Thai Risotto is a flavourful risotto with a green curry base and bright prawns. Paired with a lovely bell pepper salad.
A risotto with rice! You got it. This risotto was the biggest hit of the risotto trio. It takes a little bit longer to make, but it’s a full meal, side salad included, and it shows off really yummy Thai flavours. I fed the leftovers to my babies too. No complaints from anyone in this house. I also had my bestie and her hubby make this dish to make sure I wasn’t overlooking anything. They came back with some excellent feedback that I think brought this recipe up another level. Plus, they’ve been to Thailand a lot and could totally hold me to being authentic with the recipe.
Another present from me to you? Sure, here are more of Joey’s photos. I secretly wish she could come take all my blog photos for me:
Be sure to check out the other 2 risotto recipes in this series: Canadian Bean-otto and Lentil Moroccan Risotto.
- 2 " piece of fresh ginger chopped
- 2 lemongrass stalks soft part chopped (link on how to cut lemongrass)
- 4 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 1-2 red Thai chili chopped and deseeded if desired (removal of seeds will make it less spicy)
- 1/3 cup and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro divided
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1.5 cups arborio rice or a similar rice used for risotto, well rinsed
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 x 400 ml cans of coconut milk light is fine
- 2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 lbs raw prawns de-vined and peeled
- 1 large red bell pepper sliced into 1/8" thick pieces and then halved crosswise
- 1/2 mango thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped Thai Basil
- 1 green onion thinly sliced on the diagonal
- juice from 1/2 a lime
- 1 tbsp of roasted sesame oil
- 1/4 cup crushed raw peanuts for garnish
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Place ginger, lemongrass, garlic, red chili, 1/3 cup cilantro, and 2 tbsp of water in a blender or food processor. Pulse until a chunky mix has formed.
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Bring coconut milk and chicken broth to a low simmer in a medium pot, reduce heat and keep warm. It's best to keep this pot immediately adjacent to your risotto pan with a ladle in it.
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Add vegetable oil to a large pan over med-high heat. Once hot, add the cilantro mixture from the blender and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes until the mixture begins to dry out. Add rice, stirring continuously for 1-2 minutes until rice is well coated. Add fish sauce and stir for 1-2 minutes until the rice has absorbed the sauce.
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Reduce heat to a low simmer, one or two up from the lowest setting.
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Using a soup ladle add 1 to 2 ladles of the coconut milk/chicken broth mixture to the rice every few minutes, once the rice has fully absorbed the previous liquid. Do this until you have 2 or 3 ladles left to add.
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When you add the liquid, stir the mixture so the liquid becomes evenly distributed. I then let it sit until the liquid is mostly absorbed. Be sure to watch the pan, it feels almost instantaneous when the rice needs more liquid.
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At this point (with 2-3 ladles left to add in) add your prawns into the rice and continue adding in the liquid.
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Meanwhile, toss the bell pepper slices, mango slices, 1/2 cup cilantro, Thai Basil, green onion, lime juice, and sesame oil together in a medium bowl.
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To serve, divide the rice mixture among four shallow bowls and top with the salad.
All photography is credited to Joey Armstrong photography.
Enjoy! xo
