Currying Favor

You know what they say about the best laid plans. I was all set to put together another slow cooker dish when, lo and behold, the clock struck 5 and I realized that dinner needed to be ready in about 2 hours—much too short of a time to utilize the slow cooker. Shoot. But I had already procured all of the ingredients needed to make a chicken curry (and even remembered to thaw the chicken!), so I was left with no choice but to adapt my slow cooker recipe for the stovetop.

I have to say… it was pretty easy. Most slow cooker recipes use less liquid than traditional recipes, so I just added back in some of the stock and rice wine (or, in my case, dry sherry, which I recently read makes for an excellent substitute). Oh, and I also snuck in some mushrooms that were on their last stem (is that what you would call a mushroom leg?).

The original recipe I found for this dish called for the addition of toasted coconut flakes to the finished product. I didn’t have any, but after eating this, I can see how the coconut would be a really nice touch—a sweet and crunchy balance to the creamy, gently-spiced curry sauce. I’d recommend going for it.

Sesame Red Curry Chicken with Bok Choy and Coconut Rice

2 tsp. vegetable oil
3 cups bok choy, leaves and stems, chopped
1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
½ cup chicken broth
½ rice wine (can substitute dry sherry)
2 tsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. freshly grated ginger
1 tbsp. red curry paste
2 tsp. soy sauce or tamari
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. curry powder
salt and pepper
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk, divided
1 cup uncooked jasmine rice

In a medium pot, bring 12 oz of the coconut milk to a low boil. Stir in 1 cup of jasmine rice and cover, simmering for 15 minutes.*

In a large pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the red bell pepper and sauté 3 minutes. While the pepper is working, mix the chicken broth, rice wine, sesame oil, ginger, curry paste, soy sauce, brown sugar and remaining coconut milk together in a small bowl. Add the chicken to the pan and sauté 2 minutes, then add the chicken broth mixture and bring to a boil. Once it’s come to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 7-8 minutes. Check seasonings and add curry powder, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the bok choy and cook until wilted. Serve over jasmine rice.

*Side bar- If your package of jasmine rice has different cooking instructions, follow them and just substitute an equal amount of coconut milk for the called-for water.