recipe : thai panang curry

Okay, so I got a bit emotional while writing this post. Do you have an emotional attachment to a certain dish? Something your mom, grandmother, dad makes? I know it seems like all my family stories come out of food, but food is essentially an international language shared among so many different people with different backgrounds.

This thai panang curry speaks to me. Not mine, but my mom's curry. I know it's a simple dish only partially homemade. There is comfort in this dish for me though. Every single time I came home to my family on breaks during college, which wasn't often at all since I lived a bit far, my mom would always make this dish. Only because I insisted. See, there were only two flights that came in to Orlando from where I went to college. One arrived in Orlando at 10am [that I never took] and the other was 10:23pm [always took this one]. By the time I walked through the doors, showered and braided my hair, my mom had this fresh and piping hot for me at the table. She sat at in the chair directly on the left of me and always asked about my semester, commented on how much weight I lost and thus insisted that I eat more. Til today, my mom takes care of me the moment I walk through the doors. It's moments like these I savor in my dishes. Literally.

I cook for memories. Memories that I hope to make with my husband and children one day. [One day not too soon though!] Food is a universal symbol for love. Yes, that's what it is to me.

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