Asian

Slow Cooker Authentic Thai Massaman Curry

Alright guys. Things are about to get serious. Serious in the form of:
a) stepping it up in the kitchen
b) never being able to eat anything as good ever again (maybe)
c) needing to save for a trip to Melbourne.

Reasons being – there is this restaurant. A restaurant called Chin Chin (and prompt the sigh from the Melbournians reading this right now).

Chin Chin. The restaurant that for me ensured I could never happily eat corner shitty Thai food ever again. Easily one of my my favourites in Australia. And they have Massaman curry on their menu. And they brought out a cook book. And it’s cookbook heaven. So… get yourself to Chin Chin, order everything on the menu, buy the cookbook and then comment on my blog thanking me.

Massaman originated from Thailand’s Southern Malay and Indian Muslim friends. Knowing that, the flavour makes more sense. Less salty/sour and more aromatic, hearty and sweet and easily one of my favourite dishes. If you’re keen to take this to the next level, make your own paste.

Lastly, this is a labour of love, I am not denying it. Pour yourself a wine, pop some music on and get comfy. This has Sunday all over it but I PROMISE the result is epic and one of the best dishes on my blog…

Slow Cooker Authentic Thai Massaman Curry

Serves 5-6
Adapted from Melbourne's Chin Chin

Ingredients

Curry:

  • 1kg beef brisket, cut into thirds
  • 1 cup kecap manis
  • Oil for frying
  • 1 can coconut cream
  • 6tbs massaman curry paste
  • 2 cinnamon quills
  • 2 star anise
  • 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
  • 1tsp tamarind puree
  • Handful of fresh cubed pineapple
  • 3 shallots, sliced
  • Handful of chopped peanuts

Braising liquid:

  • 2 red chillies, halved
  • 1 red onion, halved
  • 2 knobs galangal or ginger, quartered
  • 3 lemongrass stalks, halved
  • 1 can of coconut cream
  • 1 cup of chicken stock
  • 1/3 cup fish sauce
  • 150g palm sugar, finely chopped
  • 2 cups water

Method

Prepping the beef…
In a large bowl coat the beef in the kecap manis. Cover and leave in the fridge for a few hours. For those who are really organised do this the night before.

Heat the oil in a non stick pan and sear the beef on all sides until super charred and browned then pop into your slow cooker.

Now let’s start your braising liquid…
In another pot, fry off the chilli, red onion, galangal or ginger  and lemongrass in some oil over a high heat until you can start to smell it all then add the coconut cream, stock, fish sauce, palm sugar and water. Once the sugar has dissolved, pour into your slow cooker with the beef and select the cooking option that best suits your time frame. I’ve done both a high and low setting and both turn out perfectly.

For the curry…
Start this when you’ve got about 1-2 hours left on your slow cooker.
In a large pot, bring the coconut cream to the boil then add your curry paste. If you have the time, leave this for 30-60 minutes to really cook it out. It should now be thickened so add your cinnamon quills, star anise and potato and keep on the heat while you move onto your pineapple.

Grab a non stick pan and with a little oil, fry off your shallots and pineapple then add to your curry mixture along with 3 cups of the braising liquid from your slow cooker, the fish sauce and tamarind. If you prefer a wetter curry, just add more braising liquid. Keep this cooking gently while you move back to your beef.

Grab the brisket out of the slow cooker and cut into large chunks before mixing them through the curry. Again, if you want it to be wetter just add a touch more of the braising liquid before serving.

Sprinkle with the peanuts and YOU’RE DONE!! Put your feet up now – you’ve earned it 😉 xxx

Kitchen notes...

For this to be as amazing as it can be, head to your Asian grocer for the ingredients. 1) they’ll have everything you need and can help you out with stuff unfamiliar to you like tamarind, galangal etc. 2) the flavour will be far fresher than your local supermarket.

Trackbacks