Discover Thailand: Thai Red Curry
- Christel Weltzin
- Jul 16, 2020
- 6 min read
History
Thai red curry or Gaeng Daeng is a dish that is made from red curry paste simmered in coconut milk. Curry is a common and popular dish within Thai cuisine that has many different variations. Red curry is one of the most well-known curries, but green, massaman, panang, and yellow curry are very common curries as well.
Thailand was known as Siam until around 1939 and is one of the only Southeast Asian countries to have never been colonized by Westerners. Due to this fact, the country was able to develop and keep its own cuisine style with some influences coming from their Asian neighbors like India, China, Malaysia, and Japan. The staple curry dishes in Thailand were thought to be influenced from India. However, the dish was made Thai overtime through the increasing addition of local herbs and ingredients to temper the intense spices and add better depth of flavor. The Malays influenced the use of coconut in the Thai curries by sharing their love of the plant. All of these contributions make Thai cuisine truly unique and a delicious adventure.
What is Thai Red Curry?
A Thai curry is traditionally made with curry paste, coconut milk, and meat. For example, red curry is made with red curry paste fried in oil and simmered in coconut milk with chicken, pork, beef, duck, or other meat. Red curry paste is made with an abundance of spices, herbs, and red chilis which gives it its signature red color.
A common foundation for curry paste is garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and chilis. Many other common ingredients are shrimp paste, kaffir lime, and galangal (a similar cousin to ginger).
All curries differ slightly with how their paste is made and according to region. For example, green curry is made from young green chilis giving it a bright green color and spicy flavor. This is the spiciest curry which is why it includes some sweeter aspects to help mellow the heat. Yellow curry looks the most similar to Indian curries through the use of turmeric, but still remains distinctly different with its Thai flavors. Common additions to curry are bamboo shoots, Thai eggplant, pumpkin, and long beans.
Not all Thai curries are made with coconut milk. These curries are referred to as water based. For example, the jungle curries are made with water or stock because coconut cannot grow well in the jungles of Thailand. There are other curry dishes that do not use coconut milk as well like sour curry – made with fish and given a distinct sour taste through the use of tamarind or other sour fruits.
A Thai meal typically contains four seasonings: salty, sweet, sour, and spicy. It is not considered to be a full satisfying dish without all of these tastes. Hence the sour from the lime, salt from the fish sauce, sweet from the sugar, and spicy from the chili in this red curry dish. The Thai cuisine is all about balance and harmony throughout a dish and the entire meal.
About this Dish
Thai red curry is meant to have a good heat but large depth of flavor as well. This curry is known to explore the savory side of Thai cuisine since the mature red chilis do not pack as much heat as young green chilis. The curry paste brings a level of flavor that is truly unique and show-stopping. Through the addition of coconut milk, the curry takes on a creamy and thick texture.
Thai curries are known to come in strong with heat briefly and let the herbs mellow out the burn leading into deeper flavors, while other curries are known to burn throughout the dish due to the strong spices used. I found this recipe to be a perfect balance of flavor and heat as well as super easy to prepare!
I highly recommend visiting an Asian store or market for some of the ingredients like Thai basil, kaffir lime leaves, and red curry paste. This is such a wonderful experience to partake in, and the flavors truly pay off! However, this dish will still taste amazing with the recommended substitutes that can be found in most stores.
For my vegan and vegetarian readers, while many curry pastes use shrimp paste, some manufacturers do not add this. Thai Kitchen is one of those brands. However, the curry paste can be made homemade as well (this adds a taste that cannot be matched!). Fish sauce contains fish, but equal parts of soy sauce and vinegar/lime juice work well as a substitute. For my adventurous vegans/vegetarians, you can make homemade fish sauce with dried shiitake mushrooms, nori (seaweed), and soy sauce.
Enjoy a taste of Thailand!
Thai Red Curry
A spicy and flavorful popular Thai dish.
Notes - This recipe makes 6 servings
*1 - I used Maesri Thai red curry paste which comes in a small red can and tastes delicious. For a vegan option, Thai Kitchen red curry paste is excellent as well! For those who are unsure about spice, I would use only about 4 tbsp curry paste and opt out of the Thai chili.
*2 - Lemongrass paste is easy to find in the organic section by the other herb pastes and fresh herbs at the store. The paste is much easier to work with than fresh, but fresh works well, too.
*3 - Kaffir lime leaves can be hard to find unless at an Asian market which is why I substituted lime zest
*4 - Use fish sauce to taste. For those who have never had it, it can be an acquired taste so add it little by little. I think the 1 tbsp was perfect.
For vegans and vegetarians, fish sauce is made with anchovies or fish. A good alternative would be to do half soy sauce and half vinegar in equal parts to the recipe. You can also make a vegan substitute with dried shiitake mushrooms, soy sauce, and nori (seaweed).
*5 - Thai chilies are quite hot. A milder chili can be used if preferred, or this step can be skipped.
*6 - If you are using lite coconut milk, there is less saturated fat meaning your sauce will not thicken as much. I used a cornstarch slurry to help with this. You can use full fat coconut milk and skip the slurry as well.
*7 - Thai basil is hard to find unless you are at an Asian market or farmer's market. Regular basil works in its place as well.
Ingredients
1 tbsp oil
1 can red curry paste (about 5-6 tbsp) *1
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp ginger, grated or minced
1 heaping tbsp lemongrass (I used a paste from a tube, but you can mince up fresh) *2
1 cup stock (I used no sodium added chicken stock, but any type of stock can be used here!)
1 tbsp sugar
zest of 1/2 to 1 lime or 4-6 kaffir lime leaves *3
1 tbsp fish sauce *4
1 can coconut milk (I used lite)
1 Thai chili, slit with a knife but still left in one piece (optional) *5
1 cup green beans cut into 2' pieces
10 oz extra firm tofu or meat of choice (chicken thighs cubed work great)
1 tbsp cornstarch *6
1/4 cup cold water *6
10-14 leaves of Thai basil *7
cilantro for garnish (optional)
1. Heat the oil in a sauce pan at medium heat. Once warmed up, add the red curry paste, garlic, ginger, and lemon grass to the pan. Sauté this mixture until the wet paste starts to dry out and the additions become fragrant.
2. Add the cup of stock and mix to combine. Simmer this until the liquid is reduced by about half.
3. Add the coconut milk, sugar, lime zest, fish sauce, and Thai chili (optional). Simmer this mixture until it has thickened.
4. At this point, if you opt for using a different meat other than tofu, add that raw meat to the sauce and simmer until fully cooked.
5. Since I used lite coconut milk, the sauce did not thicken as much as I desired, so this is where I made my cornstarch slurry by mixing the cornstarch into the cold water. I then added the slurry, tofu, and green beans at this point.
6. Let the sauce simmer until it has reached the desired thickness. Remove from heat and stir in the basil.
Serve over jasmine rice or rice noodles and garnish with cilantro, basil, or lime!
Nutrition
Curry can be a very nutritious and satisfying dish with some modifications. Full fat coconut milk can be known to be higher in saturated fat which is why I substituted for lite coconut milk. All other ingredients used are relatively low in calories while helping pack in the wonderful flavors of this dish. Through the use of brown rice noodles or brown rice, a good grain can be added to the diet. Low-sodium fish sauce can also be used to lower the sodium levels. This recipe makes 6 servings meaning 1/6 of the sauce would be a serving.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this post and recipe. Please feel free to reach out with any comments, questions, or suggestions!
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