Panang curry – real deal, from scratch Recipe

It is a actual Panang Curry recipe for curry connoisseurs who adore genuine Thai meals! It’s made utilizing a selfmade Panang Curry paste which is straightforward to make however will seemingly name for a visit to the Asian retailer. However for those who actually need the most effective, it’s price it. You’ll be able to’t get good Panang curry in jars!

Make this creamy coconut Panang curry with both prawns/shrimp or chicken. Each are nice!

It is a recipe for Thai Panang curry that’s fully constituted of scratch, together with a selfmade Panang curry paste. Whereas I’ll fortunately make Thai Pink and Inexperienced curry utilizing my favorite curry paste from a jar, nothing compares to a Panang Curry paste whenever you make it your self from contemporary substances!

Even the Panang curry paste by my favorite Maesri model falls too brief in comparison with selfmade. Properly, perhaps that’s going too far. It makes a tasty sufficient curry. However not an actual deal Panang curry!

Panang Curry tastes like a extra intense model of Thai Pink Curry. Whereas it has related substances, Panang curry is a bit stronger, richer, sweeter and thicker than Pink Curry, in addition to barely nutty due to the addition of floor peanuts within the paste.

Panang curry is spicy. However not like most different curry recipes, you can’t cut back the spiciness with out dropping flavour as a result of chillies are the important thing ingredient for Penang curry sauce.

How spicy, you ask? Thais would class this Panang curry as medium or “not so spicy”. For Westerners, it’s most likely getting up in direction of scorching. However not volcanic. Normal consensus amongst my staff is that it’s a 7 out of 10 on the spicy scale. The one different curry on my web site that hits this degree of spiciness is Vindaloo, if that’s a helpful comparable for you.

So for those who can’t deal with spicy meals, I counsel you give Panang Curry a miss and make a milder Thai Yellow Curry or Massaman Curry as a substitute!

* Spiciness testing: My staff and I labored on this Panang curry recipe a LOT. We did so many variations to emphasize take a look at the spiciness and we’re all in settlement that for those who cut back the chillis to scale back spiciness, you lose flavour and it’s not Panang curry. We ended up making a recipe utilizing milder Chinese language chillies moderately than spicy Thai ones, to get sufficient sauce flavour with out blowing our heads off.

OK, due warning on the subject of spiciness given. On to the recipe!

First, I’ll run by the attractive contemporary substances for the selfmade Panang curry paste. Then all the great things that goes within the curry!

Panang curry paste substances

There’s a good few Asian particular substances right here, however acquainted substances to those that have made different selfmade Thai curries. Particularly, Thai Pink Curry – as a result of the substances are just about the identical!

It’s going to require a visit to the Asian retailer, although you may really get every little thing at Harris Farms and the bigger grocery shops in Australia, except for shrimp paste (however there’s an alternative to that).

• Dried chilli – Key ingredient, so mentioned beneath. Don’t get this improper – you’ll remorse it! 🔥

• Lemongrass – Contemporary is finest however for those who can’t get it, use 1 tablespoon of lemongrass paste as a substitute.

• Galangal – seems like ginger however is extra citrusy and more durable. It’s fairly robust so finest to grate to make sure your curry paste is easy, in any other case you threat lumps in your sauce. You’ll find it in Asian shops + some grocery shops in Australia (Harris Farms and a few Woolworths promote it). Substitute: use the identical quantity of ginger + 1/4 tsp lime zest.

• Shrimp paste in bean oil – I exploit Por Kwan Shrimp Paste in Bean Oil, pictured beneath, the most well-liked one offered at Asian grocery shops right here in Australia. Substitute with 1 1/2 tsp belacan dried shrimp paste, roughly chopped (even offered at Woolies in Australia!) + 1 tsp oil + 1 tsp fish sauce + 1 garlic clove + 1 tsp miso, for those who can – any kind). Use rather than shrimp paste in recipe.

• Kaffir lime leaves – Earthy lime flavour not like anything! Offered at Asian shops, Harris Farms & massive grocery shops in Australia. Freezes 100% completely – utilized in Thai purple curry, coconut rice, Thai meatballs.

• Eschalot (US: Shallot) – Also referred to as French onions and known as “shallots” within the US. They’re like child onions, however with purple-skinned flesh. To not be confused with what some individuals in Australia name “shallots”, ie. the lengthy inexperienced onions. Substitute with half a purple onion.

• Garlic – 5 complete cloves!

• Peanuts – That is what offers the Panang curry the signature peanut-y flavour. Beats utilizing a scoop of peanut butter any day!

