Thai Manna Shrimp & Veg Curry
Hey, I made dinner today. Kind of. I assembled it – but I did have a pan to wash, so it counts. Right? When mixes came out on the market it was decided that if people had at least three steps of instructions to follow, they’d feel satisfied that they had made whatever it was themselves.
It’s not like I haven’t been in the kitchen – I’ve been testing dog treat recipes for Dogs in Canada and prepping food to take pictures of for Swerve and Parents Canada and doing stuff for CBC. But actual meals have been largely oatmeal and eggs on toast.
But. I had this red Thai curry meal kit I acquired from a new company called Thai Manna who sells their wares at The Hidden Chef in McKenzie Towne (also Millarville Market in the summer, and if you spend $100 or more they will deliver anywhere in Calgary or within a 30 minute radius of South Calgary), where today they started serving up Thai lunches as well. I met the (really nice) owners at a food event awhile ago – they had spent months in Thailand honing their cooking skills, and now have this fabulous fresh Thai curry paste they make from scratch and then include in these adorable little kits that come packed in a Chinese takeout container – fresh chilies, the paste, fish sauce, a can of coconut milk, raw sugar, jasmine rice… all you do is brown some meat and/or veg while your rice cooks (I used shrimp from the freezer and some fresh cauliflower and asparagus – more than they said to, but it worked just fine), add all the little packets and simmer and you have this fabulous, multi-dimensional curry that fed three grown-ups very well. (For $15. I love seeing real fast-food takeout options. And people passionate about opening their own businesses doing what they’re best at.)
They even teach Thai cooking classes! Which I might just have to do. They hold them monthly at the Hidden Chef, or they do private classes – you choose the guest list, time, place, menu and spice level and they provide the equipment, paste, ingredients and all the instruction you can handle, and you all sit down to dinner at the end. Yeah, I thought it was pretty cool too.
March 10 2010 09:59 pm | leftovers
Lana in South Mountain (ON) on 11 Mar 2010 at 9:27 am #
I need to find a place in Ottawa that does this! Do they want to franchise?
sue.d on 11 Mar 2010 at 9:50 am #
How lovely is that? I’ve been really wishing for an alternative to the standardly available Thai curries, this new company sounds great!
Barb on 11 Mar 2010 at 1:02 pm #
Does Lou help with the dog treat testing?
Adrian on 11 Mar 2010 at 7:39 pm #
Just wondered if anyone else is having trouble getting their blog-aid cookbook- mine were supposed to have been sent on the 16 of February but have disappeared into the ether (according to Canadian and US postal services). After hearing everyone rave about theirs, I am quite anxious to get mine.
Dianne on 11 Mar 2010 at 10:59 pm #
Thanks for sharing all of this Julie! Thai Manna sounds fabulous. Tell me more about the dog treat testing! I have 2 cocker spaniels and they are in need of low calorie treats badly. Do they taste good? Picturing you eating one!
ajdoula on 12 Mar 2010 at 9:37 am #
Hmmm – A Thai cooking class – sounds great Julie! Want some help organizing an evening?
Vivian on 13 Mar 2010 at 10:00 am #
Adrian, I too didn’t get my BlogAid cookbook as quickly as others who raved about them. I emailed Blurb (blurb@mailwc.custhelp.com) and a great guy named Geary sorted it all out even when I had misplaced the confirmation order # they’d sent me AND made a mistake in my email address! It arrived this past Monday…and I am raving about it TOO, a little gem of a book! Try the email route…they are really very nice folks.