Spicy Green Curry

You may notice this trend quickly, so I will go ahead and point it out, we love spicy food. A month or so ago we had heard that the Sriracha plant had closed temporarily (hopefully) but we weren't too worried about stocking up and we still had half a bottle at home. Well, last week at work, Shawn heard a rumor that bottles of Sriracha were selling on EBay for some high prices, and that all of the stores were running out. So what did we do? Panicked. Instead of looking into the rumors, we headed to one of the Asian markets, because who would look there? Of course the grocery stores would run out first! And when the first one we checked didn't have any, that made us a little more nervous. Once we made it to the Asian market, we decided to explore a little and see if there was anything else we could use. Well we found the inspiration for our latest creation...green curry paste! Here's how we did it:

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Firm Tofu
2-3 Tbs Coconut Oil
1-2 Tbs Soybean Oil Mixed with Sesame Oil
1/4-1/2 cup Green Curry Paste
1 tsp Chopped Basil
1-2 tsp Red Chili Flakes
1 cup Sliced Mushrooms
2 stalks Sliced Celery
1.5 Sweet Onions
2 cups Peas
3-4 Cups Spinach or Kale

Fried Tofu:

In a wok, melt enough coconut oil to cover the bottom. I probably used 2-3 tablespoons. Heat the oil, then add your pieces of tofu however you prefer to cut them. I did triangles, even though most of them fell apart into chunks when I mixed them into the curry sauce. Next time I will use firm tofu instead of sauce. Anyways, fry the pieces until they are golden brown on each side and set aside on a paper towel to absorb the oil.

Curry Sauce and Vegetables:

1. Pour out remaining coconut oil. Dispose of it however you prefer, you won't be using it again. It does solidify at room temperature, so you may not want to pour it down the drain.
2. Pour 1-2 tablespoons sesame mixed with soybean oil. The recipe on the side of the curry paste recommended soybean oil, but all we could find was the mix, and it turned out wonderfully. 
3. To the oil, mix 1/4-1/2 cut green curry paste depending on how powerful you want it to be. We probably used closer to 1/4 cup, and next time I will probably go closer to 1/2 cup.
4. Heat and mix them together to make more of a sauce so the paste is no longer chunky.
5. Add half cup of coconut milk and continue cooking on low.
6. Chop onions, mushrooms, and celery and add them to the sauce with peas and spinach or kale (we used a mix).
7. Mix in with the sauce and add the remainder of the coconut milk, with a quarter can of water. Add 1 teaspoonful chopped basil, 1-2 teaspoonfuls red chili flakes (to your heat preferences), and some salt and pepper to taste.
8. Cover and let simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes or until all vegetables are soft and fully cooked.
9. Add in the tofu, mix, and let sit uncovered for 5-10 minutes to rewarm tofu and cook off some excess liquid.
10. Serve over rice or noodles and enjoy!