Thai food is famous for its spicy-yet-tasty relish and its ingenious use of herbs to give each dish a distinctive character, through colour, taste and smell. While Thai green curry is undoubtedly world renowned, its red-skinned fellow, surprisingly, appears to be ‘less known’.
In fact, Thais do not put button mushrooms in their authentic chicken red curry. Nor asparagus. Instead, they use fresh bamboo shoots sliced finely, pea eggplants and kaffir lime leaves, which exude such an intense and beautiful aroma when slightly crushed.
However, it is pretty difficult to find these ingredients in western countries, let alone those tiny food retail stores downtown.
Fuelled by my craving for proper Thai curry and countless disappointments with Thai restaurants in London – which tend to turn all the dishes into desserts – I have adapted the recipe to suit what I can find without pain.
British Asparagus Season
It might seem an unusual choice for Thai red curry, but I opted for British asparagus for three main reasons:
- Firstly, we are still in the British Asparagus Season at the time of writing, and cooking of course. The season runs from May to June every year, promising the best-quality British asparagus for any meal you serve.
- Secondly, new asparagus has such a lovely taste when quickly boiled, grilled, or sautéed. Its stalk that just goes crunchy in your mouth will make you enjoy your succulent chicken even more.
- Thirdly, the bright green colour of asparagus contrasts sharply with your lava red curry. Besides adding to your dish an elegant touch, it also stirs your guests’ appetite at first glance.
Ingredients
In fact, the name “Thai chicken red curry with button mushrooms and British asparagus” explains almost everything. But here you go, all the ingredients you need:
- Chicken fillet: diced
- Button mushrooms: bite-sized
- British asparagus: cut into bite size, depending how big your mouth is
- Thai red curry paste: the hotter, the better
- Canned coconut milk: if you can find the freshly pressed one, brilliant!
- Fresh basil: separate leaves from stalks, which you chop finely
- Fish sauce, salt, and sugar for seasoning
Preparation
Pour a certain amount of coconut milk into the saucepan – or whatever you want to use as long as it can hold the curry
- Turn on the heat and let it boil for a few minutes
Over low heat, fry the red curry paste and chopped basil stalks with the coconut milk until they become properly mixed
- If it starts to get too dry – meaning the paste gets stuck to the pan and shouts to you that your meal will be ruined – add some more milk
Over medium-high heat, add chicken and stir-fry it until it gets slightly done. Do not overcook the meat, as it will be too dry when the curry is ready to be served
- Add button mushrooms and stir-fry them until slightly done. Do not overcook, as we want them to be slightly crunchy when chewed
Pour the rest of the coconut milk into the pan, add the prepared asparagus, and leave the curry to simmer for 15-20 minutes
- Season to taste with fish sauce and just a tiny pinch of sugar to heighten the flavour. Do not make it into a dessert dish like most Thai restaurants
Add some salt if you want it saltier, as it will keep your curry creamy and not watery
- Just before you serve, add fresh basil leaves. Do not forget to keep some to garnish your dish
- Serve the mouth-watering red curry with steaming Thai jasmine rice. Then relax and be ready for compliments from your guests. Bon appétit!
Note: Every picture used in this post is copyrighted.