• Dried spices – Cumin, coriander and nutmeg.

Dried chilli for Panang curry paste

Dried chilli is the important thing ingredient in Panang curry, for each sauce flavour and color. It is usually what makes Panang curry spicy. However for those who cut back the chilli, you’ll lose sauce flavour. In order really helpful above, for those who can’t deal with spicy meals, it’s best to offer this a miss.

Chilli kind issues!! Use Chinese language dried chillies, not Thai or Indian! I do know it sounds unusual to let you know to not use Thai dried chillies however they’re SUPER spicy and in contrast to Chinese language chillis, they don’t cut back in spiciness a lot when cooked. Similar with some Indian chillies, like kashmiri. Let’s simply say my staff and I put our our bodies on the road to determine this out!!
* Test label for nation of origin.* You need chillies from China. And though the spiciness of Chinese language chilli sorts and types will fluctuate, we discovered that the cooking course of on this curry reduces the spiciness of the chillies in order that they find yourself being the identical degree of spiciness – even utilizing Chinese language chillies labelled scorching and further scorching.

The model I exploit is pictured above. It’s a quite common model right here in Australia and never that costly (~$3), offered in Asian shops and even some massive grocery shops.

Quantity to make use of – We’d like 1/2 cup chillies as soon as chopped, so begin with about 2/3 cup complete chillies. Dried chillies fluctuate in size so the quantity you want will fluctuate, from (say) 12 very massive ones to 40 small ones. Get massive ones for those who can as a result of we have to deseed them and it’s a lot quicker to take care of 12 massive ones than 40 small ones.

Remember to deseed totally – the seeds are the place a lot of the spiciness is!

The protein – chicken or prawns/shrimp

The bottom recipe requires contemporary, complete prawns/shrimp. It is because I like so as to add my very own contact by repurposing the heads to make a straightforward prawn inventory to be used within the sauce. This underlines the candy, prawn-y flavours of this curry and catapults it into wow territory. Nevertheless, we’ve additionally made it with chicken and it’s extraordinarily good too!

In the event you can’t get / don’t have / actually can’t bear the considered peeling your individual prawns, it’s okay, you should utilize peeled prawns and skip making the prawn inventory.

Chicken inventory? Sure! Retailer purchased fish/seafood inventory is de facto not good. However chicken inventory is significantly better, and will get infused with prawn flavour from the prawn heads (which is the place a lot of the prawn flavour is!).

Panang curry sauce

Right here’s what you want for the sauce and different add-ins for the curry.

• Coconut cream – Extra intense coconut flavour than utilizing coconut milk, and thickens the sauce too. Full fats important! No level utilizing low-fat as a result of fats is the place all of the flavour is.

• Fish sauce – Gives a lot of the salt within the curry, however with extra savoury flavour. We do add some salt too as a result of if we solely use fish sauce, it will get a bit too…nicely, fishy. 🙂

• Sugar – Only a contact, as a result of Thai meals is all about balancing the sweet-salty-savoury!

• Thai basil leaves – Contemporary herb utilized in Thai cooking that tastes like Italian basil with a slight aniseed flavour. Substitute with Italian basil.

The making half could be very straight ahead and fairly fast really. The step that takes the longest is soaking the dried chillies!

Make prawn inventory – if utilizing prawns/shrimp

In the event you’re making Panang curry with prawns/shrimp, get the prawn inventory going first. In the event you’re utilizing chicken, you may skip this step.

1. 15 minute simmer – Place chicken inventory, prawn heads and shells in a saucepan. Simmer for quarter-hour, crushing the heads from time to time with a potato masher to extract as a lot flavour as you may.

2. Pressure the inventory and discard the prawn heads. We began with 1 1/2 cups of inventory, it’s best to find yourself with round 1 1/4 cups. Prime up in case you are brief.

   Then set the inventory apart for five minutes to let the sediment settle to the underside. We’ll keep away from pouring that backside layer into our sauce.

Curry paste

1. De-seed chillis – Minimize the chillis in half then twist / faucet / use chopsticks to take away all of the seeds. Be thorough right here – the seeds is the place a lot of the spiciness is! I received slack sooner or later and let’s simply say I severely regretted it.

2. Soak half-hour – Roughly chop the chillis then soak in boiling water for half-hour.

3. Drain and reserve the chilli soaking liquid. We shall be utilizing some for the curry paste.

4. Blitz – Put the peanuts right into a jug simply massive sufficient to suit the pinnacle of a stick blender. Cowl the jar together with your hand to cease the peanuts from flying in every single place and blitz right into a tough paste. Then add all of the remaining curry paste substances and blitz till easy. It solely takes round 20 seconds or so.

