Thai red curry with shrimp and snap peas

• 1 tbs avocado oil
• 3 tbs store-bought Thai red curry paste
• 1 medium shallotthinly sliced
• 3 garlic clovesminced
• 1 can coconut milk400ml can, full-fat, well shaken
• 2 tbs fish sauce
• 1 tbs light brown sugar
• 200 g sugar snap peasstrings removed
• 1 large red bell peppercut into thin strips
• 450 g raw shrimppeeled and deveined, tail-on or off
• 2 lime
• 15 g fresh basilThai basil preferred, or regular basil
• ½ tsp kosher salt

1. 1

   Heat the avocado oil in the Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sliced shallot and cook, stirring often, until softened and translucent, about 2 minutes.

   Tip: No need to caramelize — you just want the shallot to relax and release some sweetness.

2. 2

   Push the shallot to one side and add the curry paste to the bare spot in the pot. Fry the paste, stirring it constantly, until it darkens a shade and smells incredibly fragrant — toasty, floral, a little spicy — about 1 minute. Stir the shallot back in.

   Tip: Blooming the paste in oil before adding liquid is the secret to deep, complex flavor instead of a flat, one-note curry.

3. 3

   Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the coconut milk and stir to dissolve the paste completely. Add the fish sauce, brown sugar, and kosher salt. Stir well, raise the heat to medium-high, and bring to a gentle simmer — you'll see small bubbles breaking at the edges.

4. 4

   Add the red bell pepper strips and snap peas. Let the vegetables simmer in the curry, uncovered, until the snap peas turn vivid green and are just barely tender with a bit of snap when you bite one, about 3 minutes.

   Tip: Don't overcook — the snap peas should still have crunch. They'll continue cooking in the residual heat.

5. 5

   Nestle the shrimp into the simmering curry in a single layer. Cook without stirring for 2 minutes, then gently flip each shrimp. Continue cooking until they're pink and opaque all the way through with tightly curled tails, about 1-2 minutes more.

   Tip: Shrimp cook fast — pull the pot off the heat the moment the last one turns pink. Overcooked shrimp turn rubbery.

6. 6

   Remove the pot from the heat. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lime (catch seeds in your hand), then taste and adjust — more fish sauce for saltiness, more lime for brightness, a pinch of sugar if it needs rounding out. Tear the basil leaves and scatter them over the top. Cut the remaining lime into wedges for the table.

   Tip: Leftovers keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat gently over medium-low heat — shrimp toughen if boiled. The curry actually tastes better the next day as the flavors meld.

• Dutch oven (5-liter (5-quart))

Per serving

Nutritional values are estimates only.