The first time I ever had curry—really had curry—I lived in Singapore. At night, I’d walk the streets, and the aroma of mingling spices filled the air. Food carts lined the way, and foods from all over the world were on display. I loved living and eating like a local. It always made me feel like a true aficionado.
Being in Asia, and not having actually been to India yet, I fell in love with Indian food (Indian food in India is an entirely different story that we’ll talk about later). So of course, the street cart that received the most visits from me was the curry cart. I was addicted. Wrapped in banana leaves and twine, a warm layer of coconut sticky rice surrounded a fistful of decadent goodness. I’m not sure if it was the pleasure I took in unwrapping that heavenly little package, but my first real memory of curry will forever be imprinted in my heart and taste buds.
Whenever I’m missing those long, adventurous walks around Singapore and that taste of life in a melting pot of flavor, I attempt my own version of Singapore Curried Shrimp.
- 1 bunch of long green onions
- 1 box of mixed julienned vegetables (Whole Foods has these in the produce section. If not, squash and bell peppers are always great with curry!)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 small piece of ginger
- 1 lime
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. fish sauce
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 2 tsp. honey (Darlington’s Bee Barn Honey)
- 1 ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 3 tsp. curry powder
- 2 pounds raw, peeled, deveined, tail-off shrimp
- salt and pepper to taste
- Wash long green onions, lime, and julienned vegetables.
- Rinse shrimp.
- Peel garlic cloves and ginger.
- Mince garlic and ginger.
- Finely chop onions.
- Juice lime.
- In a small bowl, mix together garlic, chopped onions, ginger, fish sauce, soy sauce, honey, coconut milk, lime juice, and curry powder.
- In a sauté pan, heat olive oil on high heat and sauté shrimp until slightly pink, then put shrimp aside.
- Using the same pan, sauté vegetables until lightly cooked.
- Then add mixture from bowl to the veggies.
- Add cooked shrimp and allow to simmer together for two minutes, or steam in banana leaves for 5 minutes with rice.
- (Cook sticky white rice with coconut milk and top with cinnamon).
Enjoy!
