A Terrific-Tasting Thai Red Curry Recipe

A delicious and easy-to-make meal to show off on video

Thai Red Curry

Makes: 4 to 6 servings

Prep. and cooking time: 30 minutes if you know your way around the kitchen; 60 minutes if you get lost in the kitchen. 

Essential Ingredients

2 cups white rice (preferably jasmine)

250g snow peas (approximately one package of snow peas)

2 bell peppers (whatever colours you want—I prefer red and orange)

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 lb shrimp

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp. Thai red curry paste

1 400 ml can coconut milk (for best results, the coconut milk should contain only coconut milk and water)

4-5 basil leaves, or 1 tbsp of basil paste

Additional Ingredients if you want to be Extra Fancy

1 fresh red chilli, sliced

1 tbsp. Sesame oil

Cilantro for garnish

Lime juice from ½ lime

Corn starch or greek yogurt (in case you need to thicken the curry) 

Steps 

Note that steps pertaining to the fancy optional ingredients are underlined

1. Cook the rice in a rice cooker. If you don’t have a rice cooker, consider purchasing a rice cooker. If you have considered purchasing a rice cooker but decided against it, you can use the (less efficient) stovetop method to cook rice, while preparing the other ingredients.

1. add 2 to 3 cups of water—depending on how firm you like your rice— and 2 cups of rice to a pot, cover the pot with a lid and bring the water to boil (this should take a few minutes);
2. Reduce the heat to low and let rice simmer for 10-12 minutes until the water is absorbed;
3. Turn off the heat, leave the pot covered 10-15 mins, uncover the saucepan and fluff the rice with a fork. 

1. Rinse the bell peppers, snow peas, basil, fresh chilli, and cilantro.
2. Slice the bell pepper and fresh chilli into thin strips.
3. De-string the snow peas: trim the tips of the snow peas with a knife and cutting board, remove string from both sides of the snow peas.
4. Chop up cilantro for garnish.
5. Heat large frying pan or wok on medium heat, and add vegetable oil and sesame oil.
6. Add shrimp into the frying pan, and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes, until shrimp turn pink.
7. Add in peppers, snow peas, peppers and fresh chilli and continue stir-frying for 5-7 minutes.
8. Add in curry paste and stir for 1 minute.
9. Pour in coconut milk and fish sauce, mix to combine. 

• If the curry is too runny, add 1 spoonful of greek yogurt or one tablespoon of corn starch (first, combine corn-starch with some water), until desired thickness is achieved. 
• If curry is too thick, dilute with some water until desired thickness is achieved. 

1. Add in basil leaves or basil paste, mix to combine. 
2. Squeeze lime juice into the mixture. 
3. Serve curry with rice in a bowl (only combine curry and rice immediately prior to eating; if you have a runnier curry, the curry will seep through the rice and you will end up with a strange, soggy rice mixture).
4. Enjoy!  

If you plan on eating the curry within 3 days, you can keep the curry refrigerated. Otherwise, you can freeze the curry, to preserve it for later.