Thai Green Chicken Curry (Gaeng Khiao Wan Gai)

Copyright © 2005 Geoffrey Alan Washburn

Using the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 License

• 3 cups coconut milk
  (approximately 2 cans)
• 4-6 teaspoons of green curry paste
  (4 teaspoons for milder flavor, more if you are looking for a spicier dish. I generally use 5 teaspoons. I do not have recipe for the paste yet, can generally be procured in the Thai ethnic food section of a decent grocery store)
• 1 large green pepper
  (or alternately two smaller, quantity is not really exact and depends on what sort of content you are aiming for in you dish)
• 1/4-1/2 pound of green beans
  (optional, once again quantity need not be precise)
• 2 small cans of bamboo shoots
  (optional, may use less if one prefers)
• 1 pound of chicken \\(I generally use about two half pound breasts. May be replaced with any number of other protein substances – tofu, duck, pork. I also freeze it beforehand to make it easier to cut.)
• 5 sprigs of fresh sweet basil
• 1 cup of frozen petite peas
• 4-5 teaspoons sugar \\(I generally use 5 because I prefer a sweeter curry)
• 4 tablespoons fish sauce
  (Once again, available in the Thai ethnic section of a decent grocery store)

1. Clean and cut the green peppers and green beans. Wash and cut off the leaves of the basil. Begin defrosting frozen peas.
2. Cut the chicken (or protein substitute) into desired size portions. I generally cut it into 5 mm slices lengthwise.
3. Obtain a large pot (greater than 2 quarts)
4. Open up cans of coconut milk, and scoop out the thicker congealed milk into the pot. If you haven't worked with coconut milk before there is usually a layer of this near the top before you hit the more fluid liquid milk.
5. Begin heating the pot at medium temperature, and stirring.
6. Add the green curry paste, sugar, and fish sauce. Continue stirring until medium heat until the mixture is mostly liquid and uniform.
7. Increase heat to high, and add the chicken, stir-frying until it is mostly cooked.
8. Reduce heat to medium again, stir in the bamboo shoots and the remainder of the coconut milk. Let it simmer for a few minutes.
9. Add the green peppers and green beans. Again let it simmer and stir occasionally for a few minutes.
10. Now add the peas. Let it simmer until the vegetables have softened to preference. I generally let it cook for another five minutes or so.
11. Turn off the heat, stir in the basil and let it cool for a few minutes.
12. Serve with rice. I find that it goes really well with jasmine rice.