Since realizing that green curry paste was as easy as tossing cilantro, Makrut lime leaves, onions, garlic and a few spices in a blender, I’ve been making a lot of green curry. But red curries were another matter. To get that red colour you’d need a LOT of red hot peppers, wouldn’t you? The tongue (even mine) can only take so much heat. And if you take out the cooling cilantro you’re going to need to add something else. But what? When I decided to make this coconut rice with sambal recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi’s “Plenty”, I didn’t really realize that sambal is essentially just a red curry paste. And the answer to my question, “but what?” was “oil.” You need to add a fair bit more oil, apparently. That’s what Ottolenghi does, anyway. This recipe is very similar to another in the book for rice noodles topped with broccoli and green curry. Just replace the steamed broccoli with okra (I decided swiss chard would work in place of the okra, and would also save me the extra few tbsp of oil. I do love okra, but when what you have in your vegetable basket is swiss chard, you use swiss chard. Some day, when people who aren’t Indian or Louisianan see the wonders of okra, they will appear in your box. But don’t hold your breath).
The book also dares you to eat this dish for breakfast, as it’s traditionally done in South East Asia. Never one to turn down a spicy challenge, that’s what I did. Breakfast of champions, really. It’s a variation on Nasi Lemak, says Ottolenghi, which normally involves dried anchovies, maybe dried shrimp paste, and probably pandan leaves. This is a much simplified version that even lets you toss things in a blender instead of squatting over a giant mortar and pestle.
Coconut rice – not too rich from the coconut milk, plus spicy, oil-y, sweet chili paste and enough green swiss chard to calm the tongue. I’d also just eat the coconut rice on its own for breakfast. It’s be the best oatmeal, congee, porridge, or cream of wheat replacement I can imagine. The red curry sambal, though, is better than brown sugar by a long shot, and has a much lower glycemic index. But you’ll still that heart-pumping rush from the peppers. Win-win.
Malaysian Coconut Rice with Red Chili Sambal and Swiss Chard
Sambal
5 fresh red chilies, seeded (I used long cayennes or serranos…I’m not sure, really)
5 dried red chilies, seeded (I used Bird’s eye chilies)
1 large onion (about 4 oz), peeled and quartered
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sunflower or vegetable oil
2 tbsp water
1/2 stalk rhubarb, chopped, or 1/8 cup chopped rhubarb (1/2″ pieces). this is in place of tamarind water (sieved juice from soaking tamarind pulp in hot water for 30 minutes). WAY easier to use my frozen rhubarb chunks. Most people don’t have frozen rhubarb chunks, but it’s almost rhubarb season (well, maybe not “almost”). So it’s your call.
1 tbsp sugar (preferably palm sugar or cane sugar. I used brown coconut sugar)
Rice (you can also just make the rice on its own for a cooling breakfast, but the heat and sugar from the sambal is addictive)
1 2/3 cups Basmati rice
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cups water
6 Makrut lime leaves (or zest of 2 limes)
6 thin slices of ginger, unpeeled
1 bunch swiss chard, stems separated from leave, both cut into 1″ pieces
1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
2 limes (the zestless ones are fine if you used them instead of lime leaves above)
Directions:
Put all the sambal ingredients in a blender or food processor EXCEPT only use 2 tbsp of the oil and leave the sugar aside for now. Blend to a paste. Heat a large frying pan or wok on HIGH heat. Wait 1 1/2 minutes then add the remaining 2 tbsp oil. Wait 30 seconds and then add the sambal paste. Reduce the heat immediately to medium-low and stir, stir, stir for 7 minutes. The paste shouldn’t stick if you’re stirring constantly, but add a tbsp of water if it does.
Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar.
Wash the rice in a few changes of water until the water runs clear or doesn’t cloud up when you swirl it around in a bowl. Drain and then put it in a medium saucepan. Heat the pan over medium heat for 30 seconds to absorb the excess water. Stir it around to help. Add the salt, coconut milk, water, lime leaves, and ginger slices.
Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and let the rice simmer for 12 minutes. Then don’t touch the lid, but remove the rice from the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes to absorb the rest of the liquid. Just before serving fluff the rice with a fork.
While the rice is boiling merrily away, heat another medium pot full of water with a steamer in it (or skip the steamer and boil the swiss chard). Add the swiss chard stems and cover the pot. Lower the heat to medium or medium-low (to maintain a simmer) and cook for 3 minutes. Add the leaves and cook another 2 minutes.
Reheat the sambal if it has cooled. You can add the swiss chard directly to it or keep them separate. Take a big scoop of rice and top t with the chard, then the sambal. Sprinkly with cilantro leaves and serve with a wedge of lime on the side of the plate. Let breakfast-ers squeeze as much lime juice as they want on top.
Smile at how delicious and cereal-free breakfast can be.
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