CSA Recipe: Ton-o-Greens Jungle Curry

This recipe is part of the Just Picked series, a partnership between Modern Farmer + Foodterra.

Tons-o-Greens Jungle Curry

If you’ve never considered preparing a curry on the grill, here’s your chance: Succulent sparerib meat and a bone-enriched broth, powerful aromatics, and a giant heap of assorted greens come together to create one hell of a good curry. Don’t be intimidated by the number of ingredients. Once your prep is done, it’s just a matter of adding the ingredients to the pot in the correct order, building up flavor as you go. Kaffir lime leaves, finger limes, and dried chile threads – available at Asian grocers or specialty markets – are just a few of the seasonings.

Olive oil, (as needed)
1 rack spareribs, (pork cut into bite-sized chunks (about 2 pounds), bones reserved for stock)
½ Vidalia onion, (chopped)
1 can (17.5 ounces) coconut water
1 ripe mango, (peeled and chopped, pit reserved for stock)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups jasmine rice
2 cloves garlic, (chopped)
6–8 scallions, (white and green parts, finely chopped and kept separate)
½ shallot, (finely chopped)
1 jalapeño chile, (cored, seeded, and finely chopped)
2 Fresno chiles, (cored, seeded, and finely chopped)
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, (peeled, finely chopped)
4 kaffir lime leaves
3–5 garlic scapes, ((optional), chopped)
2 finger limes, (finely chopped)
2 cans (13.5 ounces each) coconut milk
6–7 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
6–8 new potatoes, (roughly cut into quarters)
5–7 small turnips, (roots cut into quarters, greens chopped and kept separate)
2–3 handfuls finely chopped kale leaves, (tough stems removed)
6–8 collard green leaves, (stemmed and finely chopped)
1–2 handfuls roughly chopped mustard greens
3–4 handfuls roughly chopped spinach
½ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
⅓ cup roughly chopped lemon balm and assorted basil ((lemon, purple, Genovese, and Thai))
¼ cup chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
Big pinch dried chile threads ((optional))

Preheat a grill to medium-high heat. Preheat a large cast-iron skillet on grill.
To start the stock, coat hot skillet with oil, add rib bones, and cook, turning occasionally, until bones brown on all sides and some nice brown bits develop on bottom of pan, about 8 minutes. Add onion and coconut water and squeeze in juice from mango pit. Let broth simmer for about 10 minutes while you prepare the curry.
In a baking dish, toss pork with oil to coat and season with salt and pepper. Preheat a 5-quart Dutch oven to medium-high heat on grill. Coat bottom of pot with oil and brown pork in batches, 3–4 minutes per batch.
To get the rice going, bring 4 cups water to a boil in a medium pot. Stir in rice and a pinch of salt, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15–20 minutes, adding more water and continuing to cook if rice is still firm. Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.
Return browned pork to Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add garlic, white part of scallions, shallot, jalapeño and Fresno chiles, ginger, and kaffir lime leaves. Using a wooden spoon, stir and cook for 2–3 minutes. Stir in garlic scapes (if using) and finger limes and cook for 3–4 minutes.
Remove bones from skillet and pour stock over aromatics in Dutch oven followed by coconut milk and fish sauce; simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in potatoes, turnips, kale, collards, and mango; simmer for 7 minutes. Stir in mustard greens and simmer for 2–3 minutes. Stir in spinach and simmer for another 2–3 minutes until greens are wilted.
Mound warm rice in a family-style serving bowl and sprinkle with about half of the scallion greens. Ladle curry over rice and garnish with cilantro, lemon balm and assorted basil, peanuts, chile threads, and remaining scallion greens.

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