Fill the Freezer—Thai Curry Shrimp Satay

For the month of November, I'm filling my freezer with all sorts of savory and sweet treats in preparation for the holiday season. Earlier this week, I made some Cheddar Shortbread. Today, I made a shrimp appetizer. Although Halloween just ended a few days ago, I've seen Christmas lights decorating a house and heard Christmas music at the grocery store. I'm not ready for the onslought of it all. Today, was a beautiful Spring-like day in Ottawa, and I don’t want to even think about Christmas. But, here's something that is delicious any time of year.

I've made this appetizer using both chicken and shrimp, but my favorite is with shrimp. The shrimp hold the complex flavor medley together more easily. The flavors are diverse, but delicious together: coconut milk, curry paste, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and cilantro.

Ingredients
Coconut milk is made like tea where finely grated coconut meat is steeped in hot water and then strained. I've always purchased canned coconut milk, but after watching a video and seeing how easy it is to open a coconut, I'm going to try making my own soon.

Red curry paste is a blend of many ingredients, but I did find a recipe at Taste Buddies. I may have to try making my own version too.

Garlic is a common onion grown here in Ontario, so I have a supply from a friend who grows it. As for ginger, I like to buy fresh rhizomes, peel the skin with the tip of a spoon, cut it into chunks and store it in the freezer. Then, I use a microplane to grate off what I need.

Fish sauce is juice from fermented fish. Smells terrible, but is "essential for Thai cooking" (according to my bottle)! I took a Thai cooking class last year, and one person taking the class was always watching the Fish sauce bottle making sure the instructor didn't add too much because he had to watch his salt intake. Fish sauce is all salt, or 72% in my bottle. That's a lot of salt. And it's extracted from anchovies. {Maybe I could add a dash of this sauce to my next caesar salad?!}

Fish sauce is to Vietnamese cooking what salt is to Western and soy sauce is to Chinese cooking.

Cilantro, or coriander as it's called when it's dried, is either loved or hated. There is even an anti-cilantro community out there. It has a very distinctive taste that I personally love.

All these flavors form a marinade that deliciously bathes the shrimp. You can freeze the shrimp after marinating them overnight. Then, when you want to cook the shrimp, just thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and grill or broil.

Recipe

Makes 8 servings as an appetizer or 1 907 gram bag of shrimp

2 pounds (1 907 gram bag) shrimp [or chicken], uncooked, deveined and peeled
1 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon red curry paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/8 teaspoon curry powder
¼ cup cilantro, chopped

In a glass bowl or baking dish, combine the coconut milk, red curry paste, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, curry powder, and cilantro. Stir in the shrimp. Cover and marinate overnight in the refrigerator. (After marinating, you can freeze the shrimp for up to two months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before cooking.)

Preheat the oven to 400˚F or grill on a barbecue. Cook for 10-12 minutes until pink, turning half-way. You can serve with a sauce, but they're great on their own.

Related Posts to Help Fill the Freezer
• Cheddar Shortbread
• Pizza Dough
• Lenox Almond Biscotti