Thai Red Curry Żurek
My mom saw me pour coconut milk into żurek and nearly called the Polish police. "Co ty robisz?!" — What are you doing?! — she said, with the specific horror that Polish mothers reserve for culinary sacrilege. Żurek is sacred. It's Poland's sour rye soup — fermented rye flour base, kielbasa, hard-boiled egg, served in a bread bowl. You don't mess with żurek. Except I did.
Ingredients
- 1 cup żurek starter fermented rye flour — available at Polish delis, or make your own: rye flour + water, fermented 3-5 days
- 1 can coconut milk 400ml
- 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 Polish kielbasa, sliced
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, halved
- 1 stalk lemongrass, smashed optional but recommended
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- Juice of 1 lime
- Fresh cilantro and Thai basil
- Salt and white pepper
Method
Build the Base
- In a large pot, heat a tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add the curry paste and cook 1-2 minutes until fragrant and the oil begins to separate — the same "cracking" technique from Thai coconut curry. Add the coconut milk and stir until combined. Then add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer.
Add the Sour Element
- This is where żurek enters. Stir in the fermented rye starter — slowly, tasting as you go. The sourness should be noticeable but balanced by the coconut milk's richness. In traditional żurek, the sour base IS the soup. Here, it's one layer among several — it adds tang and depth without dominating. If you've never tasted żurek starter, it's similar to sourdough tang — acidic, complex, slightly funky.
Add Aromatics and Protein
- Add the smashed lemongrass stalk (it infuses the broth — remove before serving), fish sauce, and sliced kielbasa. Simmer 10-15 minutes. The kielbasa heats through and its smokiness infuses the broth, creating an aroma that's part Polish kitchen, part Thai restaurant. It smells like nothing else you've ever made, and that's the point.
Finish and Serve
- Remove from heat. Stir in lime juice. Ladle into bowls. Add halved hard-boiled eggs (the żurek tradition that survives the fusion), fresh cilantro, and Thai basil. The final soup is creamy-orange with white egg halves and green herbs floating on top. It's visually beautiful and aromatically confusing in the best possible way.