Lastly, we explained how you can easily make your own Panang curry paste.
Now, of course, we want to use it to prepare a dish, namely a classic dish from Thai kaeng cuisine, which is flavoured with curry pastes called khrueang kaeng (“เครื่องแกง”).
This is also quite simple and you can only be fascinated again and again by the range of flavours this cuisine produces in a very short cooking time.
This dish is typically prepared with beef, but chicken is also widely used. Nothing speaks against using vegetables alone. We don’t want to go completely without vegetables in the beef version either and cut two red bell peppers into larger pieces. Here are a few tips for quickly cutting up peppers without leaving any leftovers.
Sirloin is cut into very thin slices. Thai basil is roughly chopped. Kaffir lime leaves are folded in half along the stem which is then torn off, leaving two halves of the leaf. We prepare our curry paste, coconut milk and some palm sugar. If you want more heat, halve a fresh red chilli, remove the seeds and cut the flesh into fine strips.
Cooking goes very quickly, so prepare everything and have it ready next to your stove
We put a wok on a high heat (for us: 8 out of 10) and add a little neutral vegetable oil. Then we stir-fry our panang curry paste with the halved kaffir lime leaves until it starts to smell intensely fragrant.
Next, we add the beef and about a quarter of the coconut milk. While constantly stirring we fry the meat until it is soft and pink – do not fry any further so that it remains tender and does not become dry.
Now we add the rest of the coconut milk and bring to the boil while continuing to stir.
In the boiling mixture, we dissolve the palm sugar and season with fish sauce, Thai basil and a little freshly ground black pepper.
Everything is mixed together and the temperature is lowered to medium-high heat. This curry is ready in just 3 more minutes and should not be left on the hob for too long to prevent the beef from becoming tough.
For more heat, it can be sprinkled with finely chopped fresh chilli.
A simple way to present a Thai curry in a more sophisticated way: Cooked jasmine rice is spread in a small bowl and then plunged into the centre of a deep plate. Curry sauce is poured around the rice before the meat and vegetables are placed separately.
And always remember: Thai curries are always eaten with a spoon and fork, not with chopsticks. The dominant hand holds the spoon, while the fork in the other hand supports the desired combination of rice, sauce and solid ingredients for each spoonful. Here is a short explainer video.
Enjoy.
And may the taste be with you.
Ingredients ( for 4 people):
2 – 3 tbsp neutral vegetable oil
2 ½ tbsp panang curry paste
8 – 10 kaffir lime leaves
350 g beef sirloin, finely sliced
250 ml coconut milk
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp palm or cane sugar
3 tbsp Thai basil
A little freshly ground black pepper
Optional: 1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped without seeds
