The Best Thai Green Curry
Prep
15m
Cook
25m
Total
40m
Bigly says
Sit down for this one. Thai green curry. The BEST Thai green curry. The greatest green curry on planet Earth, in any kitchen, in any restaurant, in any country — including Thailand, and I love Thailand, Thailand has been INCREDIBLE to me, but their curry, on average, is not as good as this curry, the one I'm about to give you. It's a slaughter. Not even close.
I've had green curry in three countries you've never heard of. Probably more green curry than anyone alive — they keep records of these things somewhere, I'm sure of it, and if they don't they should, because the numbers are astonishing. Bangkok. Chiang Mai. A roadside place outside Krabi where a woman pounded the paste in a stone mortar while staring at me like she could read my mind. Even a place in Cleveland that had no business being that good — Cleveland! The curry capital NOBODY talks about! — and every single one of them, every single one, was inferior to this one. INFERIOR. Period.
Here's what the so-called recipe writers will not tell you, because they are cowards and they are afraid of the truth: you must FRY the curry paste in coconut cream first. Fry it. Until it sizzles. Until it splits and the oil rises to the top and the whole kitchen smells like an actual restaurant in Chiang Mai. Skip this step and you've made green soup. Green soup is not green curry. Green soup is what you get from a frozen meal at a gas station at 2 AM and you tell yourself 'this isn't so bad' — but it IS so bad, it's wet sadness on a plate. Not in this kitchen. Not on my watch.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbboneless skinless chicken thighs, sliced
- 3-4 tbspThai green curry paste(Maesri or Mae Ploy, the small can, the real one)
- two 13.5-oz cansfull-fat coconut milk
- 1 cup, cubedThai eggplant or Japanese eggplant
- 1 cupbamboo shoots, drained
- 1red bell pepper, sliced
- 4kaffir lime leaves(frozen ones are fine, dried ones are sad)
- 2 tbspfish sauce
- 1 tbsppalm sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 cup, loosely packedThai basil leaves
- 2-3Thai bird chiles, sliced (optional)
- 1lime, cut into wedges
- as neededjasmine rice (for serving)
Steps
- 1
Open one can of coconut milk WITHOUT shaking it. Scoop the thick cream off the top (about 1/2 cup) into a large pot or wok.
- 2
Heat the coconut cream over medium-high heat until it bubbles and the oil starts to separate, 3-4 minutes.
- 3
Add the green curry paste. Fry it in the coconut cream, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes until it darkens slightly and smells deeply fragrant.
- 4
Add the sliced chicken. Stir to coat in the paste and cook 3-4 minutes until the outside is no longer pink.
- 5
Pour in the remaining coconut milk from both cans. Stir, scraping up anything stuck to the bottom. Bring to a gentle simmer.
- 6
Add the eggplant, bamboo shoots, bell pepper, and torn kaffir lime leaves. Simmer 8-10 minutes until the eggplant is tender and the chicken is fully cooked.
- 7
Stir in fish sauce and palm sugar. Taste — the curry should be balanced between salty, sweet, and savory. Adjust as needed.
- 8
Turn off the heat. Stir in the Thai basil and sliced bird chiles if using.
- 9
Serve over jasmine rice with lime wedges on the side.
One more thing
Bowl of rice. Big spoonful of curry. Maybe two. Maybe three — I don't judge, judgment is for the other so-called experts. The Thai basil hits, the lime cuts through, the heat builds, and you take one bite and your eyes go wide, and your spouse looks at you and says 'are you okay?' and you cannot answer because the curry has rendered you SPEECHLESS — which is the greatest review a curry can ever receive. Make this. Make it tonight. Don't wait. Life is short, the curry is ready. You're going to love it.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about The Best Thai Green Curry.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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