A story about Thai chicken green curry (with recipe)

When I tell strangers I’m Thai, one of the first things they tell me is that they love Thai food. My reply is usually, ‘so do I’. What’s not to like about Thai food?

I grew up in Bangkok, a crossroad of Asian cuisines. For many years I was raised by one of the best cooks in the world – my paternal grandmother, Yupa. She was part Indonesian, part Chinese, and part Thai (although I’m not sure of the percentages). And her cooking was as diverse as her blood.

She was always in the kitchen preparing meals for her family using fresh ingredients bought at the wet market each morning. She would give me a precise list of what to buy, down to the color and number of chili peppers. And I would know by looking at it what we’d have for dinner.

To a child of eleven, the wet market in the morning was like a perfectly choreographed musical. Sellers sang the names of their goods. Bells tinkled as bicycles weave through the crowd. Steam rose from metal drums filled with soy milk and porridge. Stalls lined up one after another in an explosion of colors and textures.

 

Each stall was specialized. I would have to go to five, sometimes, six stalls to get all the ingredients for one dish. One for chicken and beef. A couple for vegetables and herbs. One for shrimp paste. A store just for coconut. Everything was as fresh as they can be.

Many of my clearest childhood memories are from that wet market. The sound of cleaver severing meat from bones. The bright saffron color of monks’ robes. The scent of coconut meat going through the grinder. I can still smell it. Creamy and earthy, with a tinge of burnt wood.

Curry was one of my grandmother’s staple dishes. To make the curry paste, she would wrap shrimp paste in banana leaf and grill it over an open flame before blending it with a mixture of garlic, shallots, galangal, and chili pepper I had pounded with stone mortar and pestle. For coconut milk, she would massage the ground coconut with water until the liquid turn opaque white. She did not follow instructions from a cookbook. There was none in our house. She cooked with her taste buds and her talented hands.

Despite having spent countless hours in the kitchen as a child, I don’t like to cook. Unlike my grandmother, I don’t have the fortitude nor a lot of time and energy to spend in the kitchen. But I love to eat and I have a good taste palate. So, when duty calls, I go for dishes that are high in flavors and low in fussiness – those that meet the 80/20 Rule. If I can get 80% satisfaction from 20% input, the dish will be a part of my repertoire.

One of my signature dishes is chicken green curry. And it’s pretty awesome. I have shared the recipe with several friends and it has become a staple in their homes as well. It’s not my grandmother’s green curry but you can make it in 20 minutes. I have even made it in 15 minutes under duress.

Without the luxury of a wet market, I use canned coconut milk, curry paste, and bamboo shoots (picture above). They can easily be found at 99 Ranch or Vietnamese market. I highly recommend going during the week. They’re zoos on the weekends.

Ingredients:

• Cooking oil – 1 Tbs
• Garlic – minced 3-4 cloves
• Green curry paste (Mae Ploy brand) – 2 Tbs or more
• Coconut cream (Mae Ploy brand)
• Boneless Chicken breast – 1 ½ – 2 lbs chopped into small pieces
• Fish sauce (Phu Quoc brand if available) – 3 Tbs
• Chicken broth – ½ can
• Bamboo shoots (Aroy-D brand in strips) – 1 can drained and rinsed
• Peas and carrots – ¼ bag frozen
• Thai eggplants – 10 fresh and quartered (if available)
• Red bell peppers – 1 sliced into strips
• Brown sugar – ½ teaspoon
• 1-2 sprigs Basil leaves and 6 kefir lime leaves – whole leaves (if available)

20 minutes cooking time

In a pot, heat oil and cook garlic until light brown

Add 2 Tbs green curry paste, mix with garlic

Add 1 can of coconut cream, mix thoroughly with curry paste until pale green in color and allow to boil

Add chicken and 2 Tbs fish sauce, reserve the rest to taste

Once boil add ½ can of chicken broth

Add Bamboo shoots, Thai eggplants, peas and carrots

Sprinkle in brown sugar

Taste, then add more curry paste if you want it to be spicier and more fish sauce if you want it to be saltier, or add more chicken broth if you want it to be milder

Add sliced red bell pepper

Let boil once more, then sprinkle with basil leaves and kefir lime leaves

Enjoy!

I’d love to hear your experience in making this dish in the comment section.