Vegetables in Nonya Coconut Curry from Southeast Asian Flavors: Adventures in Cooking the Foods of T

Ingredients

• ¼ cup Water
• 1½ cups Canned coconut milk (divided use)
• 1 stalk Lemongrass, trimmed, sliced very thin
• 2 tsp. Minced ginger
• 1 tsp. Ground turmeric
• 1 tsp. Malaysian shrimp paste (belacan), or other fermented shrimp paste, toasted
• 2 cloves Garlic, roughly chopped
• ½ lb. (227 g.) Chinese eggplants, halved lengthwise, cut into 1½-inch (3.8 cm.) lengths
• 1 lb. (454 g.) Chinese mustard greens, or other dark, leafy greens, cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces (4 to 6 cups)
• 1 tsp. Granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. Kosher salt
• 4 lg. Shallots, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup Vegetable oil
• 2 pieces Long red chilies or other hot red chilies, roughly chopped