Please do take note that you can use both pork / chicken for this version; however, beef and fish is tiny bit tricky, and I'll post a vegan version on the next post
Actually the chicken version is quite easy, because you just need to get them blanched lightly to get off some icky access fat on chopped chuck chicken meat, however pork is a little more tricky, and that's why I have recorded the pork version here for future reference.
It is here, my mom's infamous pork curry, loved by many, and rarely you will see this on sale in a Muslim dominating country openly. Most of the time you will see chicken curry / fish curry; beef and mutton (or lamb) is usually the dry version; while pork this is only for special celebration
And it IS for a special celebration
ft @matthew.lily , @philiprenelee as well
Because we were celebrating 4 birthday babies who's birthdates are within 30 days!
(Except one, where we will do cook it again this Friday because this is EXTRA special - 70th milestone in life!)
So let's get straight to the making!
Curry is well known for always tastes best the next day and that's what we need to do, usually starting at the night time to allow marination, before assemble totally together the next day.
The more times you re-boil it, the better it will taste!
Just make sure you don't burnt it because of the thick sauce. Always re-boil under medium low heat.
1. Boiling off impurities from the meat protein
Pork has been pretty much well known for its "gunk" (the same with beef) and most Asean dishes for red meat protein from, blanching off the "gunk" (impurities) is the most logical, and safe step to make to avoid any (preserved) chemical eaten.
I am pretty sure there are many places in Europe / US have strict ruling about red meat hygiene, but yeah, Asean, we blanch to stay safe.
And it will taste better too.
When there is protein in the curry, there will be starch. The most straight forward starch would be potatoes, and it is not any potatoes, the best are the "yellow flesh" smooth skin potatoes like these for the best possible soft and rich experience you will have for the curry + potato.
And to make sure the potatoes (and the curry) are not fully destroyed by over boiling the potatoes / undercooked, we will also boil briefly till half cooked (still maintain a little tough and not totally cooked through) for easy peeling and marination.
Once you see the "gunk" (oily impurities) are out from the pork, where we chose half pork belly so that it maintained not too chewy later, we take them out and set it to cool.
It is always better to blanch the pork in large strips like these to avoid meat shrinking effect.
2. Time to prepare the curry
Remember the sambal curry base that was previously prepared and chilled in the freezer for future use?
Well it is time to prep it into a "curry thick sauce", where some coconut milk, 1 - 2 cinnamon stick, 1 - 2 star anise (depending how pungent you want, 1 stalk of washed fresh lemon grass, a couple of stalks of fresh washed curry leaves and Vietnamese Coriander if you find the curry is still too "mild" fragrance.
For my mom, she will always add an extra stick of cinnamon and 1 star anise with the lemon grass for an additional aroma kick but won't add too much of the other spices in case some couldn't take it.
In case if coconut milk is a little too over powering, evaporated creamer / even fresh milk is a good mix to lower the spice level, however, there isn't any exact taste and it is all about your preference if you want your curry to be "sweeter"
An approximate 200ml base will need about 1 can of evaporated milk (about 80ml) and one small pack (100ml) of coconut milk. Add with about 50ml chicken / vegetable broth to create the thick paste.
Boil them well together. If it is not salty enough, you may add some Himalaya salt / sea salt for taste adjustment.
Make sure it is not burnt while boiling!
3. Time for marinating!
When the curry thick sauce is ready, packed the boiled and cut (into larger chunk) potatoes and the pork (cut into about thumb size wide) into separate glass containers and add the curry thick sauce to marinate overnight
If you want to eye-ball how much curry sauce is need, this is about it, just covered well enough and let it cool down before keeping into the fridge over night.
You WILL have some extra curry sauce left in the pot, but don't worry, just simmer to a small boil and keep it on the stove, covered, for the next day. This will prevent the sauce from going bad.
The next day
If you have noticed, the potatoes and the pork have pretty much sucked in quite a bit of fluid that was marinating it, and that is where you know that it is going to be very tasty!
Heat up the overnight curry sauce in the pot (that you boiled and set aside on top of the stove) and add in the marinated meat and potato. Add additional water to make turn it into a thick soup consistency. If you think your curry sauce wasn't tasty enough, you can substitute water with soup, or mix some for a better balance
Get it into a proper boil with medium heat for about an extra 15 minutes of low heat, and it will be ready to serve!
What do you think?
Is the recipe simple enough, or too complex to try it out?
Do let me know if you attempt to do it, with a bit of your own twist!
Chicken option
The same with the pork, but you don't have to blanch it too much
Fish curry?
Turn it into a fish curry easily by adding a bit of Calamansi lime, and if you want a less sour version, 1/4 of a lemon (and eye ball your taste with another 1/4) will also do the trick.