Thai curry

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Thai curries)

Thai curry

A bowl of kaeng phet pet yang, roast duck in red curry

 Type Curry

Place of origin Thailand

Main ingredients  Curry paste

 coconut milk or water

 meat

 seafood

 vegetables or fruit

 herbs

 Media: Thai curry

Thai curry (Thai: แกง, romanized: kaeng, pronounced [kɛ̄ ːŋ]) is a dish in Thai cuisine made
from curry paste, coconut milk or water, meat, seafood, vegetables or fruit, and
herbs. Curries in Thailand mainly differ from the curries in India in their use of
ingredients such as herbs and aromatic leaves over a mix of spices.[1][not specific enough to verify]
Definition[edit]

Some of the fresh ingredients for red curry paste

The first Thai dictionary from 1873 CE (2416 in the Thai Buddhist calendar)
defines kaeng as a watery dish to be eaten with rice and utilizing shrimp paste, onions
or shallots, chillies, and garlic as essential ingredients.[2] Coconut milk is not included in
this definition and many Thai curries, such as kaeng som and kaeng pa, do not feature
it. Curries in Lanna (northern Thai) cuisine, with only a few exceptions, do not use
coconut milk due to coconut palms not growing well, if at all, in the climate of the Thai
highlands. The spiciness of Thai curries depends on the amount and kind of chilli used
in the making of the paste. Even within one type of curry the spiciness can differ widely.
The word "curry" figures in the Thai language as "kari" (Thai: กะหรี่), and refers to dishes
using either an Indian-style curry powder, known as phong kari in Thailand, or to the
dish called kaeng kari, an Indian-influenced curry that is made with spices that are
common to Indian dishes but less often used in these proportions in Thai cuisine. Kung
phat phong kari (prawns fried with egg and curry powder) is an example of a dish using
the Indian style curry powder.[3]
Although "kaeng" is also defined as being of "watery" substance, the thickness of the
sauce can vary considerably from broth-like to that of a thick stew, and it can even be a
completely dry dish. Representatives of dry curries, dishes which are (stir-)fried with a
curry paste, are phat phrik khing and khua kling.[4][5] Kaeng som and keang pa are
representatives of the more broth-like curries. Matsaman and kaeng khua[6] resemble
stews. Ho mok pla (a steamed fish curry), kaeng kradang[7] (curry aspic from northern
Thailand) and noodle dishes such as khanom chin nam ngiao[8] are also seen as Thai
curry dishes as they all use curry pastes in their preparation.
The dish called kaeng chuet is an exception to the rule that a kaeng should contain
chillies, garlic, onions and shrimp paste. It is a clear Chinese-style meat and/or
vegetable broth with mixed vegetables and often also minced pork, tofu and glass
noodles. The name translates as "bland curry" but it is seen as being a tom, a soup, and
it is therefore also often called tom chuet.[2]
Curries are eaten in combination with rice, the long-grained jasmine
rice in central and southern Thailand and sticky rice in northern and northeastern
Thailand, and with noodles such as khanom chin (fermented rice noodles). Certain
curries can also be eaten with roti, the Thai version of the Indian-style fried flat
bread from Malaysia called roti canai.
Khao kaeng or khao rat kaeng, meaning "curry-on-rice", is a traditional type of fast
food restaurant in Thailand which specialises in ready-made curries, and often several
other dishes as well, served with rice. Their popularity in Bangkok as a place for a quick
lunchtime meal is in decline.[9]
Typical ingredients[edit]

Ingredients for green curry

Curry paste[edit]
 Red, green and yellow Thai curry pastes

Different types of Thai curry pastes for sale at a market

in Hat Yai, in southern Thailand
Thai curries are always made with a curry paste. Common ingredients used in many
Thai curry pastes are:

