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Easy Thai Curries

Unlike Indian curries, which (in my experience) need to be made from scratch, good Thai curries can be made from purchased spice pastes. Someone, I can't remember who, told me that actual Thai people often use purchased pastes rather than make their own. It does matter, however, which brand you use. Avoid Thai Kitchen, which is just McCormick trying to fool you. The Thai Test Kitchen also rates Lobo and Aroy-D as inferior. I have found Maesri to be very good. The Thai Test Kitchen also rates Mae Anong and Mae Ploy highly. Maesri is available in many different stores in the Boston area and I have friends in New York and Michigan who have found it easily, so let's go with that. I have tried the green, red and yellow, but there are also massaman, panang and others, if you can find them.

Example Recipe

You can make a good-tasting curry from whatever you have in the kitchen that feels right to you - it doesn't have to be "authentic". But to get started, here is a recipe for a vegetarian Thai green curry that serves four. We'll get back together for more discussion later.

1. Put the olive oil in a wok or other large, deep pan over a medium flame. When hot, begin adding the vegetables and stir fry them each for a time so that when you get to the point of adding the coconut milk they are done exactly to your liking.
   • Start with the green pepper and cook for 3 minutes.
   • Next, add the carrots and green beans, cooking for a further 8 minutes.
   • Now add the red pepper and cook for 3 minutes or until everything seems to be nearing the point of being cooked properly.
2. Turn the flame down to medium low and add the curry paste and lemongrass paste (if using). Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
3. Add the coconut milk and fish sauce (if using). Turn the flame up to medium/high and bring to a gentle boil. Turn the heat back down, cover the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add the roasted eggplant (see also the discussion below) and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until it is heated through.
5. Add the tofu and heat through, stirring gently to avoid breaking up the cubes, especially if you're not using extra firm.
6. Serve over boiled jasmine rice. Eat a Thai curry with a fork (and, perhaps, a spoon) as there is no precedent for chopsticks.

Discussion

The only important things are 1) put things into the pan at times that will result in them being properly cooked all at the same time, 2) use the right amount of curry paste and 3) use an amount of good quality coconut milk that will give you the amount of liquid that you desire in the final dish.

Good choices of protein are tofu, shrimp and chicken.

Cooking times

The order in which I introduce ingredients to the pan is very different from other recipes that you may find. I put the vegetables in before any meat or seafood, otherwise I consider the latter to be overcooked. You will have to experiment to get things to turn out exactly as you like them. I always begin with Chinese / Asian eggplant or Thai Eggplant, which seems to take the longest time to cook and also can absorb a lot of oil. Then, I may add green pepper and carrot, followed by green beans and/or broccoli followed by red and/or yellow pepper. This is when I add the curry paste and lemongrass paste (see below). Some cooking time is needed, but not too much. If this is going to be a chicken curry, I add the meat soon after the curry paste to start it cooking. Next (when the chicken is half cooked) comes the coconut milk and fish sauce (again, see below). For a shrimp curry, the shrimp go in when the sauce comes to the boil and it will be ready to serve in about five minutes. For tofu, again add the tofu when the sauce boils but it will only take a couple of minutes to heat it through.

For no really good reason, I gravitate towards mostly green ingredients (beans, broccoli) for green curries, red ingredients (red pepper, carrots) for red curry and yellow ingredients (yellow pepper, carrots) for yellow curry. You can probably look up more authentic choices, but my emphasis here is on "easy" and so I break the rules.

Curry Paste and Other Additions

As you're contemplating cooking Thai curry, I'm going to assume that you like some heat in your food. A good starting point will be the amount of spice paste that I use for a meal that I will share with my wife. For two people, use one third of a can (two tablespoons) of green curry paste or one half of a can (three tablespoons) of red or one half of a can of yellow. The green curry will still turn out the hottest, followed by the red and then the yellow. I also add, for two people, a tablespoon of lemongrass paste and a half tablespoon of fish sauce, both of which add depth of flavor but no extra heat.

Coconut Milk

Different brands of coconut milk have very different consistencies, from thick and creamy to little more than water. The brand I prefer and that I can buy easily is Chaokoh. For two people, I use just half of a 400 ml (13.5 US fl oz) can. You may want to start with a little more and get a more liquid sauce than I like.