The good thing about making stew-like dishes is once you have the flavor-profile in your head, you can proceed without a recipe in hand. Or at least I think you can. The other day I was making lunch for my best buddies at Loupe Digital – Michael wanted tofu, but the rest of the crew was in no mood for it and wanted something a little meatier. Everyone wanted spicy, though. I decided to make a stew-like base that I could add the different proteins to so I could satisfy all of my friend’s appetites.
The base was vegetable stock, Thai yellow curry paste, tomato puree, lots of coconut milk, tamarind paste, onion, garlic, chiles, cilantro, shredded coconut…..I think that was it but I might have forgotten an ingredient or two as I was tasting and adding as I went. Once the base was simmering I threw in some diced red bell pepper and eggplant. When it had all cooked together to a nice stewy mix, I stir-fried some cubes of tofu for Michael and thin slices of pork tenderloin for the rest of the crew. Divided the base and mixed some with the tofu and the rest with the pork. Made a big batch of orange-flavored rice to soak up the gravy for everyone. It seemed to do the trick as gratitude filled my email box. It’s such fun to cook for friends!
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