Yellow Curry

Method

1. reduce6 min
   thick cream from the top of the unshaken can, medium, until the oil separates
   the thick coconut cream spooned off the top of the can and simmered until it thickens, darkens slightly and clear oil separates out at the edges. This is cracking the cream, and it is the step that makes the difference. Do not shake the can — you need the fat and the water separate, and homogenised cartons often will not crack at all, in which case add a tablespoon of oil instead
2. fry4 min
   paste into the separated oil, medium, stirred constantly until deeply fragrant
   + curry paste + turmeric fried in that separated oil until the raw smell has gone and the mixture is dark and intensely aromatic. Curry paste aromatics are fat-soluble; frying releases them and simmering does not, which is why a paste stirred straight into liquid gives a curry that tastes thin no matter how long it cooks
3. saute4 min
   chicken into the fried paste, turned to coat, until it takes colour at the edges
   + chicken turned through the paste until coated and lightly coloured. Coating the meat in the fried paste before the liquid arrives means the seasoning sits on the meat rather than merely around it
4. simmer20 min
   remaining coconut milk, water, potato and onion; gentle, uncovered, never boiling
   + remaining coconut milk + water + potato + onion (+ carrot, + chilli), simmered gently until the potato is tender and the sauce has thickened. Keep it below a boil — coconut milk is an emulsion and hard boiling splits it into oil and grainy solids. Uncovered so it reduces, since the sauce should coat rather than pool
5. season5 min
   off the heat, adjusted by taste rather than measure
   + fish sauce + palm sugar, then + lime juice last (+ cilantro). Salt, sweet and sour are balanced by tasting, because curry pastes vary enormously in salt and heat between brands. Lime goes in off the heat — its aroma is volatile and cooking it leaves only sourness (serve with rice)