thai panang curry
I don’t make Asian foods very often, but this is a dish that I have at Thai restaurants all the time and absolutely love to eat, so when I saw the curry paste in the Asian market, I thought I’d give it a try. It turned out as good as I could have hoped! I used tofu, potatoes and peas for this recipe, but you could substitute almost any vegetable and/or meat for it.
Thai Panang Curry
Press the tofu to eliminate the excess water and cut up 1-2 large potatoes, any variety would work. Trim the peas andprep any other veggies and meats that you plan to use in the curry.
In the meantime, bring a big pot of water to a boil and once boiling, cook the potatoes until tender. In a separate pot, start cooking your choice of grain to serve the curry over. I used quinoa, but rice is probably the best one and according to Hunter quinoa didn’t go well with the Thai food (I liked it ok). Let the rice/grain cook while you do the rest of the curry.
Put a can of coconut milk into a pot and mix in some panang curry paste.
I used light coconut milk which took away some of the dish’s richness but made it a heck of a lot healthier, but kept the great coconut taste. I also used Mae Ploy brand panang curry paste. I was really pleased with the flavor that this brand had, it was exactly what I was looking for and tasted just like the stuff I get in good Thai restaurants. But the spice to other flavors ratio was a little skewed towards spiciness, and I wished I could have added more paste for more panang flavor, but if I had it would have been too spicy.
Anyway, add the curry paste to the coconut milk and whisk to combine. I added about 2.5 tbsp of curry paste, and it was about right, but other brands and how much you like spiciness will determine how much to use. After the paste is combined fully, add the cooked potatoes, raw peas, tofu and whatever other ingredients you want to the sauce. Cook over medium heat at least until everything is hot, and longer if you want. Then serve over the rice or grains.
Oh and the curry paste container made me laugh, look at the name of the coconut company:
You never know what the packaging will say with imported foods!
8:58 pm
Kathy Hook says:
Too funny! We don’t generally like Thai, but love Indian so maybe this is the dish to try to get the Thai version of curry. Would this spice work for Indian dishes, too?
9:04 pm
laura_denver says:
I typically don’t love Thai food either, but this was my gateway into the cuisine, and I love it! Not sure the spice would work for Indian, but you never know!
3:41 pm
john_houston says:
The fishing board that I haunt has a recipe section where you frequently see outrageously caloried foods labeled as food porn. Nice to know there is the real deal out there.
7:06 pm
erin_NY says:
Panang curry was my entry into Thai too; now I love the green and red curries. Thanks for the “light” coconut milk tip. I almost used it over the full fat one last time but was worried it wouldn’t be even close. I’ll have to try it next time!
8:12 pm
mike_NY says:
So yours turned out pretty flavorful? I made a curry not long ago and it looked and felt right, but it just had no kick. My only suspicion is that I didn’t use enough curry paste. I’ll have to try your suggested amount.