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Jungle Curry
Jungle curry is a popular Thai curry. Jungle curry is spicy, with no coconut milk. You can make pork or chicken jungle curry with this easy recipe.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total Time:
Ingredients:
1 cup (250 ml) water
1 pack (1.76 ounce/50g) red curry paste (see picture below)
2-3 slices galanga, 1/4 inch thick
1 teaspoon rhizome (optional)
1 pound pork, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup canned bamboo shoot
1/2 cup canned baby corn
1/2 cup canned straw mushroom
8-10 string beans, cut in to 2″ length
6 kaffir leaves
15 basil leaves
Method:
Add the pork and let it cook for 1 minute. Add the fish sauce and sugar. Stir to mix. Gently transfer the bamboo shoot, baby corn, straw mushroom, string beans and kaffir leaves into the wok. Stir to mix.
Cover the wok and bring to boil. Turn the heat to medium and let it cook for 5-6 minutes. Add in the basil leaves. Give it a quick stir and cook for 2 minutes. Serve with rice.
Jungle Curry
Jungle curry is a popular Thai curry. Jungle curry is spicy, with no coconut milk. You can make pork or chicken jungle curry with this easy recipe.
Fall/winter is the best time to have curries. Nothing warms me up quite like a pot of fiery hot, spice-laden curry. I grew up with all sorts of curries back home in Malaysia: chicken curry, fish curry, squid curry, etc. And then I discovered Thai curries, which are rather different, delicious nonetheless.
Anyway, I am sure you have seen Jungle Curry on the menu at Thai restaurants. To be honest, I have never had jungle curry, even though I dine out at Thai restaurants quite often. I always order the usual red curry, green curry, or yellow curry. Recently, I decided to try Jungle Curry and actually liked it. It tastes different because it’s not as “creamy” and sweet because there is no coconut milk added in the curry, and hence the spices taste more pronounced, which is a great thing is my culinary dictionary.
Jungle curry, or kaeng pa, according to Wikipedia, is a curry originated from the northern part of Thailand. As coconuts are not found in the region, it contains no coconut milk. It was originally prepared with wild boars found in the jungle.
I made this jungle curry with pork. If you can’t eat pork, feel free to substitute with chicken. The curry goes extremely well with rice. I really enjoyed it.
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Darryl Snow
Sorry but what is rhizome?
goneboating
you wanna give me a clue on the rhizome ingredient?
thanks
Rasa Malaysia
http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/ingredients/gkrachai.html
Jordan
http://importfood.com/pkco1601.html
You won’t find this stuff fresh outside southeast Asia under any circumstances, so don’t bother looking. Bee’s instructions to use just a teaspoon of it are completely accurate. This stuff is pungent and too much will make your dish unpalatable. (Though a little will give it a “zing” that you can’t get otherwise) I find that this brand is really reliable for Thai ingredients, especially pickled, canned, and vinegared things, if you can find it in your local Asian market it will be a lot cheaper. (Around $2)
Patricia
Can’t wait to try this since it seems like a light, thin curry. I’ve always wanted to try a curry without coconut milk since I’m also paranoid about the unhealthiness of coconut milk.
But can you post pictures of the galanga and rhizome you used? I have no idea what they are or where to find them.
Lee M.
Me too. I use canned fat free evaporated milk and some coconut flavoring–I actually like it better because it’s not as heavy as coconut milk.
amy
Rhizome as in ginger? Or galangal?
Rasa Malaysia
Neither: http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/ingredients/gkrachai.html
Michael M
I think the rhizome is lesser ginger. The Thai name is krachai and temu kunci in Indonesian. According to Wikipedia it also goes by fingerroot, Chinese ginger and the botanical name Boesenbergia rotunda. From what I gather your best bet is to check the frozen section of a Southeast Asian market.
It looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it.
Foodjunkie
Thanks for this recipe Bee. I’ve discovered I don’t really care for coconut milk but I do like the spicy Thai curry pastes and it is nice to find an authentic recipe that doesn’t use coconut milk. I have used the Aroy-D green curry paste and quite like it so I am looking forward to trying this.
Lizzie
This looks delicious, I love the flavour of krachai. I love coconut milk but you don’t miss it in jungle curries.
Sterling
Im cooking this right now and it smells amazing! Maybe I’m overlooking it, but where do the green beans come in?
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Sterling, thank you for trying this recipe. Sorry, I’ve updated the post. The green/string beans come in with the other vegetables.
Tom
Bee, I couldn’t find the single pack in my local asian market, but was able to get a whole jar. How many tea or tablespoons do you think on pack is?
Tom
never mind, I hadn’t read the label 4Tbl/cup liquid, It was a huge hit, thanks!
Rasa Malaysia
I am not not too sure.
Meenal
Hi
Can I use fish in the recipe instead? Which one would you recommend?
Rasa Malaysia
Yes you can or chicken.
Meenal
Thank you for your response! I actually put in fish as well as prawns, just because I didn’t have enough fish to feed the family :-). It turned out great! Thanks for the awesome recipe – I’m going to try out more of the yummy recipes on your site……
Gordon
Yay – we have krachai in Australia.