   Observe: You may also use a small meals processor. You’ll wrestle to make this in a big meals processor as there may be not sufficient curry paste.

Making Panang curry

This half is sweet and fast – about 10 minutes from begin to end!

1. Sauté curry paste – Cook dinner the Panang Curry paste for round 5 minutes till it darkens in color and isn’t moist and sloppy. This intensifies the flavour.

2. Sauce – Add the prawn inventory, being cautious to pour off simply the clearer liquid and leaving the sediment behind. If utilizing chicken as your protein, simply add plain chicken inventory/broth.

3. Add coconut cream, sugar, fish sauce and salt.

4. Add the beans then simmer for two minutes till the beans are half cooked.

5. Add prawns, stir, then simmer for an additional 2 minutes till the prawns are cooked. They prepare dinner rapidly – and can hold cooking as we end it!

6. Serve – Then lastly, stir within the Thai basil leaves. Serve over jasmine rice garnished with chopped peanuts, chilli and extra Thai basil leaves!

So, with the large blue field of thanks completed, I hope these of you on the fence about making an attempt this will have the arrogance to make it understanding it’s been topic to further thorough testing! We actually do suppose that is an distinctive Panang Curry. You’d be laborious pressed to search out one nearly as good apart from on the actually high tier Thai eating places. In Sydney, I’d solely advocate Lengthy Chim and Spice I Am.

Keep in mind – be courageous with the chillies! Go on, you are able to do it! 😉 – Johnsat x

Panang curry – real deal, from scratch Recipe

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Serves: 4 Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes 30 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• 700g/ 1.4 lb whole raw prawns/shrimp (ie shell on), medium ~8cm / 3″long – Note 1
• 350g / 12 oz boneless, skinless chicken thighs , cut into 7mm/ 1/3" slices
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock/broth , low-sodium (not fish/seafood – Note 2)
• 2/3 cup dried Chinese chillies (not Thai!) (24 x 6cm/2.5" long, 1/2 cup (15g) once deseeded chopped) – Note 3
• 3 tbsp roasted peanuts unsalted
• 2 lemongrass stems , finely grated (2 x 20cm/8" lengths) – Note 4
• 2 eschalots , roughly chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 tbsp galangal, finely grated (~1.5cm / 0.6" piece) – Note 5
• 5 garlic cloves , finely minced
• 1 1/2 tbsp shrimp paste in bean oil – Note 6
• 1/2 tsp each ground coriander, cumin, nutmeg
• 1 tbsp (packed) finely sliced kaffir lime leaves (~ 6 leaves) – Note 7
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 1 1/4 cups coconut cream , full-fat (standard Aus 270ml small can ok)
• 3 1/2 tsp white sugar
• 4 1/2 tsp fish sauce
• 1/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt
• 200g/7oz green beans , trimmed, cut in half (~1 1/2 cups)
• 12 Thai basil leaves – Note 8
• Jasmin rice
• 2 tbsp unsalted peanuts , finely chopped
• Red cayenne peppers , finely sliced (optional)
• Thai basil leaves , 3 leaves per serving – Note 8

Instructions

1. Simmer – Peel and devein prawns, reserving heads and shells. Bring chicken stock to a simmer in a small pot on high heat. Add prawn heads & shells, bring back to a simmer, then reduce to low heat. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, periodically crushing the heads lightly with a potato masher and skimming off any orange scum.
2. Strain into a jug, discarding heads. You should have just over 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) of stock. Leave undisturbed to let the sediment settle (~ 5min+).
3. Cut chillies in half then tap / squeeze out seeds (use a chopstick if needed for stubborn seeds). Discard seeds (spicy!). Chop chilli.
4. Soak dried chillis in 2 cups of boiling water for 30 minutes. Drain in a colander, reserve soaking liquid.
5. Peanuts – Put peanuts in a tall jar that comfortably fits the head of a stick blender (or use a small blender). Cover the jar opening with your hand and pulse until finely ground.
6. Blitz paste – Add drained chillis and remaining Curry Paste ingredients, along with 1/4 cup of the reserved chilli soaking liquid. Blend, scraping down the sides as you go, for about 30 seconds until smooth, using extra chilli water only if needed to help blend.
7. Cook curry paste – Heat oil in a large deep frying pan over medium-low heat. Cook curry paste for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. The paste should be drier, darker, smelling aromatic and no longer raw.
8. Sauce – Add 1 cup (250 ml) prawn stock, being careful to pour off just the clearer liquid and leaving the sediment behind. Stir in the coconut cream, sugar, fish sauce and salt. Mix in the green beans.
9. Simmer for 2 minutes until the sauce thickens and the beans are half cooked.
10. Add prawns, stir, then simmer for another 2 minutes until the prawns are cooked. Stir in the Thai basil leaves. The final taste should lean mostly savoury and sweet, and medium spiciness.
11. Serve over jasmine rice garnished with chopped peanuts, chilli and more Thai basil leaves!

