What is Green Curry Paste
Green curry paste (พริกแกงเขียวหวาน - prik gaeng khiaowan), is a concentrated paste made of spices, herbs, aromatics and green chili peppers that’s used as a base for making a variety of Thai dishes. It’s traditionally made by grinding the ingredients together with a mortar and pestle into a smooth paste that can then be fried. These days it’s possible to get pre-made curry paste in almost any supermarket, but the flavor just isn’t the same as a fresh curry paste, and I highly recommend making it from scratch.
Why is Green Curry Paste Green
The most obvious reason is that it uses green chilies whereas red curry paste uses red chilies. But beyond the difference in the color of the chili peppers, there subtle variations in the types and amounts of spices and herbs added, giving this curry a fresh herbal flavor.
Ingredients
Chili Peppers
I’ve used green bird chilies for this curry paste, but because they can be very spicy, I don’t add a lot. If you use a less spicy chili such as Jalapenos or Serranos, you can add more, which will give your curry paste a darker green color.
Spices
The basic spices in red, green and yellow curry are coriander, cumin, white pepper, and galangal. The difference is in the proportions of each added to the curry paste. For my green curry, I like using a higher ratio of coriander relative to the other spices.
Herbs
The usual herbs are lemongrass, cilantro root, and kaffir lime zest. Since the limes can be difficult to find outside out of Thailand, I usually substitute the leaves. The only trouble with using the leaves is that they are very fibrous, so it’s important to mince them as finely as possible before adding them to the mortar. I also add some Thai basil. While it does help make the curry paste greener in the short term, basil oxidizes rather quickly, which will discolor your curry paste. That’s why I only add a bit for flavor.
Aromatics
Finally, for the aromatics, the traditional ingredients are shallots and garlic. If you can find the small marble-sized shallots used frequently in Southeast Asian cuisines that would be ideal, but if not, larger Western shallots or even red onions will work.
How to use Green Curry Paste
The most obvious use for this is to make a classic Green Curry Chicken, but this can also be used as a versatile condiment. For example, I like making green curry fried rice by frying some paste in a generous amount of oil and then adding rice, egg, and bamboo shoots. Then I season it with a little fish sauce and finish it off with Thai Basil. The paste also makes for a delicious green curry noodle soup by frying the paste in oil until fragrant, adding chicken, chicken stock, coconut milk, and vegetables. Once the chicken is cooked through, you can add some rehydrated rice noodles to make for a soul-warming soup. Another way I like to use it is to season ground meat to make sausages, meat pies, or a Thai-style soboro that works great in a bento box.
📖 Recipe
