Shrimp in Yellow Curry

Directions

1. 1
   Put the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat.
2. 2
   Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and chiles and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender and the mixture pasty.
3. 3
   Add the curry powder and cook, stirring, for another minute.
4. 4
   Add the coconut milk and raise the heat to medium-high.
5. 5
   Cook, stirring only occasionally, until the mixture is reduced by about half.
6. 6
   (The dish can be prepared to this point a few hours in advance.)
7. 7
   Add the shrimp, a few pinches of salt, and a little black pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp release their liquid (the mixture will become quite moist again) and turn pink, 5 to 10 minutes.
8. 8
   Add 1 tablespoon nam pla, stir, then taste and add the rest if necessary.
9. 9
   Garnish with cilantro.
10. 10
    Almost all shrimp are frozen before sale.
11. 11
    So unless youre in a hurry, you might as well buy them frozen and defrost them yourself; this will guarantee you that they are defrosted just before you cook them, therefore retaining peak quality.
12. 12
    There are no universal standards for shrimp size; large and medium dont mean much.
13. 13
    Therefore, it pays to learn to judge shrimp size by the number per pound, as retailers do.
14. 14
    Shrimp labeled 16/20, for example, contain sixteen to twenty per pound; those labeled U-20 require fewer (under) twenty to make a pound.
15. 15
    Shrimp from fifteen to about thirty per pound usually give the best combination of flavor, ease (peeling tiny shrimp is a nuisance), and value (really big shrimp usually cost more than $15 a pound).
16. 16
    On deveining: I dont.
17. 17
    You can, if you like, but its a thankless task, and there isnt one person in a hundred who could blind-taste the difference between shrimp that have and have not been deveined.