Thai Green Curry, My Way

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thai green curry

So I tend to go through phases where I love a particular food or type of food and I'll eat it constantly until I'm sick of it. This happened very recently with, dare I say... sushi. I'm ashamed for even saying I'm sick of it, but there is such thing as too much raw fish! Does mercury poisoning mean anything to you??

I'm happy to say nowadays it's been all about Thai food. When I was in high school, I mostly would just eat pineapple fried rice, Singapore noodles, and pad thai with shrimp. I'd like to think my palate has developed just ever so slightly since then. Lately, I've been obsessing over papaya salad and green curry! Papaya salad is the perfect combination of fresh, pickley, goodness. I love eating it on the side of whatever or just by itself if it has some fresh shrimp in it. I made it for the very first time last week, so expect a post on that very soon. Now, about that green curry. How have I gone my whole life without it?

After craving it constantly, I finally decided to have a go at making it myself and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's very simple! 

I discovered this little Thai Market not too far from my house where I got the kaffir lime leaves (frozen), green curry paste, and Thai coconut milk. The lime leaves might be the one thing you have to seek out, but they can be easily substituted with some fresh lime zest.

As a disclaimer, I call this Thai Green Curry done MY WAY because I don't like Thai eggplants. Instead, I put little Yukon gold potatoes and green beans, like they do on BBC GoodFood. Not very traditional, I know. 

Ingredients Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food
One 400ml can of Thai Coconut Milk
3 tbsp. of Thai green curry paste
1 lb of chicken (I used 2 thighs without the skin, and 1 breast)
2 tsp. of fish sauce (Three Crabs Brand is my favorite)
1 tsp. sugar
handful of fresh green beans, cut in half
4-5 small Yukon gold potatoes, halved
3 kaffir lime leaves (can substitute lime zest if necessary)
handful of fresh Thai basil
steamed white rice to serve with finished curry

Prep:
- Cut vegetables: halve the potatoes (or quarter if they are a bit larger); cut the green beans in half; slice the lime leaves into strips
- Prepare chicken: rinse the chicken and remove any skin; chop into bite sized pieces
- Prepare rice: have steamed white rice prepared prior to starting your curry, so you can serve immediately once the curry is done

  1. Bring a medium sized pot of water (large enough for the potatoes and green beans) to boil with a pinch of kosher salt. Add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes; then add the green beans and cook an additional 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
    **You want these to be tender, but they will continue to cook in the curry.**
  2. In a large pan over med-high heat, drop 2 tbsp. of the green curry paste. Stir it around for a couple seconds to allow the spices to release. Add the coconut milk to the pan and allow it to come to a boil. Once heated through, have a taste to see if the spice level is right for you. If it needs a bit more spice, add another tablespoon of curry paste. This can get very spicy very quickly so add a little by little until it's just right. 
  3. Stir in the fish sauce and sugar followed by the chicken. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and allow it to cook covered for about 10-12 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
  4. Add the potatoes and green beans to the curry so they can heat through, as well as the kaffir lime leaves. Toss the Thai basil in just before serving so they won't get too dark or wilted.

This comes together really quickly and doesn't require a lot of preparation. Since I already have most of the ingredients, I will be sure to keep some green curry paste and coconut milk on hand so I can whip this up whenever I crave it. Serve on the side of steamed white rice. Enjoy!