Recipe: Thai Red Curry with Pork and Pineapple

This is a beautiful dish, served inside a Pineapple "Boat" which you can make at home. It is mildly spicy (in fact not as spicy as Green Curry), sweet and sour. You can either use store-bought or homemade red curry paste. 

For the Thai Red Curry Paste:

13 small dried chilies, deseeded, soaked in water
3 tbsp chopped shallot
4 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp chopped galangal
2 tbsp chopped lemon grass
2 tsp grated kaffir lime rind (or substitute fresh lime peel if not available)
1 tbsp chopped coriander root (or substitute fresh coriander stems)
20 white peppercorns
1 1/2 tsp ground roasted coriander seeds
1/2 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
1 tsp shrimp paste
1 tsp sea salt

To make the curry paste, grind the ingredients up in a mortar and pestle. It freezes well and can keep for several months.

For the Pineapple Boat:
1 medium-ripe pineapple (you want to make sure the flesh is still firm)

Cut the pineapple in half, and chop the stems. Using a paring knife and spoon, scoop out the flesh, taking care to leave about 1/2-1 inch border around the edges so that the curry doesn't flow out. Cut flesh into bite-size chunks. Rinse the shell and pat dry. Reserve the other half of the pineapple for other purposes.

For the curry:
300 g pork from the shoulder, with a little fat, sliced thinly
A handful of young asparagus (substitute french or long beans), cut into 1 inch pieces
Flesh from half pineapple (see above)
1 tbsp oil
1 stalk lemon grass, smashed lightly to release flavour
5 shallots, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp red curry paste
200 ml pure coconut milk
200 ml water (About 3/4 cup)
3-4 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp fish sauce
Sugar and salt to taste

To garnish:
A handful of Thai basil
Chopped coriander leaves

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and add oil. Add lemon grass, shallots and garlic and stir-fry for about 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Do not brown. Add red curry paste and fry until fragrant. Working in batches, add pork to the pan and fry until meat just changes colour. Pour in coconut milk and kaffir lime leaves followed by water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Lift cover, add asparagus and simmer for another 3-4 minutes or until tender but crisp. Stir in pineapple chunks and stir well. By this point the gravy should be fairly thick. Add fish sauce and lime juice. Add sugar and salt to taste. Serve inside the Pineapple Boat and garnish with basil and coriander leaves. Serve immediately with fragrant Jasmine rice.