A New Year Has Begun

The paste coming together

I suppose I'm supposed to say something about the 'new year', about the passing of time, and how it's only faster as one gets older, how fast the world moves these days, and whatnot.  Well, it's all true, what they've been saying.  It's fast. It's interminably slow in situations that you wish would end, and the cumulative effect of time, regardless, is of speed.  It does fly by the older you get, and having children speeds it up exponentially.  My three year old has perhaps had the experience which will be, for his life, his first memory. If he hasn't, it's just around the bend.  In my experience, we've spent HOURS AND HOURS he and I, waiting to feel him kick in my belly, then waiting for him to be still in my belly so I could sleep, waiting for labor to start for real, so he could be born and I could MEET him face to face.  Waiting for him to sleep, wishing he'd sleep, peering over him while he slept in awe of his eyelashes and lips.  Hours upon hours of fussing over teeth and learning to crawl and who knows what.  Clapping when he learned his first word, getting him to repeat it to friends and grandparents and strangers, who couldn't have understood a thing if we hadn't translated.  His first crocus, first swim in the lake, first falling leaf, first snow.  None of which he remembers. All of which I cherished as much as my human self could, and is now fading into the blur that is parenting young children in a very fast paced world.  He doesn't remember, and I'm constantly forgetting.  I'm guessing the only hope for us is to be present while we're here.  I think breathing fresh air together helps, and getting lost in stories, and surrounding ourselves with good smells.

My husband made this curry once while we were away, cooking for himself in an otherwise empty house.  I love the image (though not too often!).   He said it turned out "okay" but he cut some corners and learned a little.  Mind you  the corners that he cut were using tofu rather than beef, and water rather than stock.  I can see my way to the tofu fine, but without a good strong vegetable stock, or even fish or chicken, one is sure to be lost.  Oh well, it was about the curry paste for him at that point, which is a fine thing to be all about.

We made it again just the other night.  We used beef and a good strong beef stock.  It still didn't turn out great.  We ate it, nothing to complain about, but it tasted like a little bit spicy beef stew, not like the strong-wind-from-another-land thai curry we hoped it would taste like.

The thing is, it smelled amazing.  Really.  I left the house at one point while it was simmering, and when I came back in I was hit with its pungency.  So, it is with hope that I give you this recipe, and with the confidence that even if it doesn't taste amazing, it will make your house smell like a memory being made.  And I do think you'll remember it.

From Bon Appetit, Jan. '12, with our substitutions, for better or for worse (duly noted):
The curry paste:                                          
they say to use....                                                               we used.........
3 dried guajillo peppers                                                       3 dreid pasilla peppers
1/2 tsp. kosher salt                                                              salt
1 lemongrass stalk, bottom 4"                                              no lemongrass (forgot to buy it)
2 tbsp. galangal                                                                   2 tbsp. fresh ginger, frozen
2 tbsp. fresh tumeric                                                            some powdered tumeric
1/2 c. chopped shallots                                                        shallots
1/4 c. halved garlic cloves                                                   garlic
1 tbsp. thai shrimp paste                                                      fish sauce (added to broth)

I believe the above discrepancies are where the problems lie: the kind of peppers, lack of lemongrass, and lack of shrimp paste.

Start with the peppers and a pinch of salt  in a mortar and pestle, and grind, adding the next ingredients one at a time.  It should take about 15 min. at least.   Enjoy this part - it smells good.

Grinding Chili's

Cut 2 lbs. of beef into cubes, and add to dutch oven with curry paste, ground thai chilies (2 tbs) and soy sauce (3 tbs).  Coat the beef with the sauce, and stir occasionally while it browns and the paste blooms, 5 min.  Add stock to cover by an inch or so and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cover, for 2 plus hours.  Add chopped carrots, quartered shallots and kaffir lime leaves and simmer for another 15 min.  (We also did not have the lime leaves, but you can find them in the 'Asian vegetable' section of the supermarket, and keep them in the freezer.  We used quarters of limes).

Sauteing the beef in the paste and soy sauce.

The Curry ready to simmer