 Shrimp paste
 Chillies; depending on the curry these can be dried or fresh, red or green
 Onions or shallots
 Garlic
 Lemongrass
 Galangal
 Coriander (cilantro) root
Depending on the type of curry, additional ingredients for the paste can include spices
such as turmeric, pepper, coriander seeds, cardamom pods, and cumin, or other
ingredients such as boiled fermented fish,[10] and fingerroot. Ingredients are traditionally
ground together with a mortar and pestle, though increasingly with an electric food
processor. With many curries, the paste is first stir-fried in cooking oil before other
components are added in to the dish. This allows certain flavours in the spices and
other ingredients in the paste to develop that cannot be released at the lower
temperature of boiling water.[11]
Both khrueang kaeng (lit. 'kaeng ingredients') and nam phrik kaeng (lit. 'kaeng chilli
paste') are used to describe "curry paste" in Thailand. The latter is sometimes even
shortened to only phrik kaeng (lit. 'kaeng chilli').
Thai curry pastes can be made at home from the bare ingredients, bought freshly made
at markets in Thailand, or they can be had packaged at shops and supermarkets. [12]
Main ingredients[edit]
Most Thai curries are made with meat, fish or shellfish as their main ingredient.
Vegetables and fruit, but also certain tree leaves such as from the Acacia pennata (cha-
om) and the Ficus virens (phak lueat), and flowers such as those of the Sesbania
grandiflora (dok khae)[13] and banana (hua pli),[14] can be added. Curries that contain
mainly vegetables are, for example, kaeng liang (mixed vegetables)[15] and kaeng
nomai (bamboo shoots).[16] Ingredients were dictated by regional and seasonal
availability: both pork and chicken (possibly first domesticated from wild jungle fowl in
what is now Thailand)[17] are easily available, and so are many varieties of fish, and
shellfish, both fresh water species from the many rivers, lakes and rice paddies, as well
as salt water species from the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. Other traditional
ingredients in Thai curries include frogs, snakes, snails, wild birds and game such
as Sambar deer and wild boar.[18] Commonly used vegetables in curries are Thai
eggplant (makhuea pro), yardlong beans (thua fak yao), and different types
of squash and pumpkins (fak).
Additional ingredients[edit]
Fresh kaffir lime leaves (bai makrut), fingerroot (krachai), or fresh herbs such as Thai
basil (horapa) are often added to Thai curries. Kaffir lime leaves and krachai are often
cooked along with the other ingredients but fresh herbs such as Thai basil are nearly
always added at the last moment to preserve the full taste and serve as a contrasting
note to the flavours of a curry. Fish sauce is not only used when cooking the curry as a
flavouring and for its salty taste, but it is usually also available at the table as
a condiment, mixed together with sliced green bird's-eye chillies for those that prefer
their curries more salty and spicy.[19] Sugar (traditionally palm sugar) is used with curries
that need to be sweetened. Besides lime juice, tamarind juice can also see use in sour
curries as the souring agent such as in kaeng som. To achieve the most fragrance from
the ingredients in a curry paste, the curry paste is often first fried together with
vegetable oil or coconut oil that has separated from the coconut cream, before adding in
the other ingredients.
Popular Thai curries[edit]
Kaeng ranjuan

 Kaeng kari (lit. '"curry" curry', it is known as "yellow curry" in the West)
 Kaeng khae, a curry of northern Thai cuisine
 Kaeng khiao wan (lit. 'green sweet curry', it is known as "green curry" in the
West)
 Kaeng pa (lit. 'jungle curry', in addition to the curry paste, it uses whatever is
available in nature)
 Kaeng phet (lit. 'spicy curry', it is known as "red curry" in the West)
 Kaeng som (lit. 'orange curry', every region has its own variety)
 Kaeng matsaman (lit. 'Muslim curry'; the name matsaman is supposedly
derived from "mosalman", an archaic word for "Muslim")[20][21]
 Kaeng ranjuan (a leftover food with spicy, sour, sweet, and salty beef curry
seasoned with no more than fermented shrimp paste chili sauce)
 Khao soi (a Burmese-influenced curry noodle soup from northern Thailand)
 Phanaeng (the name possibly refers to the Malaysian island state of Penang;
this is a creamy and generally mild curry)
 Phat phrik khing (lit. 'stir-fried chilli ginger', this Thai curry actually does not
contain ginger)
Gallery[edit]


Phanaeng paste is fried together with coconut cream

Kaeng phak lueat, a northern Thai curry with ficus leaves

Ho mok pla, steamed fish curry

Khua kling, an extremely spicy, dry fried curry from southern Thailand
 

Khao soi, a curry noodle soup from northern Thailand

Kaeng kradang, a pork curry aspic

Kaeng chuet, the curry that isn't curry, but actually a soup.

Kaeng tai pla, made from fermented fish entrails

 

A seafood curry in the United States inspired by the flavors of Thai cuisine

 Kaeng hang le, a northern Thai curry with Burmese influences