Thai(esque) curry

Some folks who visited Thailand once told me that what I call Thai curry has close to no resemblance to the real deal.  Whoops.

The Stuff
1 lbs meat (recommend brined chicken breast, pork shoulder, dark chicken meat, white fish, or 凍豆腐 or some combination of delicious mushrooms for vegan/vegetarian)
.5 lbs Chinese eggplant (about 1 fruit)
.25 lbs cherry tomatoes
~1 bunch of thai basil (or, "enough to be delicious")

The Curry
13.5-19 fl oz. coconut milk (creamy kind- mae ploy is best, chao koh is good enough) stored in the fridge.  Note, if using mae ploy, you can go up to 1.5 times all the other ingredients and have enough curry to flavor the stuff.  I like my curry extra-mega-filled with stuff and not so much leftover liquid, BTW.

1.5 TB-2TB curry paste (green, red, or yellow for vegetarian/vegans)
1.5 TB-2TB palm sugar (about half a 1" disc)
1.5TB-2TB fish sauce, pref. blow-torched
about half as much lime juice as sugar

Optional: zest of a half a lime (or several kaffir lime leaves if you can get them)

-Get your coconut milk out of the fridge and begin heating up just the solidified coconut fat.
-Preheat your broiler to high and get a rack ready to put some stuff about 2" away from the heating element
-Blowtorch the skin of the eggplant until blistered.  Cut into longitudinal quartered sections about 2" long.
-Broil the tomatoes and eggplant, cut side down.  When the tomatoes are just beginning to char they're done and so is the eggplant.
-When the coconut oil begins separating from the solids of the coconut fat, add the rest of the coconut liquid and 1.5TB each of the curry ingredients.  When each is incorporated, taste and adjust:

• Add curry paste to increase the spice/aroma
• Add fish sauce to increase salt/umami (flavor)
• Add sugar to negate saltiness/sourness/spiciness or add palm sugaryness
• Add lime juice to negate sweetness/add limeyness

I generally do it in that order, trying to be a little sparing on the sugar.  When everything's balanced, cook the simmered things (see below) if necessary.  Toss in the eggplant and tomatoes.  Once the eggplant is slightly softened and has a good texture (try a piece) add the basil and wilt.  Depending on your meat (or non-meat) of choice at some point in there you probably added your meat and your dish is now done.  Eat it with jasmine rice.

-Meats:

•  Pork shoulder: 1.5" cubes, then seasoned with salt and dusted with flour.   Cook by searing in some oil OR putting under the broiler and then simmering in the balanced curry until done (about 30 minutes)
• Brined chicken, prepare/cook just like kung pao chicken (the chicken pancake part, that is) and then add the stir-fried chicken to the balanced curry at the same time as adding the basil.
• Dark meat chicken, 1" cubes, salted, and dusted with flour.  Cook by searing in some oil OR putting under the broiler and then simmering in the balanced curry until done (about 10 minutes)
• Fish, cut into 1.5" segments and marinated with some grated ginger or curry paste or something to deal with the smell (or even lightly blow torched) and lightly coated with cornstarch, about 1 to 2 teaspoons until a light visible coasting is apparent.  Cook by stirring into the hot coconut milk at the very end after balancing the curry ingredients at the same time as adding the basil (see below).
• Tofu or mushrooms: no need to sear, just add to the balanced curry to simmer until appropriately tender.

水煮[something]片 (water boiled beef, fish, pork, chicken, etc.)

水煮肉片

1 pound of something (chicken breast, lean pork, beef tenderloin, fish (recommend tilapia, swai, or sole), or even silken tofu: anything with very little fat that will cook tender quickly.  The dish is typically so spicy that no one will taste anything anyways.  If using meat, make sure ALL the fat is trimmed: it simply will not cook fast enough to taste good.)

1 pound nappa cabbage, chopped into 2" squares or smaller (optional)

2 cups broth with:
2TB soy sauce
2TB rice wine

.5c canola oil
3TB crushed red chili
2TB coarse korean chili
2TB sichuan peppercorn

2 green onions, whites thinly sliced, greens cut into a decorative shape and reserved
.5" ginger, minced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
cilantro, if desired, for garnish

-If using lean pork or chicken, brine the meat for 30 minutes(good quality beef, fish, tofu this is unnecessary)

-Using a minimum of oil (or none, if you have a well-seasoned wok), stir fry the nappa cabbage until tender and remove to the bottom of your final serving vessel.  This cabbage will help regulate the final temperature of the dish to prevent overcooking during the boiling step, and SO IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

-Get the 2 cups of broth on hand and ready to use.  Heat the half cup oil with the sichuan peppercorns in a heavy bottomed pot on medium high.  When peppercorns turn dark brown and the oil is just beginning to smoke, reduce heat to medium low, add the garlic, green onion whites and crushed red chilis and korean chilis.  Cook until oil turns very deep red, typically less than a minute.  As soon as it turns a deep red color and is very fragrant (you'll probably be coughing and sneezing and wanting to cry)  add the broth to cool the oil.

-Add the ginger, soy sauce, and rice wine to the broth if you haven't already.

-When the meat is brined, rinsed, and drained (or if you didn't use a brine) take your 1 pound of stuff and coat it with 1 TB of cornstarch.  Heat the soup on maximum heat: it should be very rapidly boiling.  Stir the soup as fast as you can without it shooting out of your pot.  Working quickly, put in your 1 pound of "whatever" slices and continue to stir.

IF USING BEEF, FISH, PORK, OR LAMB: when the slices just begin to firm up, remove from the heat: when the pieces turn color, immediately pour over the nappa cabbage.  The residual heat of the liquid ought to be enough to cook the slices without the stove top to a perfect medium rare and the cabbage should absorb whatever heat is left.

IF USING CHICKEN: make sure color is about almost completely white before removing from heat and soup just begins to reboil, then pour over cabbage.  Or if you're brave, you can cook it as above, but you might get salmonella.  I know the feel of the chicken between chopsticks when it's perfect, but it's hard to describe how to use that method.  Sorry.

Garnish with green onion greens and/or chopped cilantro.