Thai Green Curry Chicken

This is definitely my favorite curry recipe. It's brothy, full of vegetables, and the chicken is so tender.

 

Special thanks to Hot Thai Kitchen & Kanittha

I have to give a special shoutout to Co-op owner, Kanittha, who recommended this authentic Thai green curry recipe from Hot Thai Kitchen. My recipe is pretty close to this original recipe but I had to include a few other veggies and use all of our in season local vegetables.

 

You start by reducing half of the coconut milk!

I love this recipe because it uses the coconut milk as the oil. This is the main trick. You have to start off by heating your pot up and reduce half of your coconut milk until you start to see the coconut oil separate from the whiter milk. Once the coconut milk is reduced and the oil is separated, that's when you activate the green curry paste. Cooking the meal in this particular order will be so much more flavorful and will make the chicken super tender. 

 

Use whatever produce is in season

I recommend using whatever produce you have in season. You can use carrots, green beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, celery, braising greens, radishes, turnips, squash or potatoes. You do you! Use whatever veggies you have or whatever is most in season. I love buying seasonal local vegetables because they taste so fresh and they make all my dishes even more special because I know the farmers and the families that grew them. If you are using dense vegetables like potatoes or squash, just make sure you have enough time to cook them until they are soft. I liked the peppers, onions, and eggplants because they were fairly quick to cook and were super abundant.

 

I love Green Pantry Nursery so much!

Steve and Amy, the local herb farmers of Green Pantry Nursery in Tuscola, are literally the sweetest people and they always have the freshest herbs. They are my basil people. They focus on fresh herbs like basil, rosemary, thyme, lemongrass, sage and have several greenhouses just dedicated to the periennial growing of these herbs. They are amazing. I always get my fresh herbs from them. Their Thai Basil and Sweet Basil are always super fresh and you can't go wrong. Support this sweet family and use their fresh herbs to make your meals will taste incredible. 

 

You can easily make this vegan

You can easily make this vegan by leaving out the chicken, fish sauce, and using vegetable stock. You could add tofu when you add the veggies and it is an easy switch. The fish sauce adds the saltiness, so maybe just replace with a 1/4 tsp of salt or salt to taste.

 

Spice level

The spice level for this recipe is super tame, even with a hot pepper added. Next time I would probably add another hot pepper with the seeds to it could be hotter. The coconut milk is cooling and subdues any heat from the hot pepper.

 

Don't have coconut palm sugar?

It's tooootally fine if you don't have coconut palm sugar. Use whatever sweetener you have or leave it out completely. If you just have cane sugar or maple syrup or honey, just add a little bit at a time and maybe just one tablespoon. To me, other sweetners are stronger than palm sugar, so I would go easy on it.

 

 

Ingredients
Unsweetened full fat coconut milk
1 can
Green curry paste
1/2 jar
Boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 package
Premium fish sauce
2 tablespoons
Coconut palm sugar
2 tablespoons
Low sodium chicken broth
1 cup
Red bell pepper
1
Yellow onion
1
Japanese eggplants
2
Thai basil
1 container
Cilantro
1/2 bunch
Jalapeno
1
Lime
1
Cooked brown rice

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Servings: 4

Calories per serving: 889

 

  1. Chop up chicken thighs into 1.5'' pieces and set aside. Dice up the yellow onion, red pepper, and hot pepper. Slice eggplant into half moons. Finely chop Thai basil and cilantro and set aside.
  2. Heat a large soup pot on medium-high. Pour in half of the can of coconut milk and simmer on high for about 5 minutes until the coconut milk starts to thicken, reduce, and its oil starts separate.
  3. Carefully incorporate half of the green curry paste into the hot coconut milk stirring until it's hot and simmering. TIP: Add the curry paste very gently to the coconut milk to make sure it doesn't splatter on contact. The oil from the milk can get very hot and will splash into the colder wet paste.
  4. Once the paste and coconut milk has heated up for a minute or two, add the diced chicken and stir.
  5. When the chicken is partially cooked, add the rest of the coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce, and coconut palm sugar, and heat up to a low simmer for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked.
  6. Once the curry liquid is fully hot, add diced onion, peppers, hot pepper, and eggplant. Cook until eggplant is softened and tender.
  7. Taste curry and add extra fish sauce if you need it to be saltier. As a final seasoning, stir in the cilantro and Thai basil. Turn off the heat and serve with cooked brown rice or jasmine rice.
  8. Rinse brown rice with cold water until water runs clear. Combine 1 1/2 cups brown rice with 2 1/4 cups cold water with a pinch of salt and cook on the stovetop, in a rice cooker, or pressure cooker. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the rice is tender and has absorbed the water. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. TIP: You could put spices in your rice like lime leaves, cardamom pods, or coriander seeds. You could put coconut milk in your rice and substitute some of your water for coconut milk.