Out of failure comes success. It’s probably because of learning from mistakes and all that words of wisdom stuff. It could be from sheer tenacity of not letting something get the best of you. It could be the smallest or biggest of situations. For me recently it was a not so big life critical thing. It was simply a sauce and vegetable combination. Horrid color – 1, Renee – 0. Only thing to do was keep trying and success came with Thai Yellow Curry Shrimp.
Guess where I had yellow curry for the first time. Okay, I’ll tell you. It was in Germany and it wasn’t a Thai dish. I ordered what I thought was turkey medallions with a type of gravy (not like American turkey gravy). What it turned out to be was turkey medallions in a yellow curry cream sauce. I totally enjoyed the meal and knew there would be a lot more yellow curry dishes in my life.
From Germany it went to India. Not literally though. The next time I had yellow curry was at a local Indian restaurant. The flavor was unmistakable yet it was different than before. Cream was not involved. It was the basic essence of curry. My next stop on the yellow curry culinary trail was Thailand. The combination of sweet/heat won me over with the first bite.
Thai Yellow Curry Shrimp is quite versatile. The sauce is what makes this dish. Substitute chicken, pork, duck, or tofu for shrimp. Only difference is to add them before the vegetables because they may need to cook a little longer. You want have the vegetables crisp-tender. Which vegetables to use? It is wide open. This time I used corn because it goes so well with shrimp. I also used green beans (haricot verts), well, just because I like them so much. Oh, and I added a thinly sliced jalapeño pepper to balance the corn’s sweetness. Next time I may use the ones I did in Thai Shrimp Curry (red curry).
The sauce is quick and easy to make. It starts with cooking onion in sesame oil until softened. Add in garlic and yellow curry powder or paste. Whisk in coconut milk, fish sauce, and brown sugar. Let it cook for 5 minutes. Toss in shrimp and vegetables and cook until shrimp is done. It’s done in less than 30 minutes. Serve it on top of rice or quinoa for a complete meal.
What type of Thai curry is your favorite? Do you prefer red, yellow, green, massaman, or panang? My next one to tackle is massaman because it involves potatoes and usually peanuts. For now I’m glad I have a yellow one I can easily make and change it up to my cravings. Oh and what gave it a horrid color? It was purple sweet potato. The purple seeped into the yellow sauce making it the most hideous color I’ve seen in food. Funny thing is it was beyond delicious. Next time I’ll use orange sweet potato and see how it does.
Thai Yellow Curry Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/2 yellow or sweet onion thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 tablespoons yellow curry powder or paste
- 1 1/3 cup coconut milk regular, not light
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
- 1 pound assorted chopped vegetables I used corn, green beans, red bell pepper, and jalapeño
- Cooked rice or quinoa for serving
Instructions
-
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
-
Add garlic and curry powder, stir, and cook for 2 minutes.
-
Whisk in coconut milk, fish sauce, and brown sugar. Bring to a low boil and cook for 5 minutes.
-
Add shrimp and vegetables. Stir and cook until shrimp are just cooked through and vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.
-
Serve over rice or quinoa.
Recipe Notes
Thai Yellow Curry Shrimp is healthy comfort food. It is bursting with flavor, loaded with shrimp and vegetables, plus quick and easy to make.