Thai Green Curry Comfort

Originally posted on October 21, 2007.

I’ve honestly never been a huge fan of Thai food. I know most people love it, but it’s always seemed just a little bit over the top and gooey to me. I far prefer the clean simplicity of Vietnamese.

Nevertheless, nothing can beat a good Thai green curry with its warming coconut broth, palate-perking spiciness and all around versatility.

And if you take a simple shortcut, it also goes from pot to plate in about 20 minutes.

The shortcut of course is store-bought green curry paste. There are a variety of brands out there, but I like the “Mae Ploy” brand the best. For a little less heat, try “Thai Kitchen” brand.

I was craving the richness of coconut milk the other night, so I made up a batch. I didn’t have Thai basil, so I just used fresh Italian basil from my garden. And instead of kaffir lime leaves, I tossed in a couple of regular lime leaves from a tree in my backyard.

For vegetables I used a can of baby corn, a can of drained Chinese mushrooms and some zucchini I had in the crisper. Shrimp was the protein in this batch, but chopped chicken thighs would have worked well too. Cubed tofu would make a nice vegetarian dish.

Served over steamed rice it made for some full-flavored Thai comfort food. It tasted even better the next day as my take-to-work lunch.

Kaeng Kaio Wan Kung Recipe (Thai shrimp in green curry sauce)