Red Curry Chicken

Thai food is one of my favorites, but the Thai restaurants in my neighborhood are closing around me and I still crave their delicious food. I love cooking with Thai ingredients, obviously I have no formal training or education on Thai cuisine so I just glean what I can from Thai cookbooks and I go experiment in the kitchen. Sometimes the results are delicious, and sometimes…ehh..not so much.

But this one is the former, not the latter, promise!

Thai food itself is heavily influenced by its Asian neighbors, mainly China and India, as Thailand sits in between the two ancient nations whose empires both were heavily involved in trade. As a result, their cuisines (in addition to other made trade partners of the ancient era mainly the Persians =) ) have made their way into Thai food as well. Taking the example of curry, Thai Curry varies from Indian Curry in the sense that Thai Curry is a paste made from ground up fresh ingredients like ginger, lemongrass, garlic, and chillies while Indian curry is a dry spice. Although, keep in mind the word for curry is more of an Anglo-Indian creation that was cultivated in the British-India kitchens of India. In fact, some Indian chefs have considered the word “curry” to be offensive similar to chop suey for Chinese food.

Curry in Thai is known as gaeng, while Indian style curry is known as kari. Thai curry is described as a “watery dish to be eaten with rice and utilizing shrimp paste, onions or shallots, chillies, and garlic as essential ingredients,” depending on where you are in Thailand indicates whether the curry paste will be diluted with coconut milk or with water. Coconut milk is incorporated into curries that are located in Bangkok and central Thailand, while Northern Thailand typically uses water instead. 

This curry dish uses a red curry paste, which can often be spicy but not to the level of green curry. Red curry is comprised of chillies, ginger, lemon grass, lime zest, and other aromatic ingredients that give it an unmistakeable flavor. This dish is simple to make but gives you that unique magical flavor of Thai food, all you basically do is stew split chicken breasts in the simple to make curry sauce and then add coconut milk at the end. I add my coconut milk at the end to prevent it from separating by overcooking, this helps keep the smooth consistency.

*Much of my curry based facts were sourced from  Curry: A Global History, By Colleen Taylor Sen

 

 

Recipe – Thai Phrik Khing Chicken

2 Split (skin removed) Chicken Breasts

3 Tbsp. Red Curry Paste

1/2 Cup Diced Onion

2 Tbsp. Peanut Oil

1 Can Coconut Milk

1 Tbsp. Peanut Butter

2 Tbsp. Sugar

2 Cups of Chicken Broth

Method

Step 1 – In a dutch oven pot (medium sized), heat your oil. (medium heat)

Step 2- Add your onions. Cook until softened.

Step 3- Add your curry paste, sugar, and peanut butter.

Step 4- Once the ingredients are mixed together, add your chicken breasts and brown each side.

Step 5- Now add your broth. Cook until the chicken is cooked through, stirring intermittently.

Step 6 – At about the 30 minute mark, add your coconut milk and stir, reduce the heat to low and cook for another 30 minutes.

Step 7 – Remove the chicken breast from the sauce, debone and add back into the sauce.

Step 8 – Serve with rice and enjoy!