Thai Green Curry with Chicken
by Dawn T in Rouxbe Videos
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Thai Green Curry with Chickenby Dawn T in Rouxbe Videos This fragrant and colorful Thai green curry with chicken is so simple to prepare. It makes a great dish to serve family-style.
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Step 1: Making the Green Curry Paste
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To make the green curry paste, first prepare your mise en place. Finely mince the lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots, coriander root and the chilies. Peel and mince the turmeric. Keep in mind that it will stain your cutting board, hands, and anything it comes into contact with. Gather the kaffir lime, shrimp paste and Thai basil and set aside. In a small fry pan, toast the coriander and cumin seeds until they release their aroma and start to brown slightly. To make the paste, use a mortar and pestle and grind the spices, peppercorns and salt into a fine powder. Next, add the lemongrass and pound until you reach a smooth paste, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the galangal, then turmeric, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Add the garlic, cilantro stems, chilies and shallots. Zest the kaffir lime and add the shrimp paste. Finely chop the basil and add it to the mortar and pestle, pounding everything into a smooth paste. Set the paste aside while you prepare the rest of your mise en place.
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Step 2: Preparing Your Mise en Place
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To prepare your mise en place, first chiffonade the kaffir lime leaves. Chop the eggplant into bite-size pieces. Next, separate the thick coconut cream from the coconut milk. Measure out the fish sauce and palm sugar. Slice the chicken breast into thin, bite-size pieces. Lastly, de-stem and measure out the Thai basil.
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Step 3: Cooking the Dish
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To cook the curry, heat a wok over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the coconut cream and stir frequently, until the coconut oil separates. This should take between 5-10 minutes. Once separated, add about 3 to 5 tablespoons of the green curry paste. The amount you use will depend on how hot you like your curry, keeping in mind store bought pastes are usually spicier. Fry this for a minute or two, until it’s very fragrant and you start to see the oil again. Add the chicken and coat with the paste. Flatten it out slightly and let cook for a minute or so. Stir and continue to cook until it just starts to turn white on the outside. Next, add the coconut milk, and then the eggplant. Fold everything together and let simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the eggplant has softened slightly. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the palm sugar, fish sauce, kaffir lime, and half of the Thai basil. Stir to combine and let simmer for another 2 minutes before adding the remaining basil and frozen peas. Lastly, turn off the heat and let sit for a few minutes before serving. Garnish with a sprig of Thai basil, and serve with Pandan-infused jasmine rice.
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Notes
Go to the Rouxbe Cooking School and Learn About:
How to Use and Cook with Herbs
This paste will keep in the refrigerator for a few days, however, it will oxidize and change color, but the flavor won’t be affected. It can be frozen to maintain color and will keep for a couple of months.
Thai pea eggplants are commonly used in this dish, however, they can be difficult to find. They are small, light-green in color and have a slight bitter taste and crisp texture. Over ripe eggplants become very bitter and tough.
Vegetarian Version:
To make this paste vegetarian, simply substitute the shrimp paste with vegetarian fish sauce or soy sauce. Substitute the chicken with more vegetables.
Comments
Once the paste is made, the dish is easy to make and really delicious to eat.
what happens to the taste and texture if you leave out the coconut cream?
Well without coconut milk it won't be quite the same, but you can add another liquid for texture. And if you simply don't like the taste of coconut then I suppose you could leaving it out.
If you are just talking about the coconut cream, this adds a wonderful richness to the dish. Without it the dish will be more of a "diet-version" of itself :-)
Hi, what about replacing coconut cream with lite coconut milk? Also can you replace the chicken with prawns? Fiona
Yes absolutely you can use prawns...pork, beef or even scallops. Here is a recipe for Seafood with Thai Green Curry that is delicious.
If you use light coconut milk you will not get the same creamy texture. You will also likely have to use some oil to cook as there will be no oil in the thin coconut milk.
I was surprised to see this chicken-based recipe listed in the category "vegetarian". I know I can always look at the non-vegetarian recipes for inspiration and try to modify them as necessary; and I do really appreciate that this recipe provides explicit notes on how to do so. But when looking in the vegetarian category I'm specifically looking for recipes that are vegetarian "as-is". Please don't list recipes in the "vegetarian" category if they are not vegetarian without modification; it makes the category less useful.
Hi, I've been assigned to cook for a birthday weekend away. I dont particularly want to cook on the night and wondered if I can make any of the thai curry recipes on here a few days before and freeze them?? I was also thinking of making the coconut prawns before hand and adding the prawns when I heat the curry through. Is this a good idea?
Both the green and red panang curry freeze very well. In fact, I have some in my freeze right now. As for doing the whole dish ahead of time (if that is what you are asking) I would say it's better to those fresh.
As for making the coconut prawns and then adding them to the curry, I would say that you would be better off to make the coconut prawns and serve them as another option; otherwise the flavors will get lost in the curry.
Hope this helps - good luck!
I have had a hard time trying to buy kaffir lime leaves. i have checked out several chinese grocery stores, but they do not carry kaffir lime leaves. What would be a good substitute? other than growing your own..Thanks
There is really no true substitute for the flavor of kaffir lime, but you could try using some lime zest instead.
You best bet though, is to phone your local Thai restaurant and ask them where they buy them (perhaps they may even sell you some). This is what I did and they suggested a great little Asian/Thai store that I now shop at regularly.
You can also order kaffir lime leaves online. Don't give up the hunt as they really do add a wonderful and unique quality to this dish and many other Thai dishes. They also freeze very well.
Hope this helps - cheers!
I have a le creuset braiser casserole pan. Can I use this pan in place of the wok? Thanks
The flat bottom design of the braiser is quite a bit different than a slopped wok so I am not sure that this will work as well. That being said you can always try it. Cheers!
Wud tis curry suits with salmon?
Yes you could pair them together. Cheers!
Which brand of wok has been used in this video? Is is carbon steel? Thanks
The type of wok used in the video is a cast iron wok made by Bodum. This type of wok works well on a gas stove. Cheers!