Thai Red Curry

Method

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1. Open the coconut milk tins without shaking them. Spoon 150 ml of the thick cream from the top into a wok.

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2. Heat over medium-high until it bubbles vigorously and splits, with clear oil visible at the edges, about 5 minutes.

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3. Add the curry paste and fry in that oil for 3 to 4 minutes, pressing and stirring, until it darkens and smells intensely fragrant.

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4. Add the chicken and turn it in the paste for 3 minutes until coated and sealed.

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5. Pour in the remaining coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer — never a rolling boil, which splits the sauce.

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6. Add the kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce and palm sugar and simmer 8 minutes.

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7. Add the bamboo shoots, pepper and green beans and cook 5 minutes more until just tender.

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8. Taste and balance: more fish sauce for salt, more sugar for roundness, lime juice for lift.

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9. Kill the heat, fold through the Thai basil and sliced chilli, and serve immediately with jasmine rice.

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Chef’s Tips

• Do not shake the tin. Cracking the cream is the step that separates a real Thai curry from coconut milk with paste stirred in.
• Thai basil, not Italian. The aniseed note is central and sweet basil is not a substitute.
• Taste and adjust at the end, every time. Curry pastes vary enormously in salt and heat.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• For a non-vegan version, double cream can generally stand in for the coconut milk; going the other way, a plant-based cream sold for cooking is the closer match to dairy than tinned coconut milk on its own.
• A pinch of dried chilli flakes works in place of fresh chilli — start with about a third of the quantity the red chillies in the list implies, since dried chilli is more concentrated, and add more to taste.
• Lemon is the everyday swap for lime in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.

Pairing Suggestions

• Jasmine rice
• A cold lager or an off-dry Riesling
• A cucumber relish to cool things down

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerate up to 3 days and freeze 2 months. Reheat gently without boiling and add fresh basil.

Common questions

Nutritional Highlights

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.