MENU DESCRIPTION: “A spicy Thai dish with the flavors of curry, peanut, chile, and coconut. Soutéed with
vegetables and served over rice.” This dish ranks very high among the most frequent entree clone requests from this growing chain’s huge menu, and anyone who is a fan of Thai dishes falls in love with it. I dig recipes that include scratch sauces that can be used with other dishes. The curry and peanut sauces here are good like that. They can, for example, be used to sauce up grilled skewers of chicken or other meats, or as a flavorful drizzle onto lettuce wraps. But even though I’ve included the peanut sauce recipe from scratch here, you can take the quick route and save a little prep time by picking up a premade peanut sauce found near the other Asian foods at the market. Since the sauce is used sparingly in a drizzle over the top of this dish it won’t make a big difference which way you go. This recipe produces two Cheesecake Factory size servings—anyone who’s been there knows that means “off-the-hook big.” If your diners aren’t prepared to process the gargantuan gastronomy and you’re all out of doggie bags, you can easily split this recipe into four more sensible portions.

MAKES 2 TO 4 SERVINGS.

INGREDIENTS

CURRY SAUCE:

• 2 teaspoons chili oil
• ¼ cup minced onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger
• 1 cup chicken broth
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground mace
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• 3 cups coconut milk
• 2 medium carrots, julienned
• 1 small zucchini, julienned
• ½ cup frozen peas

PEANUT SAUCE:

• ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons water
• 4 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon chili oil
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lime juice

CHICKEN AND SHRIMP:

• 2 skinless chicken breast fillets
• 16 large raw shrimp, shelled
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ½ cup vegetable oil

GARNISH:

• 1½ cups flaked coconut
• ½ teaspoon dried parsley, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts
• 2 green onions, julienned

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make the curry sauce by heating the chili oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, and ginger. Saute for about 30 seconds then add the chicken broth. Add the spices (cumin, coriander, paprika, salt, black pepper, mace, and turmeric) and stir well. Simmer for 5 minutes then add the coconut milk. Bring mixture back up to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken. Add the julienned carrots and zucchini, and the frozen peas. Simmer mixture for 10 minutes or until carrots become tender.
2. Make peanut sauce by combining peanut butter, water, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, and chili oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat just until mixture begins to bubble, then cover the pan and remove it from the heat.
3. Toast the flaked coconut by preheating your oven to 300 degrees. Spread coconut on a baking sheet and toast it in the oven. Stir the coconut around every 10 minutes so that it browns evenly, but watch it closely in the last 5 minutes so it doesn’t get too dark. After 25 to 30 minutes, the coconut should be light brown. Take it out of the oven and let it cool.
4. Cut the chicken breasts into bite-size pieces. Coat the chicken and shrimp with cornstarch. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add the coated chicken to the pan and saute it for a couple of minutes, turning as it cooks. Add the shrimp to the pan. Cook the shrimp and chicken for a couple of minutes, until it’s done, then remove everything to a rack or towel to drain.
5. Build the two plates (or you can divide the meal into four portions) by filling a soup bowl with 1 or 2 cups of white rice. Press down on the rice. Invert the bowl onto the center of a plate, tap it a bit, and then lift off the bowl leaving a formed pile of rice in the center of each plate. Arrange an equal portion of chicken and shrimp around the rice. Spoon the curry sauce and vegetables over the chicken and shrimp, being careful not to get any sauce on top of the rice.
6. Drizzle peanut sauce over the dish concentrating most of it on the rice. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of crumbled, dried parsley over the center of the rice. Add a tablespoon of chopped peanuts on the parsley, and then place a pile of julienned green onions on top. Sprinkle ½ cup to % cup of toasted coconut over the chicken and shrimp and serve it up.