Red curry is one of my favorite curries in all different Thai curries. It is a little bit sweet, a little bit creamy and just a bit spicy. I personally don’t love coconut milk based flavors for many things, except when it comes to red curry (and mango mango sticky rice lol).

Ingredients

Prep Time: 15 min / Cook Time: 15 min / 12 servings

1 tablespoon red curry paste

80 grams chicken breast, sliced. If you are vegetarian, use tofu and potatoes instead.

1 cup pure coconut milk (Notes. 1)

3 tablespoons coconut oil

8 sweet basil leaves

2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, chopped (take the middle stem first) (Notes. 2)

1 tablespoon fish sauce (Notes. 3)

3 tablespoons coconut palm sugar 

sweet basil tip (ripped from the stem) for decoration 

Tools needed: 

Deep saucepan 

Spatula 

Notes: 

1. I highly recommend using Thai coconut milk, which is more creamy and coconuty. And regularly, they are sugar-free, no preservatives, and no gums. (Brand recommendation: Trader Joe’s organic coconut milk ) Another brand is Native Forest Organic Coconut Milk Simple, from Sri Lanka, which is also very good. Be careful with this brand’s other coconut milk version. They may contain guar gums. You can get them in an Asian supermarket, Chinatown or on Amazon. 

2.Fresh kaffir lime leaves are not very easy to find in the states. If you are close to any Chinatowns in NYC or LA or other cities, you may find them there. 

3. If you are very sensitive to gluten, Red Boat is a good brand for pure fish sauce. The only two ingredients are anchovies and sea salt. It does taste saltier than other Thai brands of fish sauce, but you can moderate and avoid the added sugar this way.

4. If you are cooking defrosted chicken (or other meat), make sure you add a little more red chili paste, fish sauce and 1 tablespoon of coconut palm sugar. Meat after defrosting will contain more water during the cooking process. Another easy way to make the perfect tasting curry is to boil the chicken breast (sliced) in cold water for 15 mins (boiling time). And then drain them and put them into the curry at the last step of this recipe.

Directions

1. Put coconut oil in a sauce pan on medium heat. Add red curry paste in and stir until you can smell the aroma.

2. Add 1/3 cup of the coconut milk into the pan, lower the heat. Stir it until the oil rises on the top of the mix, then add another 1/3 cup of the coconut milk. Continue to stir it until you can see the red oil rise on top of the mix again.  Add the rest of the coconut milk and put the meat/vegetables in. The coconut milk should cover the chicken. Turn to medium high heat.

3. Add in fish sauce and coconut palm sugar. Taste and adjust the favor based on your preference.

4. Bring the curry to a boil, then immediately add kaffir lime leaves and sweet basil leaves. Then turn off the heat.

5. Transfer to a serving bowl, and decorate with some sweet basil.