Eating with the 5 Elements
5 Element Thai Green Curry
When cooking with the elements a recipe should be balanced and contain at least 3 of the 5 elements. Here is a summer recipe that contains all the elements. If you add more of the pungent tastes (like the paste) which are more warming then you can create a recipe suited for winter.
300 g Chicken breast (warm) (or tofu to make it vegan), Earth
1 Pepper (warm), Earth
200 g finally chopped Kale, Fire
½ head of Broccoli (cooling), Earth
1 Zucchini or Eggplant (cooling), Earth
1 cup of Coconut milk (cooling and sweet), Earth
Green curry paste (bitter, pungent, sour), Fire/Metal
Juice of ½ Lime and 1 Lime Leaf (cooling and sour), Wood
1 Teaspoon Brown Sugar (warm and sweet), Earth
Fish sauce (salty and cooling) (salt or soya sauce to make vegan), Water
1 Tablespoon Canola or Coconut Oil, Earth
Accompaniment
¾ cup of White or Brown Rice (white is more cooling than brown), Earth
Pinch of salt (cooling), Water
For the Paste
1 bunch of washed and well dried Cilantro (Coriander)(Bitter), Fire
2 cloves of Garlic (pungent), Metal
1 Green Onion (scallion) (pungent), Metal
1 Thai Red Chili (pungent), Metal
2 Lime Leaves (sour), Wood
1 teaspoon Coriander Seeds (bitter), Fire
1 tablespoon of Galangal or Ginger (pungent), Metal
Method: Make the paste by processing all ingredients for the paste. And cook the rice. In a fry pan add oil and 1 tablespoon of paste. Fry shortly to release aroma. Then add the chopped vegetables. Stir fry for a 5 minutes then add the chicken or tofu. After 1 minute add the rest of the ingredients and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove the lime leaf. Serve warm.