The sky is the limit with vegetables that you can use in Thai curry. Our base recipes normally involve bell peppers, broccoli, and eggplant but you really can add just about any vegetable you like. At the basic level, Thai curry paste is simply a mixture of ground herbs and spices - and there are tons of varieties: red, green, yellow, massaman, panang, etc. They're also used in many dishes beyond Thai curries, such as this cauliflower stir fry and Thai fish cakes. Pailin Chongchitnant advocates buying Thai brands. Many of them have distribution facilities in the U.S. and work with ingredients sourced directly from Thailand. Pay close attention to what’s on the ingredients list. “There should be nothing apart from herbs, spices, salt, and shrimp paste. No oils, no additives, no water” advises Pailin. In some cases, you should also be avoiding heat, especially with curries like Massaman and yellow. “Stop thinking Thai food or curry has to be spicy,” says Hong Thaimee. “Thai food is a symphony of flavors and especially green curry, which is a curry that’s sweet and green and coconut milky.”

Namjai: A near-tie to Mae Ploy. It has a redder colour (if that matters to you) and a slightly milder shrimp paste flavor.Like all curries – don’t be afraid to experiment! Our recipe contains peppers, shallots, sugar snap peas and bamboo shoots. Green Thai curry is considered to be the spiciest - as green chillies (of the same variety) are usually hotter and sharper than red chillies.

Slow Cooker Club followers will know that the Friday night fakeaway is a thing in our house – why bother paying your local takeaway for food when you can cook something healthier and better tasting yourself? Maesri is a paste with a good flavour base, but it is significantly weaker than the top 3, and would require a larger amount of paste. If you're sensitive to salt and can handle just a little spice, this is what I would use so that you have room to add more paste without fearing that it would become too salty or spicy. Chef’s Choice: Chef’s Choice is a personal recommendation by Hong Thaimee, and mostly found in Europe and Asia and available online. She likes how vibrant the color of the paste is, which she says is another indicator of freshness. Add your seafood and cook. Shrimp can be done in as little as 3-5 minutes but other seafood like mussels may take 5-7 minutes or more. Leftover Thai curry can be kept in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months. Alternatively it’ll keep for three days in the fridge.Thai Red Curry Paste– This firm red paste gives the curry all the flavor it needs. You can use store-bought or homemade curry paste (see below for details). Through the years its green color becomes more colorful thanks to the integration of basil, cilantro or fresh green chili, and kaffir lime leaf. These herbs, on the other hand, are mixed with shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, as well as lemongrass. Top 10 Best Curry Pastes While both Phongchanok and Hong are working on their own lines of curry paste, there are also some favorites, found both online and in most Asian grocery stores, that many of us Thai home cooks love to use: This curry paste possesses a sweet and mild taste that is spicy. Usually, it contains turmeric that offers usual golden-yellow color.

If using the Thai basil and lime alternative, turn off heat, add the lime zest and lime juice, mix vigorously, and serve over rice in a bowl. While it can be incredibly spicy, red curry doesn’t have to be. It all depends on the curry paste. But it is always exotic tasting, at least to most American palates. Slowly fried onions and garlic, red chiles (hot or mild), lemongrass, citrus leaves, ginger and/or its cousin galangal, all mashed into a paste that is the soul of a good red curry. Photo by Holly A. Heyser Unfortunately, when it came to learning how to make Thai curry in cooking classes, most lessons involved making curry paste from scratch. This was a cumbersome process that, to be quite honest, most home cooks probably don't have the time or patience for. I have to say that my favorite brand of curry paste is still Mae Anong, even though it doesn't make for as pretty pictures given its grayish hue. But, I'll definitely be more willing to substitute Mae Ploy or Maesri in the future should the need arise.

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This curry blend that has a rich and tangy taste works with a little bit spicy. It is excellent with meat, dairy, grains, and starchy veggies as well. What’s more, it has no egg, dairy, animal or artificial ingredients. Pros: For most people, I recommend going with one of the top 3: Mae Ploy, Namjai or Aroy-D. They came close enough that you can't go wrong with any of them. But if you're vegan or allergic to shrimp, then Aroy-D would be your only good option. For each type of paste, there’s a basic expectation of what it should taste like; but like any recipe, everyone has their own specific formula, hence all these brands. Keep in mind that the best curry paste is the one that contains natural flavors. Avoid opting for pastes that contain artificial flavors because they are not good for the health.

Take your galangal, and if you can find baby galangal that's not too old, it will be softer, but whatever you have is alright. Again, slice it into pieces and you want enough for 1 tablespoon worth.Made up of a wide variety of spicy, sweet, sour, and salty ingredients, this red curry paste is an essential aspect of everyone’s kitchen. Used in traditional Thai dishes such as red curry stir-fry over rice, Thai sausage, and fish cakes, this product is important for several recipes. This particular formulation is made up of red chilli, garlic, lemongrass, salt, shallot, kaffir lime peel, galangal, and shrimp paste. All of these unique flavours come together nicely in this product, proudly produced by the notable Mae Ploy brand, known throughout Thailand and many countries of the world. Mae Ploy has also made this product easy to use multiple times the tub can be resealed after each use. If you don’t want to make the paste yourself (let’s be honest, if you’re pressed for time – who does?), then the paste you use will make or break your curry. In a world where authenticity in food is highly valued (and for good reason), many home cooks want to work with real flavors and real ingredients, avoiding shortcuts and workarounds. But sometimes that desire butts up against reality: We don’t always have access to grocery stores with wide selections, time to simmer and braise for hours, or money to buy another round of spices. Imports of kaffir lime plants have been restricted as the plant is known to carry disease. But as producers are seemingly allowed to grow plants domestically, the market has been growing in recent years. As such, where 10 years ago you may have been hard-pressed to find these leaves in the freezer section of Asian grocery stores, they are becoming more and more common as time goes by. Of course, to be a proper red coconut curry you need coconut, too. And there are several ways to get there, as with the curry paste.