Thai Curry
August 29th, 2009 | 30-Minute Meals Recipes, Thai Recipes | 32 Comments
Thai curry is gaining popularity thanks to the many great Thai restaurants in the United States. Making a great bowl of Thai curry to go with soft and fluffy jasmine rice is easier than you think, even though you might not be familiar with Thai ingredients.
I love all sorts of curry but I find Thai curry one of the easiest curry to master. Instant curry paste from trusted brands such as Mae Ploy and Maesri are readily available in Asian markets or online. Get yourself a bottle of fish sauce, palm sugar (or sugar as a replacement), coconut milk, and you will most certainly have a decent bowl of Thai curry…(get Thai curry recipe after the jump)
I made this flavorsome Thai curry yesterday from leftover ingredients in my fridge, all in less than 30 minutes. Call me lucky but I always have fr0zen seafood, so I made Thai red curry with tiger prawns and scallops. I then served my Thai curry over a bowl of steamed jasmine rice. It was an easy but uber satisfying lunch.
Think Thai curry is too complicated or intimidating to attempt at home? Think twice. Cooking Asian food is rather easy and a rewarding experience. Follow my recipe below and you will soon be whipping up a mean pot of Thai curry for your family!
Now, what is your favorite Thai curry?
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoon red curry paste (I used Mae Ploy red curry paste)
6 oz. tiger prawns (or shrimps)
6 oz. big scallops
1 kaffir lime leave (cut into fine thin strips)
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons palm sugar
1/4 teaspoon fish sauce
80 ml. coconut milk
1/4 cup water
1/2 onion (sliced) (optional)
5 bird’s eye chilies (optional)
Method:
- Heat up a small pot with cooking oil.
- Saute the red curry paste until aromatic.
- Add sliced onions and bird’s eye chilies. (These are optional ingredients hence this step is optional if you don’t use them.)
- Add coconut milk, water, kaffir lime leaves, and bring the curry to boil.
- Add the scallops and prawns into the pot and boil for 1-2 minutes or until the prawns and scallop are cooked. (Make sure not to overcook them).
- Add fish sauce, palm sugar, and stir-continuously for 1o seconds or so, dish out and serve immediately with steamed jasmine rice.
Cook’s Notes:
- You can use equal portion of chicken to make chicken curry.
- You can also add some other seafood such as calamari and mussels to make seafood curry.
- You can combine both chicken and seafood, for example: this red curry recipe.
- You can also add some vegetables to the curry, for example: long beans, sliced zucchini, and/or carrots.
- You can make a vegetarian version using tofu.
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Scallops are certainly the seafood I prefer (eating ad cooking). We can find fresh scallops here from october to march (I have a friend fisherman!). I’ll try your recipe …
Dominique – you are so lucky. I wish I have a fisherman friend. :)
Looks super-yummy!
I’m gonna try it soon! (expecially now that I finally found a shop here which sells thai ingredients!!)
Great for you!!
Nice simple bowl of comfort! I have a hankering for mussels, too. Might as well add those, right?
Of course, mussels are great for this curry.
I’m a big fan of Thai curry, and this looks like a great one. The scallops and shrimp look incredible!
Lisa – yes, you can add mussels, too.
Love Thai curry myself and was amazed the first time I made it at home how great it tasted unlike the first time I made Indian curry and realized you had to move beyond curry powder.
Curry powder has no depth, that’s why I stopped making curry using curry powder.
May I ask how you store palm sugar to keep it moist? When I first buy my palm sugar (block form), it is soft and moist but after storing it in the cabinet at room temperature for several weeks, it tends to dry up. Is it still ok to use then? Thanks.
Sylvia – I always get “wet” version of palm sugar. You should look out for them.
Oh gosh Bee, I am drooling!
LOL. Are you still in WA, you can get fresh seafood there.
I can’t get enough, when I make a Thai curry I eat till It’s gone!
I love Thai Curry.
What’s not to love about Thai Curry? ;)
Ah this dish is fast making me hungry! It looks simply amazing and I can just imagine how perfect a steaming cup of white rice will pair with this.
Veron – yes, just like your favorite Thai restaurant. ;)
Green curry definitely — with chicken, potatoes and eggplant. I do love red curries too — you have try making your own paste!
Hey Syrie – yeah, one day I will have to try making my own paste. LOL.
I’ve never had Thai curry as in the Caribbean growing up we usually use the madras powder type of curry. Your dish does look amazing enough for me to want to try. Will let you know how it turns out. Sourcing the kaffir lime may be a bit difficult though.
Happy Cooking!
Chris
Chris – you can do this without the kaffir lime leave, let me know how your Thai curry turns out.
Mmmm, great post, beautiful pics! Cannot wait to try it.
Yes, it’s a great Thai curry.
Hi. I want to try this recipe, sounds delicious but I cannot find palm sugar where I live. Is there any substitute for it?
You can use sugar.
Oh my gosh! I finally found palm sugar at an Asian grocery store today, I wanted to make it with the authentic ingredients. It was sooooooo good! Yum. I had an Asian curry dish about 2 weeks ago for the first time and really liked it. This recipe is so easy and taste so delicious; it is the perfect fit for a gourmet craving and it is sooo affordable. Thanks. I will be using recipes from this site more often. By the way, I came across this recipe today.
Nik – that’s great that you love the Thai Curry recipe. Congrats on finding the palm sugar.
I like Thai green curry the best! Yes, super easy with the curry pastes…always have them in the pantry together with fish sauce and coconut milk :)
like yr blog every much..nice photo. nice writing…nice food…always make me hungry..admire yr passion…
Angela – thanks. I am not sure about writing, but I try to write better. Hehe.