Vegan Thai Red Curry

This Vegan Red Thai Curry maximizes umami with a few special ingredients. Try it with tofu for protein, and serve over rice for a delicious, quick and easy meal for any time!

This recipe comes to us from Pailin Chongchitnant of Hot Thai Kitchen.

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Ingredients:

• 2 cups hot water
• 6-8 pc dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 cup bamboo shoots, canned, strips or sticks
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 3-5 tbsp. red curry paste (add more if you like it spicy)
• 1 heaping tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• ½ tbsp. Golden Mountain Sauce (or sub Maggi Seasoning or more soy sauce)
• 2 tbsp. palm sugar, chopped
• 6-7 kaffir lime leaves
• 10-11 oz. (300 g) medium firm tofu
• A handful red peppers for color (optional)
• 1 big handful Thai basil

Directions:

1. Soak shiitake mushrooms in hot water for at least 30 minutes or until the mushrooms are fully hydrated. Remove from water (reserving the water) and squeeze out water from the mushrooms. Slice off the stems and discard, and cut the cap into 1/4-inch slices.

2. Rinse bamboo shoots well, then boil in water for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse. This will remove the odor from the bamboo which some find unpleasant.

3. Add 3/4 cup of the coconut milk into a heavy bottomed pot and reduce over medium heat until thick and the coconut oil starts separating from the coconut milk. If using canned coconut milk, it may not separate, in which case just proceed with the recipe.

4. Add curry paste and stir to break it up and mix with coconut milk, then and tomato paste and keep stirring until the oil starts to sizzle around the edges of the paste.

5. Add remaining coconut milk and 1 cup of mushroom water and bring to a boil. Add soy sauce, Golden Mountain sauce and palm sugar and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and tear in kaffir lime leaves and stir. Then gently add the tofu pieces and push them down so they are submerged, being careful not to break the tofu. Simmer for at least 10 minutes, if it looks a little thick, you can add more mushroom water. Add red peppers and cook for 1 minute. Stir in Thai basil and remove from heat.

6. Serve with jasmine rice. Enjoy!