Colour Me Green

It has never occurred to me that I use so much green herbs whenever I cook Malaysian. I'm used to having this mindset that "herbs" are basil, thyme, oregano, dill, chives, romemary... that I forget about my own local beautiful and aromatic herbs. Which I just normally call them "daun" - "leaves". I suppose herbs varies in usage and local reference from one country to the other.

Some of my favourite herbs:
Basil. Sweet and different.
Coriander. Be it in Indian, Malay, Chinese, Thai, or any else they all love the fresh and beautiful herb.
Kaffir Lime Leaves. Because it is fresh and awakens your senses.
Chives. Because it goes with almost all food regardless steamed, fried, boiled, roasted, etc.
These are widely used for cooking here in Malaysia, and at least I try to incorporate them whenever I can.

Since I have some leftover green curry paste, I made a small portion of Thai Green Curry Chicken. Almost too easy. It is very simple actually. Green curry goes well with chicken, beef, prawns or pork (from my experience working in a Thai fine dining restaurant in Australia because I do not eat pork!). And as for vegies, green curry tastes awesomely good with fresh mushrooms, eggplants, bamboo shoots, peas and carrots. The best way is to cut the meat (except if it is prawns, of course) to small pieces. Same goes with the vegies.

And herbs. Green curry though comes in an easy, ready to cook paste, but it tastes so much better when added fresh herbs in! Try these:
Kaffir lime leaves: Very finely sliced and added in the curry 5-10 minutes before you turn off
the heat.
Coriander : Usually not added in green curry but I love them therefore I chop and throw 'em in anyways!
Basil : Best is to fry them till they turn dark green and crispy. The smell is beautiful, and you add them to the curry just before serving. A tip I learned while working in the Thai restaurant some years back.

I've been wanting to make some Thai fish cakes and spring roll as well, but I am bad when it comes to anything fishy. If you do have an interesting Thai fish cake recipe, do drop me an e-mail! :-)

If you haven't tasted green curry before, and want to try something new, make Thai Green Curry your next must-try food. I thought I wouldn't like it, until I tasted it. Thereafter, it has become one of my favourite curries. Ever.