Green Curry

Cultural Context

Green Curry, or gaeng khiao waan, is one of Thailand’s most recognized curries. Despite the name, the “sweet” in its Thai name refers more to the curry’s gentle balance and green color than to a sugary flavor bomb. The usual backbone is green curry paste fried in coconut cream, then simmered with chicken or another protein, eggplant, fish sauce, palm sugar and Thai basil. In other words, it is layered, aromatic and far more elegant than the average takeout tub suggests.

Fun Fact

One of the most important flavor steps in Thai green curry happens before the curry even looks like curry: frying the paste in thick coconut cream. Skip that, and the whole pot tastes flatter and less fragrant.

Cook’s Tip

Chicken thighs are a strong choice here because they stay juicy in the curry. Thai basil is more traditional than sweet Italian basil and gives the curry its distinctive finish.

Thai eggplant is classic, but small globe eggplant works well for home cooks when Thai eggplant is hard to find. Green beans are a practical substitute for longer Thai beans.

A good green curry keeps the core balance of spicy, sweet, salty and rich rather than leaning too hard on any one note. Fish sauce, palm sugar and coconut milk do most of that work.

Store-bought Thai green curry paste is perfectly workable for a home-cook version, especially when you fry it properly before adding the liquid.

Trivia

Green Curry is often associated with central Thai cooking and is known for a balance that is spicy, rich and lightly sweet, rather than aggressively hot for the sake of culinary showing off.