Notes

SPICE NOTE! This is an authentic Panang curry, so it’s spicy. Thai’s would class it as medium or “not so spicy”. For Westerners, it’s probably getting up towards hot. But not volcanic. Because the sauce relies on the chilli for colour and flavour, if you can’t handle spicy food, give this one a miss and make Thai Yellow Curry or Massaman Curry instead!
1. Proteins – I think juicy prawns go particularly well with panang curry, plus you get to re-purpose the heads to get free, bonus flavour into the stock which makes this really special. If using pre-peeled prawns, using 350g/12 oz and skip the stock making steps.
Chicken – Recipe works perfectly with chicken too! Use 350g/12oz, thinly sliced. Skip the stock making steps, cook chicken as per recipe does with prawns.
2. Chicken stock? Yes! Store bought fish/seafood stock is really not good. But chicken stock is much better, and gets infused with prawn flavour from the prawn heads (which is where most of the prawn flavour is!).
3. Use Chinese dried chillies, not Thai or Indian! I know it sounds strange to tell you to avoid Thai dried chillies but they are SUPER spicy and don’t reduce in spiciness much when cooked. Same with some Indian ones are too (like kashmiri). My team and I did a lot of testing around chilli types for this curry re: excessive spiciness.
Check label for country of origin, use Chinese chillies. Though the spiciness of Chinese chilli types and brands will vary, I found that the cooking process in this curry reduces the spiciness of the chillies so they end up being the same level of spiciness. Be brave! Try not to reduce the chilli too much because they are also a key flavouring for the sauce. If you can’t handle spicy food, I suggest skipping this recipe!
Quantity – Dried chillies vary in length so the number you need will vary, from (say) 12 very large ones to 40 small ones for 2/3 cup when whole (20g, with seeds in). You need enough so you have 1/2 cup (15 g) chillies once chopped / deseeded. Be sure to deseed thoroughly – the seeds are where most of the spiciness is!
4. Lemongrass prep – cut the reedy end off, we’re only using the white and pale green part, around the bottom 20cm/8″. Trim root off, peel off reedy outer layer. Then grate using a microplane, discard stringy bits left. Sub: Fresh is best here but if you can’t get it, use 1 tablespoon of lemongrass paste instead.
5. Galangal – looks like ginger but is more citrusy and harder. It’s pretty tough so best to grate to ensure your curry paste is smooth. You can find it in Asian stores + some grocery stores in Australia (Harris Farms and some Woolworths sell it). Sub: use the same amount of ginger + 1/4 tsp lime zest.
6. Shrimp paste in bean oil – I use Por Kwan Shrimp Paste in Bean Oil, the most popular one sold at Asian grocery stores here in Australia. Substitute with 1 1/2 tsp belacan dried shrimp paste, roughly chopped (even sold at Woolies in Australia!) + 1 tsp oil + 1 tsp fish sauce + 1 garlic clove + 1 tsp miso, if you can – any type). Use in place of shrimp paste in recipe.
7. Kaffir lime leaves – Earthy lime flavour unlike anything else! Sold at Asian stores, Harris Farms & large grocery stores in Australia. Freezes 100% perfectly – used in Thai red curry, coconut rice, Thai meatballs.
8. Thai basil leaves – Fresh herb used in Thai cooking that tastes like Italian basil with a slight aniseed flavour. Sub with Italian basil.
9. Leftovers will keep for 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. Keep basil separate – it degrades once stirred in.
Nutrition per serving assuming 5 servings, excluding rice.

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Sarah Miller

Hi, I’m Sarah Millar!
I’m a food blogger who loves creating quick and easy recipes that bring big flavor without the fuss. Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated — and I’m here to share simple, fast food ideas that anyone can make at home. When I’m not in the kitchen, you’ll usually find me tasting new dishes, exploring cafés, or coming up with fresh food hacks to make everyday meals more fun.

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