Recipe Archives->Vegetarian->Thai Curry

4-Mushroom Thai Curry

2 chunks fresh wheat gluten, drained and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 can water chestnuts, sliced
1 can bamboo shoots (or a chunk of fresh), sliced
1 can straw mushrooms, drained, rinsed, and sliced
1 can golden button mushrooms, drained and rinsed
1 small handful Dried Black Fungus
1 cup fresh oyster mushrooms (or 1 can), sliced
1 can yellow Thai Curry Paste
1 bunch fresh basil
1 can coconut milk
1 stalk lemon grass, cut into 1" sections (optional)
peanut or olive oil
Thai sweet chili sauce (optional)
1 clove of garlic, minced (optional)
cooking sake

carrots, optional
broccoli, optional
onion, optional
zucchini, optional

Soak the black fungus in a bowl of warm water for about 20 minutes
while prepping the vegetables.  Marinate  the gluten in thai sweet
chili sauce (available in oriental markets as a chicken marinade),
just enough to get all of the chunks wet; stir occasionally.  Open,
drain, and slice all of the canned ingredients; slice the fresh
ones to stir-fry size.

Remove most of the stems from the basil, and chop the remainder of
the basil medium-sized.

Heat 1/4 cup of oil in a small pot; add the curry paste, and stir-fry
it for a few minutes.  Add the basil; stir until it wilts, then
stir in the coconut milk and reduce the heat to low.  Stir this
occasionally while stir-frying.

Drain and rinse the black fungus, and cut to strips if neccessary.

Heat the wok, then add 1-2 Tbs oil; add the garlic (if desired),
then stir-fry the gluten for a few minutes.  Next, add each of the
other ingredients, from heaviest to lightest, stiring each for a
minute or two before adding the next.  Every 2-3 ingredients, add
a splash of sake to the wok for sweet steam.  When the vegetables
are almost ready, pour the curry sauce over them, and stir for a
few minutes.

Serve over basmati or calrose rice.

Prep time: about 40 minutes, unless the rice takes longer.

If you like hotter curries (3 or 4 star, as they say in thai
restaurants) add a small amount of vietnamese tuong ot (garlic-chili
paste) to the sauce before adding it to the wok.

Printable version: thai-curry.txt.