Sour Curry with Shrimp (Thai Kaeng Som Kung)

Curries aren't always creamy with coconut, and curry paste isn't always fried. One of the most common curries cooked in Thai homes, restaurants, and markets is kaeng som, a quick soup with a clean, sour flavour and absolutely no coconut or oil. The central Thai version in this recipe is made with nice big shrimp, and it's soured with concentrated tamarind juice. But I've tasted lots of variations on this curry, including ones soured with lemon or lime, and I've never had one I didn't like. Light, tangy, and cooked with a modest amount of heat and any available seafood and fresh vegetables, kaeng som is an elemental and satisfying dish, and it's an easy curry to master. This recipe kicks off with a basic paste enriched with raw shrimp and shrimp paste to boost its umami depth and add body to the simmering broth. Learning to make that broth, which leads with tart, pungent flavours but also delivers measured amounts of sweetness, salt, and spice, helps you understand the balance in Thai cooking.

Light, tangy, and cooked with a modest amount of heat and any available seafood and fresh vegetables, kaeng som is an elemental and satisfying dish, and this curry from Pok Pok's Andy Ricker is an easy recipe to master. Learn to make the shrimp-enriched broth, which leads with tart, pungent flavours but also delivers measured amounts of sweetness, salt, and spice, and you'll begin to understand the balance in Thai cooking.

Paste:
30 dried red Thai chiles or chiles de árbol, stemmed and roughly chopped
8 oz raw medium shrimp (about 10), peeled and deveined, tails removed, and roughly chopped
¼ cup shrimp paste, preferably Trachang brand
1 Tbsp. sea salt
8 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
6 small Asian shallots or 2 medium regular shallots, roughly chopped
1 (4") piece krachai, peeled and thinly sliced or ¼ cup frozen, defrosted and roughly chopped

Curry:
1 cup tamarind concentrate, preferably Thai Fruit brand
1 Tbsp. fish sauce, preferably Tiparos brand
1 Tbsp. palm sugar, grated
¼ lb long beans or regular green beans, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces
1 small chayote squash, cut into 2" pieces about ½" thick
1 small daikon, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into ½" thick slices (~ 7 oz)
¼ small Napa cabbage, sliced 2" thick
8 oz raw medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed (~ 10 shrimp)

To Serve:
cooked jasmine rice

Make the Paste:
Place chiles in a bowl and cover with 2 cups boiling water; let sit until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain chiles, reserving ¼ cup liquid. Place chiles in a small food processor with raw shrimp, shrimp paste, salt, garlic, shallots, and krachai; pulse until roughly chopped. Add reserved liquid; purée until smooth. Set 1½ cups of paste aside; refrigerate remaining paste for future use up to 2 weeks.

Make the Curry:
Whisk the 1½ cups curry paste with tamarind, fish sauce, and palm sugar in a 4 qt saucepan or 13" wok until smooth. Whisk in 4 cups water; bring to a boil. Add beans, chayote, daikon, and cabbage and reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 20-25 minutes. Add shrimp; cook until shrimp are pink and cooked through, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and let curry sit 20-30 minutes for flavours to meld. Serve with jasmine rice on the side.

Makes 6-8 servings.