Vegan Thai Green Curry – Third Time’s Almost the Charm

I seem to be on an 5-year cycle of attempting vegan Thai green curry, based on my last posts on the topic.  This latest attempt was inspired by Nancie McDermott's Simply Vegetarian Thai Cooking cookbook which I picked up from the library pre-pandemic. 

McDermott's curry approach is to first boil a small amount of coconut milk and then add the curry paste to allow the curry and coconut flavors to bloom and better influence the final dish.

It's been so long since I last made Thai curry that I can't tell if this approach made a difference to the final flavors, which I still found a little bland for my tastes.  I've made this recipe twice in the past few weeks.  The second time, I quadrupled the curry paste (~4 tbsp.) and added some diced green chile which did make a noticeable, but not complete, flavor improvement.  

I also tried to ensure the tofu took on more of the curry flavor by layering the cut tofu with paper towels and placing a can on top for as much water to press out as possible.  I placed the can on the tofu for approx. 30 minutes.

The tofu did seem to retain its shape better using this approach, and it may have also absorbed the flavors of the dish more than if the tofu was more watery.  Unfortunately, my lack of traditional tofu prep in recent years is fogging my memory on how much of a difference this approach made!

I decided to improvise my own vegetable add-ins, and selected red bell pepper, onion, and carrots.  I added the carrots in when I added in the tofu and coconut milk, and I added the bell pepper and onion after the curry had been boiling for about 10 minutes.

I added another dash of soy sauce at the end to add more flavor to the dish, so I think moving forward I will probably double the amount of soy sauce to 2 tsp.  Finally, I also think that the carrots were a bit overcooked, so moving forward I will probably cook the tofu in the boiling curry for 5 minutes, then add the carrots for another 5 minutes, then the bell pepper and onion for the final ~5 minutes of cooking to make sure each cooks the appropriate amount.  

I still need to figure out how to nail a green curry flavor and not coconut milk-forward Thai green curry.  Stay posted for my next attempt in 5 years!