Another fun fact that I learned at my cousin’s farm is that kaffir lime leaves are the key ingredient to making authentic Thai food. He so casually asked me if I wanted some kaffir lime leaves, and I responded with a blank stare, “some what?” He went on to tell us how one of his favorite dishes is fresh crab with Thai curry cooked with these little leaves from his balcony. I took some because I’m always down for trying new things, but to be honest, I’d never even had Thai curry before – or at least not that I could remember. Recall that I’m not that great with spice, so Thai food is typically lower on my list of preferred cuisines while dining out. Lucas, on the other hand, loves Thai food, so I decided to pull a couple of these mysterious leaves from my freezer and give it a whirl.

At the last minute, I sought Scott’s advice, since I really had no clue what Thai curry was supposed to taste like; I joked that I wouldn’t actually know whether my dish turned out, only whether or not I liked it. I apparently went to the right place because it turns out he’s taken Thai cooking classes, and he gave me the run-down, along with a link to his culinary teacher’s recipe blog. The basic principle of Thai curry, he said, is that there’s harmony between spicy, sweet, and salty flavors, mostly done “to taste.” Cooking something to taste isn’t easy when you’re not actually sure what it’s supposed to taste like. For those of you who are also a bit unfamiliar with Thai curry, I’ve attempted to create measurements for what I wound up putting in my wok, but keep in mind that you can adjust the amount of curry sauce (spice), palm sugar (sweet), or fish sauce (salty) to your liking.

After prepping my ingredients, I made a quick trip to the market down the street to pick up some palm sugar (my last minute switch in recipes after chatting with Scott left me unprepared). In my absence, my sleeping kitties came to life and snagged some bok choy off the counter to feast on the floor. I came home to half eaten cabbage pieces strewn about the living room and two very very very sweet and innocent looking rascals. So far, I’ve discovered that my cats like rice cakes, bok choy, and seltzer water. At least they’re healthy eaters?

A few minutes after pulling the crab out of the pot of boiling water, I turned around to find Aioli on the counter inspecting the crustacean. I’ve considered naming my blog Cooking with Cats, but thought people might get the wrong idea. The crab ended up being quite a bit of work, especially because I don’t own a meat mallet or nut cracker to pry open the tough shell. Lucas later asked what on earth his hammer was doing in the dish drainer. Since I am no expert, I will direct you to an incredibly compressive pictorial how-to on preparing crabs. Compared to the cost and time it took to get the meat from the shell, it didn’t stand out much against the curry’s overpowering flavors. In future iterations, I would probably leave the crab out (sorry Scott!). Or maybe, I’ll put it on the side and use the curry as a dipping sauce. Regardless, I will be making this Thai curry again.

Vegetable Thai curry with fresh crab (Adapted from Kasma Loha-unchit)

Serves 4

2 (14.5) ounce cans of coconut milk

4 – 6 heaping tablespoons of red curry paste

2-3 kaffir lime leaves, very thinly sliced (or, if you can’t find them, Bon Appetit recommends substituting 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice plus 1½ teaspoons grated lime peel)

½ teaspoon fish sauce, or to taste

4 teaspoons palm sugar, or to taste

½ cup Thai sweet basil, chopped

Optional: ½ pound of asparagus spears, bottom ends discarded and spears cut into 1-inch long pieces

Optional: 3 baby bok choy, ripped into individual leaves

Optional: Meat from one crab, prepared according to these instructions.

Optional: Slivered chillies if you prefer the ultra spicy flavor experience. I didn’t have any, so I added just a dash of cayenne to give it a kick (and was still incredibly mild on any hotness scale).