Tuesday Red Curry
Dinner Ideas
NotADrink

Tuesday Red Curry

30-minute weeknight curry. Chicken thighs, red curry paste, coconut milk, Thai basil.

Time
30 min
Makes
Serves 4
Difficulty
Easy
Shaken Weeknight Crowd

Method

1

Heat oil in a large wok or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add curry paste; stir-fry 1 minute until fragrant.

2

Pour in the coconut cream. Stir and simmer 3-4 minutes — the cream will separate and the paste will fry in the fat. This is the bloom step.

3

Add the chicken. Stir to coat; cook 3-4 minutes until no longer pink.

4

Pour in the coconut milk. Add eggplant and bamboo shoots. Bring to a simmer.

5

Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 12-15 minutes until the eggplant is tender.

6

Stir in fish sauce and sugar. Taste — should be hot, salty, sweet, and rich. Adjust as needed.

7

Remove from heat. Stir in Thai basil. Cover for 1 minute to wilt the basil.

8

Serve over jasmine rice with a lime wedge.

From the kitchen

Fry the paste in coconut cream first. The cream separates, the paste blooms, and the curry tastes like it simmered for an hour.

Story so far
Red curry paste is the workhorse of Thai cooking. We use Mae Ploy — the red tub, not the green. It's hot, complex, and shelf-stable. A 4-tbsp scoop is enough for a 4-serving curry. The vegetables are flexible: baby eggplant, bamboo shoots, bell pepper, green beans. We use baby eggplant and bamboo shoots because they hold their shape. Serve over jasmine rice, garnished with Thai basil (not Italian basil — the flavors are different) and a wedge of lime. The fish sauce at the end is non-negotiable: it adds the salty-savory backbone that coconut milk alone can't provide.