Beef Penang

This warm, spicy curry is so easy to make, it’s become a regular weeknight staple in our house. It is meant to be made with beef (I like to grab steaks from Costco and save an extra one for this dish. It’s great to freeze for later to make cutting into thin slices easy!), but can easily be substituted for pork, chicken, or tofu.

First, make sure you have a pot of rice going, then warm your spices (cumin and coriander seeds) in a pan. This is so key- if you really want your meals to pack a punch with flavor and not be bland TV dinner knockoffs, you really ought to consider heating up your spices and blending them fresh. The heat releases the oils in the seeds, getting the most flavor from them while whole. Then, immediately blending them captures that flavor and allows it to transfer to your dish. It’s a fast step that’s really worth it, seriously. Just don’t go blending your spices in your grinder you use for coffee, unless you like an earthy tasting blend in the morning!

Then, chop up all of your veggies. Julienne your bell pepper, Thai basil, and kaffir lime. Kaffir lime leaves are the hardest to find at your local Asian market, so you may have to ask a worker if they have any in stock. If not, it’s okay to skip- but it adds a delightful citrus fresh flavor to this dish that lime juice cannot replicate. Thai basil is an absolute must, and should be much easier to find. It has an herbal, licorice flavor that adds a lot of freshness to the plate, plus a nice spot of green. I don’t recommend substituting this with regular basil, unless you’d like this dish to taste like a pizza.

Chop up your steak. I recommend not using tough meat, as this is a fast-cooked curry, made in about 20 minutes total. Using a tougher stew meat is a bad idea, unless you don’t mind the jaw workout. Use a nice steak cut beef, or bite sized pieces of chicken thighs, or pork, or tofu. The protein isn’t a huge deal in my opinion- but beef goes best with these flavors (and is the most traditional) if you have it. A nice trick is to freeze it slightly before cutting, not so that it’s rock solid, but firm enough to make slicing it thinly is quick and easy. You could also buy those thinly sliced beef packs at the Asian market, but these are a bit wise as it’s made for pho. Just grab a pack of those and cut into smaller bites for an easy way to do this.

This trick I learned while in a cooking class in Thailand: cook down a 14 oz can of coconut milk in the pan until the oil separates from the fat. This is how coconut oil is extracted! By doing this first, you can now fry your spices is fresh coconut oil rather than simply boiling them in coconut milk. It’s another way to add lots of flavor to this simple dish. Once you can see clear oil separating from the bubbly white milk, add in your spices and penang paste, and cook that until it’s also bubbly and the oil from that also separates. It’s just a good way to tell when the spices have been nicely cooked through but not burned.

Next, add in your pinch of sugar to balance out the acids, and your thinly sliced beef. Once the meat is about halfway cooked, add in everything else: the extra can of coconut milk, bell peppers, kaffir lime, and Thai basil, saving some basil for topping. Cook until bubbly and rich. That’s it! It’s easy, tasty, and so flavorful. It’s also made in one pot, which makes cleanup a breeze.

You can prep the slicing and dicing of the veggies and meat beforehand too, so all the cooking is just throwing things together in a pan. To be extra lazy, you could even get the frozen sliced bell pepper and frozen sliced beef at the Asian market to really just toss everything in a pan. This, and my chicken tortilla soup, is one of my favorite meals to make because it’s just cracking open cans and throwing them in a pot, along with some chopped up protein. Easy peasy!

Recipe adapted from HotThaiKitchen.com.

What do you like to do with your curries? How would you make it your own? Share in the comments down below!