Beef Penang (Thai Red Curry)
After visiting Thailand for the first time in 2022 and learning this recipe from a cooking class in the sleepy island of Koh Lanta, I cannot stop eating this! It's my favorite, easy, go to meal. It's flavorful, spicy, and topped with fresh veggies to make it the perfect cozy meal.
Ingredients
- 300 grams beef very thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon oil any kind
- 2 cans coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons panang red curry paste (maesri brand is best)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tablespoon roasted peanuts
- 1 pinch sugar
- 10 kaffir lime leaves julienned
- 4 tablespoons thai basil leaves chopped
- 1 red bell pepper sliced thinly
- Jasmine rice for serving
Instructions
- Roast cumin and coriander in a hot pan until they become fragrant; then, grind in a spice grinder along with the peanuts. Add this to your curry paste for extra flavor (it makes a big difference!)
- Slice up your red bell pepper, kaffir lime leaves, and Thai basil. Set aside.
- Thinly slice your beef. I recommend getting a t-bone steak, freezing it the night before, then unfreezing on the counter for a few hours before cooking or in the fridge in the morning. Freezing it gives it a firmness that makes it easier to cut!
- Pour in a can of coconut milk to a pan set at medium heat. Cook until the oil separates from the coconut milk (this, coincidentally, is how coconut oil is made!)
- Next, add your spiced curry paste to the pan, and cook until a red oil separates from the sauce. This is a hot spice oil that is great for cooking our beef!
- Add in the kaffir lime, a pinch of sugar, and the beef, and cook briefly, until most of the red color is gone (overcooking steak makes it tough- this isn't stew meat!)
- Add your other can of coconut milk, Thai basil, and red bell pepper.
- Cook until the pepper gets to desired firmness. I like my veggies to have a little snap, so I cook for no more than 5 minutes.
- Serve on top of hot rice and a sprinkle of more Thai basil.
Notes
To simplify it further, just do the regular ole' curry paste instead of all the fixins, and spinach instead of kaffir lime and Thai basil. You'll miss out on a lot of flavors though, so it's worth it to hunt down your local Asian market for these things. Enjoy!