thai beef stew — Honey Street

hello, friends! heyhihowareya and how is your january treating you?

mine thus far has been:
- dry! i’ve never done a dry january before and i think i get the appeal! i’ve had a curious plethora of time for actives after work (which, tbh weird because I didn’t think playing mental ping pong deciding if i should just give it all up and become a disney world tour guide with a glass of wine in hand took up *that* much time,) my sleep has been exquisite, and i’ve really dug into ‘is this beer out of boredom or do i really want it and how good does it make me feel.’ i don’t think i’ll be a sober person forever, but it’s giving me time to reflect on my habits which has been lovely.
- a little anticlimactic, truthfully. i set reasonable, sensible goals for 2023 and some of them include less screen time and adding to my savings account. this is 33.

going out on a limb to say that january might be the most depressing, dragging month of the year, so i took it upon myself to use pto for a little mental health staycation this week. my job-job is in consumer retail and my company does not allow for time off during the holidays, and i could feel burnout creeping up and crescendoing into my bones as i looked ahead to this year, so i am taking space to breathe and be gentle and do nothing and all the things i want to for a little while. i’ve spent some time thinking about how i want this year to feel, and white-knuckling it through the last fiscal quarter is not it, nor is getting the prize for grinning and bearing it.

easing into my staycation with some grace for myself, and, thai beef stew.

this is one of those recipes that i’ve been making for years and years and never thought to share it. my full apologies if this feels gate-keepy because i assure you that i want you to have this and make it and eat it often because WOWOWOW, it is good.

we’re taking cheapish cuts of stew meat and making them incredible with a thai coconut broth, elevated with peppers, onions, ginger, curry paste, honey, and herbs - a truly delicious combination of things that will make your heart explode with happiness and your kitchen smell unreal. i also love this recipe because there’s really no way you can mess it up; add more ginger if you want, less garlic ( - wait, don’t do that,) serve it with rice or quinoa - literally anything goes.

a few things before we get started:
- this is a big, hearty, feel-it-in-your-bones bowl of stew. i like to make this on the weekend and eat the leftovers for dinner throughout the week.
- you can totally do this in the crockpot if you want more of a weeknight situation - dump everything into your crockpot and set on low for 8 hours. the textures won’t be as robust, but the flavor will deffffffff still be there!
- if you don’t regularly keep fish sauce in your pantry, you can skip it; it adds a sour salty depth to the stew, but isn’t 1000% crucial.
- if you’re wondering what else to do with red thai curry paste, try out this quinoa chicken bake , thai chicken meatball soup , sweet + sticky honey chicken drumsticks , or spicy peanut tofu bowls .

thai beef stew
makes: 4-6 servings
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 2-3 hours

1 tbsp coconut oil
2-3lbs beef stew meat (if you’re getting fancy, you could use chuck roast or other nicer cuts. stew meat tends to be cheaper!)
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger
2 tbsp red thai curry paste
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 can full fat coconut milk
2 bell peppers, large diced
juice and zest from 2 limes
1 tsp salt
1/2c scallions, chopped
1/2c basil, chopped
rice, for serving

preheat the oven to 275.

in a large dutch oven, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat. working in batches, sear the beef until browned. remove the beef from the dutch oven and set aside.

lower the heat to medium and add the onion, garlic, ginger, and curry paste into the dutch oven. saute for 3-5 minutes, then add the beef back into the dutch oven. season with salt.

add the honey, fish sauce, and coconut milk to the dutch oven, and stir. cover the dutch oven and transfer to the oven for 2-2 1/2 hours. when you have a half hour remaining, stir in the bell peppers.

once the stew is out of the oven, remove the lid and stir in the lime juice and zest, scallions, and basil. the beef should be fork-tender, and the coconut broth should be a bit but not entirely reduced. serve over warm rice!