Vermouth + Red Curry Braised Golden Beets
Picture this: you have a practical exam that involves fileting a fish on Friday. It’s Monday night, and you, simply put, suck at fileting fish — despite how many masterclasses you’ve watched. You desperately text your roommate, “can I cook you a fish Wednesday night” to make yourself feel better about spending money on a whole fish for practice. She says yes.
That was me last week. This somehow—yet unexpectedly, for those who know my roommate and I— turned into her inviting a date and me brainstorming a 5-course menu for them, obviously with one of the courses involving fish. This actually wasn’t a first for us—I very often use my roommates as an excuse to experiment and play around in the kitchen. As for the 5-course part… I tend to get carried away. As for the date part… that just makes the night a lot more entertaining. It’s also nice to get an extra opinion on the food.
Tuesday comes around and I’m wandering around the market for vegetable inspiration to pair with the fish. I see beets. I thought of ingredients I already had in my kitchen that would work with the fish and beets. I bought the beets. I can’t stress how much of a last minute thought these beets were—and how they ended up being one of the best bites of all the courses.
Funny enough, the fish I bought to filet ended up being bad. It was thrown out (I did get to practice fileting it first, though), along with the sole purpose of this dinner in the first place. So 6:30 pm Wednesday night, with egg yolks dehydrating in the oven and beets braising on the stove, I ran to buy the first two filets of fish I could spy at the nearest grocery store.
At the end of the dinner, it was a general consensus (me, Sarah, the date), that the beets were delicious.
If you’re just here for the beets, you can definitely just use a jarred red curry paste (I have with this recipe and it works out great). If you want to go the extra mile, though, it really does just take a few minutes of rough chopping and blending to make a homemade one. Bonus points if you have a mortar and pestle to make the entire paste, as well as grind up the spices whole in that — I think it’s time I put one on my Christmas list.
This red curry paste is definitely not the most traditional, but I really like how it pairs with the beets. I used all fresh chili peppers instead of dried ones like in most recipes. The result is definitely brighter and not as rich and dark as some tend to be. I keep the seeds in a little over half of the peppers, which makes for a pretty good kick of heat at the end. You can adjust the spice level by adding as many or as little seeds as you like. The fresh chilis and other vegetables, tamarind paste, peanuts, citrus, and shrimp paste/fish sauce gel to create a creamy, citrusy, spicy, salty, and tangy paste that can be used a million different ways.
Onto the beets…
I like to sear the outside of the whole beets to create a little bit of depth in the braise and build a richer color. After that, it’s really just adding the braising liquid (dry vermouth, rice wine vinegar, chicken or vegetable stock, and some aromatics), and letting it simmer. They’re ready when a fork can go through it easily but still with a touch of resistance so that the beets aren’t mushy after being sliced and cooked quickly again in the reduced liquid. The combination of the reduced braising liquid, spicy curry paste, and the natural sweetness of the beets makes the most delicious, almost carmel-like sauce coating the beets. Though they take a good chunk of time to cook, they’re so worth it.
Vermouth + Red Curry Braised Golden Beets
Yields: 4-5 large beets (around 2 cups sliced) and 2 cups of curry paste
Prep time: 20 minutes (15 minutes for curry paste, 5 minutes for beets)
Cook time: 1 hour
For the Braised Golden Beets:
4-5 large golden beets, washed and peeled (amount depending on what can fit on one layer in your pot)
1/2 cup dry vermouth
2 1/2 tbs. rice wine vinegar
1/2 tbs. honey
2 heaping tbs. Red Curry Paste (see recipe below or use stored)
Chicken or vegetable stock - can sub water
Olive oil, or oil of choice, enough to coat a thin even layer on the bottom of the pot
2 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
Salt and black pepper to taste
Thinly sliced scallions, for a garnish
Barely slice the ends off the peeled beets to create 2 flat surfaces for a more even searing. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a deep saute pan, braiser, or a dutch oven over high heat. Add olive oil once hot. Sear the beets until golden brown on both ends and the rounded edges - lower the heat to a medium if the oil is smoking too much or if the bottom of the pan is getting too dark. Add the garlic cloves and deglaze the pan with vermouth. Add the vinegar and let simmer to cook the alcohol out for a couple of minutes. Stir in the curry paste, add the bay leaf, and fill with stock or water 2/3 the way up of the beets. Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook until fork tender—but not splitting when the fork goes through—roughly 30-40 minutes depending on the size of your beets. Remove beets and turn the heat on medium-high to reduce the liquid to a saucy consistency. Allow the beets to cool enough to touch and slice them into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Place them back in the reduced braising liquid (remove the bay leaf and garlic), stir gently to coat and let the sauce thicken enough to glaze over the beets. Be careful not to reduce it too much to where you don’t have any sauce left. Garnish with scallions.
For the Fresh Red Curry Paste:
9 red hot chili peppers, around 2/3 cup roughly chopped - I left 4 without seeds and 5 with seeds for a fairly spicy paste, adjust according to desired level of heat
1/2 large shallot, roughly chopped
1 1/2 in. knob of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 lemongrass stalk, roughly chopped (about 3 tbs. worth)
2 tbs. cilantro stems, roughly chopped
3 tbs. scallions, roughly chopped
1 large garlic clove
3 tbs. dry roasted peanuts - lightly toasted
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. salt (+ more to taste if needed)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. whole black peppercorns, or 3/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tbs. sugar
1/2 tbs. honey
Zest from 1 whole lime + juice from half
2 tsp. fish sauce
1/2 tbs. shrimp paste (or sub for another 1 tsp. fish sauce)
1 1/2 tbs. tamarind paste
2 tbs. cold water, only if needed to blend
Blend all ingredients in a food processer or blender until a nearly smooth paste forms. It should still be a little gritty in texture. Adjust seasoning as needed. The paste should err on the saltier side. Store in the fridge for up to 7 days or freeze for longer.