coconut milk helps balance the heat and bring the edge off what is otherwise a very heady dish.

Serves 4

Time: 🕰🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

1 catty beef brisket, around 600g
1 pack red curry paste from any Southeast Asian market
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 stalk lemongrass (optional)
3 slices galangal (optional)
6 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
4 tablespoons of coconut milk or cream
Water
Vegetables of choice, such as okra, tofu, Thai eggplant

Method:

1. Cut beef brisket into large chunks
2. Heat oil in a large, heavy-base pan
3. Brown brisket on all sides
4. Very lightly season to give the meat a base flavou
5. Set aside the meat
6. Add curry paste to the oil and stir-fry until fragrant
7. Return beef to the pan and cover with water
8. Add lemongrass (bruised with back of knife), kaffir lime leaves, and galangal slices, if using
9. Bring water to the boil
10. Lower flame and simmer for 2 hours, or until brisket is tender
11. 15 minutes before serving, check seasoning and heat
12. Add vegetables of choice and additional salt and chilis if needed
13. Stir in coconut milk or milk and simmer for a few more minutes
14. Serve with warm rice

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our Prawn Curry Laksa

Serves 2

Time: 🕰🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

Fresh egg noodles (油麵) from market
Fried tofu (豆卜) from market
8 frozen prawns
Prawn stock
Chicken stock
2 tablespoon turmeric
3 tablespoon coconut milk

For laksa paste:

Thick slice belacan from CitySuper (HKD13 only)
Small chunk ginger
3 garlic cloves
6 shallots
6 chilis
4 almonds or peanuts
3 teaspoon oil
Small handful dried shrimp

Method:

To make prawn stock (can prepare ahead of time):

1. Gather unused prawn shells and heads from previous dishes (such as Italian seafood stew)
2. Stir-fry in oil until fragrant
3. Add water and simmer for around 30 minutes

To make chicken stock (can prepare ahead of time):

1. Gather unused chicken bones or any other low-value chicken cut
2. Cover with cold water
3. Add coriander stalks
4. Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes, removing any impurities on the surface with a spoon

To make laksa paste (can prepare ahead of time):

1. Peel shallots; leave garlic and ginger unpeeled
2. Remove chili tops
3. Blend all ingredients until smooth
4. Toast in frying pan until fragrant

To assemble the dish:

1. Prepare a pot of hot laksa broth by combining coconut milk and equal amounts of prawn and chicken broth, and bring to a slow boil
2. Add a spoon of laksa paste to each serving bowl
3. Top up with a tablespoon of tumeric into each bowl
4. Add a ladle of laksa broth into each bowl and mix with the paste to form the soup base
5. In the laksa broth, blanch prawns until cooked
6. Add fried tofu to the laksa broth and cook for another 30 seconds
7. Remove tofu and prawns from broth; set aside
8. Cook noodles in broth until warmed through, around 1 minute
9. Transfer noodles into serving bowls
10. Arrange prawns and tofu on top
11. Ladle hot soup over everything
12. Add a spoonful of laksa paste into each bowl
12. Garnish with coriander leaves
13. Serve immediately

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Our Spanakopita with leftover greens

Note: traditionally, as the name implies, spanakopita is made with spinach. However, the spirit of the dish lives on through other greens as well. In the spirit of Nat & E Homecooking, we use what’s readily available in our fridge and our neighbourhood. This time: baby spinach, spring onions, beet leaves, chard, Shanghai pak choi (小棠菜), coriander, and onion⠀

Serves 4

Time: 🕰🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

Half a pack of filo pastry
100g feta cheese
1 egg
Roughly 500-750g of green vegetables
1 garlic clove
Dill
1 squeeze of lemon juice
A dash of ground nutmeg (optional)
Olive oil

Method:

1. Half a day before, take filo pastry out of the freezer to thaw
2. Rummage fridge for leftover greens; wash
3. If using, first wilt the spinach in the pan with a sprinkle of salt, in order to release the water within
4. Once wilted, run spinach through cold water to pause its cooking
5. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible with your hands by pressing through a sieve or muslin cloth
6. Chop rest of the vegetables into even-sized chunks
7. Transfer all vegetables, including the spinach, into a mixing bowl
7. Add feta cheese, egg, dill, and nutmeg
8. Mix well with your hands
9. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and lemon juice as needed
10. Finish with a turn of black pepper
11. Preheat oven to 200’c
11. Rub the bottom and sides of a roasting tray with olive oil
12. To assemble the pie, lay one layer of filo onto the baking tray (with lots of overhang), then brush with a little olive oil (or just use your fingers)
14. Repeat until two-thirds of the layers are used up – around 8 layers
15. Spoon in the fillings
16. Repeat with around 6 more layers, until you can just about still see the greens underneath
17. Fold the overhang inwards to form the signature crumple
18. Sprinkle with one last layer of olive oil
19. Cut into desired slices
20. Bake for 30–40 minutes, until golden brown
21. Serve hot, or as a cold picnic snack the next day

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