PA YST

BY F ARANG

At Payst, quality produce is our passion.

At the heart of our products is the harmony between sweet, sour, salty, spicy and bitter. Each Payst product captures this complex balance of spice and flavour.

All the ingredients for our pastes and sauces are carefully and sustainably sourced from across Thailand and the UK.

All our products are hand-made by our small, devoted team of professional chefs at Farang London, our award winning, Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in Highbury, North London.

Buy at our restaurant Farang London or have Payst delivered directly to you by visiting payst.co.uk

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INGREDIENTS: SERVES 2

FOR THE CURRY:

2 beef cheeks (800g / 1kg meat), fat and skin removed (if you asked your butcher for trimmed beef cheeks they should do this for you)

2 litres vegetable stock or water, or enough to submerge the beef in a deep pan

1 pot Payst red curry paste, or 100g red curry paste

100g baby corn, chopped into bitesized chunks

100g green beans, chopped into bitesized chunks

2 long red and 2 long green chillies, roll cut into bit-sized chunks

50g coconut oil

100g palm sugar

100ml fish sauce

400g coconut milk

2 sticks lemongrass

2 makrut lime leaves

50g galangal

2 pandanus leaves, tied in a knot

1 handful of Thai basil leaves

1 handful betel leaves (these can be left out if you cannot find them)

50g krachai, wild ginger, peeled & sliced

100ml vegetable oil

FOR THE PICKLE:

200ml distilled, white vinegar

200ml water

50g caster sugar

50g table salt

300g ginger, peeled and very thinly sliced

300g cucumber, thinly sliced

METHOD:

Firstly, you will need to get the beef cheeks cooking as they take 3-4 hours to cook down nicely. Start by heating 100ml of the vegetable oil in a thick bottomed, deep pan to a medium heat. Once hot, add the beef cheeks and fry each side for a minute or so, make sure to move around with kitchen tongues so all sides are seared, be cautious of spitting fat.

Once you’re happy that the meat is seared, temporarily remove the cheeks from the pan and place to one side. Now bruise the lemongrass and galangal in a pestle and mortar to release their flavour and add to the pot with the pandan leaves and one of the makrut lime leaves. Move this all around and start to sweat in the residual beef fat from searing the cheeks. Once the aromas are jumping out the pan all around the kitchen, you can then add the beef cheeks back to the pan and submerge in the vegetable stock (or water). Add to this 50ml fish sauce and 50g palm sugar and then cover the pot with a lid and turn the heat down to a simmer. Simmer the cheeks for 3.5 / 4 hours until they are juicy and tender, you may have to top up with a little more water after a few hours. They should be tender enough to cut through with a tablespoon when finished. When you are happy with the cook, remove the cheeks (leave to one side for a short moment whilst you cook the curry), strain all the chunk from the stock and then return the beef stock back to the hob. Bring to the boil and reduce by half to leave you with some concentrated beef stock for the curry. Next make the pickle. In a saucepan gently heat the water, sugar, salt, vinegar until all has dissolved. Once happy with this remove from the heat and throw in the sliced ginger whilst it is still hot. The residual heat will soften the ginger a little and release more flavour, then leave to one side to cool. Once cooled, add the cucumber, mix well and keep in fridge, these pickles can last for a few weeks in the fridge, but they are designed to be consumed relatively quickly due to the inclusion of cucumber. Its normal for the cucumber and ginger to discolour over time.

Lastly you need to cook out the curry. In a large, deep-frying pan begin to heat the coconut oil on a medium to high heat. Once melted, add the red curry paste and the last makrut lime leaf and then continue to fry out the paste, making sure to regularly scrape the bottom so it does not stick. Fry the paste for 8-10 minutes, until fragrant, then add the other 50g palm sugar to the paste and continue to scrape and fry until all the sugar is melted and the paste begins to darken, this will only take another minute or so.

Next add the fish sauce to the pan, you can use the additive of this liquid, to scrape (de-glaze) any paste that has been sticking onto the bottom of the pan. To this add 500mlconcentrated beef stock, the cooked beef (you can chop into smaller chunks if you like), the roll-cut chillies, green beans, krachai and the corn, continue to simmer for a further 8 minutes until all the vegetables have softened.

To finish, add the coconut milk, bring back to a simmer but do not boil and split the cream and throw in the betel and basil leaves, roughly ripped up with your fingers and serve immediately. Taste the curry before serving, it should be sweet, salty and spicy, adjust to your taste if needed. Garnish with the pickled ginger and cucumber, crispy onions if you have them and a sprig of Thai basil, serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Words CHEF KITTY WHITELEY

Photography CHEF KITTY WHITELEY

SUGAR & SUNSHINE www.sugarandspice15.com

For those of you who would like to entertain but don’t want to cook (or are unable to for whatever reason!), you could let me do the job for you!

Alternatively, why not book into one of my cooking classes?

Simply check out my website at www. sugarandspice15.com for all your bespoke catering service needs.

You can also follow me on Instagram:

@kittydietcoachcreators for my foodie footage and everything else!

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