Thai Prawn & Pineapple Curry
Sometimes, somehow, I manage to forget to eat a whole cuisine for months on end. Then a moment of realisation and craving comes on, like today, when I saw the pineapple sat splendidly spiky and proud next to the fruit bowl and thought, I want to eat that with prawns…in a curry…and make it Thai.
I resolved to mission it down to Peckham’s Asian supermarket after work no matter what, although I wasn’t quite prepared for the apocalyptic weather conditions that I would find myself braving. At first, the rain was fairly heavy, but I just pushed on through with soaked trousers, wet and grimy London-flip-flop-feet and the hair do of a drowned rat. And then…whoa! We have the most incredible thunderstorm. It was completely exhilarating. At first. And then, well, I had to seek shelter. The thunder was spectacular, deafening, so loud it sounded like something had struck the ground – it raised screams from ladies in the street (myself included).
I scurried under the nearest shop awning and once I’d shaken myself off and got my bearings I became aware of the sick beats pumping from the shop behind me and turned to see people dancing within. Talk about a feel good moment. This is why I love Peckham – it’s so alive. The longer I live here, the more proud I am to call it my home.
When the rain eased off I dashed for the supermarket and made it, just in time. Little did I know I would be stranded again for the next half an hour, huddling into a pile of durian for shelter and cursing my Iphone camera for not capturing the awesomeness of the plummeting hail. I got soaked to the skin for this curry so I’m pleased to say it was worth it. I used this recipe (link to the curry paste is included), which is perfectly balanced – spicy, salty, sweet and sour with deep and complex flavours. It is perfumed and fragrant and Chris rather eloquently remarked he thought he might ‘drown in his own saliva’. That was a compliment. The rain eased off just long enough for me to nip outside and take these pictures and then we curled up on the sofa, windows thrown open for dramatic effect, slurping at our two big bowls of sunshine.
Category: Curry, Fish, Fruit, Main Dishes, Thai 20 comments »
July 9th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
This looks superb! I love pineapple in curry! So tasty!
July 9th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I must say – don’t shoot me – I’ve never eaten pineapple cooked or semi-cooked and really enjoyed it. I still shudder at the thought of putting it on pizza. But this does look really fresh and lively, and I should definitely give it a shot.
July 9th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I am surprised Chris did not mention it was one of my signature dishes, in fact it is what he requested on his first day of visiting at christmas. The first time I made it, must be at least 15 years ago I made the paste from scratch but now I use a jar and cheat. My recipe uses white fish as well as prawns, coconut milk, pineapple and fish sauce, got to say yours looks damned good, I once served it in the pineapple shell.
July 9th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I have to say this looks great! Lovely colours, and looks well-balanced.
So it’s a bummer I’m off seafood at the moment – had a very nasty bout of food poisoning while on hols. The culprit meal – oysters to start, followed by mussels…
July 9th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Beautiful! I too haven’t cooked thai in far too long. I haven’t thought about using pineapple in a curry but this looks great. I love pineapple, I eat it every day.
July 10th, 2009 at 10:45 am
The Curious Cat – I can confirm that it was indeed a lip smacker.
Ollie – I had the gun out the other day as well and I was thinking she needs a work out
powerfulpierre – He did! Sorry I didn’t mention it.
aforkfulofspaghetti – sorry to hear about your food poisoning hell. Naughty shellfish. I do hope you can face them again soon – no-one should live without oysters..or mussels…or prawns…
Lizzie – for breakfast!
July 10th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Helen your adding of pineapple reminds me of this funny story my biomolecular tutor told me. Back in her student days, one of her housemates decided to cook a pork curry with pineapple. So with the pork already in the curry sauce on simmer, this guy chopped up an entire pineapple and chucked it in. Next thing he knew, all the pork had disappeared! Apparently pineapple contains an enzyme called caspase which breaks down amino acids. While the enzymes are deactivated by heat, the fact that he dropped the whole (cold) pineapple in all at once meant that the temperature in the pot dropped significantly… But of course being a scientist you know that already!
p/s back to your actual curry… it looks lovely….
and im hungry
July 10th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Genuineness – wow, how bizarre! I wonder if that enzyme is the same one which makes it impossible to make jelly with pineapple? I am a psychologist so I didn’t know that already about the pork – we don’t do much work with enzymes
July 11th, 2009 at 12:47 am
When I lived in London, there was a Thai restaurant right around the corner from my flat and I stopped there so frequently and could not seem to order any thing other than the Thai Prawn and Pineapple curry they had – I swear I was addicted to the stuff, and this dish looks remarkably similar. They knew me so well, they knew what I was going to order. I’d like to think I am a bit less predictable, but ah well, when something is very good….
July 11th, 2009 at 4:10 am
looks yummy.
July 11th, 2009 at 10:00 am
I have no idea – maybe I’ll ask my supervisor when I bump into her next but you could very well be right.
July 12th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Mmmm, looks light yet satisfying and delicious! I do love my meat, but once in a while seafood curries are great. I can imagine the pineapple must be a perfect ingredient…
July 13th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Coconut milk simply makes dishes sublime…one BIG serving for me please & thank you!
July 14th, 2009 at 8:34 am
I have never heard of pineapple in a Thai style curry before but now that I think about it the sweetness would probably work quite well and after all who doesn’t love Thai food or even more so Thai style curry (said as surveying leftover takeaway container from last nights Thai rice delivery of of Massaman curry!)
July 14th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Aaah! This is perfect in bad weather…sunshine and comfort
Thai curries are so vibrant…love them!
July 15th, 2009 at 2:25 am
This looks great, I love the hint of rice poking through all of that coconut-creamy sauce. South east asian curries with pineapple are the best — duck is another one that works a treat with pineapple.
July 15th, 2009 at 5:12 am
Oooo you have to let me know where the Asian supermarket is in Peckham.. will help me to stock up on my return in August! Sounds like you are having your very own version of the monsoon…! Wish it would arrive here in Delhi!
July 16th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Hi Helen, thought this look great so just gave it a go – did you really use the 4 TABLESPOONS of fish sauce specified in the recipe? I did and it was so salty that me and the pet pig (boyfriend) couldn’t finish it – very annoying as you could tell that without the overt saltiness it would have been a cracker.
Is the Asian supermarket in Peckham you mean the one by the big Safeway?
July 17th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Beth – I think the problem might be your fish sauce. Is it a good brand? As far as I know, the poorer quality brands can be excessively salty so that might well be your problem. I did use the four tbsps (sorry can’t remember my brand right now but google will help you) and it was delicious. Yeah, the supermarket is next to a big Morrison’s so I guess that is the one you mean.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
It was Blue Dragon I think. Maybe the paste I used (cheating) was the issue – I’ll try using less of that next time. Cheers.