Red curry

Red curry (Thai: แกงเผ็ด, gaeng phet) is a Central Thai curry built on a paste of dried red chillies, shallot, garlic and galangal, cooked in coconut milk. It is one of the most common curries in Thai home and restaurant cooking.

What it really is

The base is a red curry paste pounded or blended from dried red chillies, shallot, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime zest, coriander root, cumin and coriander seed, and shrimp paste. The paste is fried in a little thick coconut cream until the oil separates, then coconut milk, a protein and seasoning with fish sauce and palm sugar are added. Kaffir lime leaves and Thai basil go in near the end, and fresh red chilli is often added for heat.

Classic versions use beef, chicken, pork, duck or fish balls, and sometimes prawns. Duck red curry is a well-known variant. It differs from green curry, which uses fresh green chillies and is usually thinner and brighter in colour, and from Penang curry, which is thicker, sweeter and mostly made with peanuts.

How it's served

• Served as a main dish with steamed jasmine rice, eaten from a shared plate or individual bowl.
• Often part of a meal with other dishes, such as a stir-fry or a clear soup.
• Usually eaten with the rice, with the curry spooned over it rather than eaten alone.
• Commonly served hot, with extra fresh chilli, fish sauce and sugar available at the table in some restaurants.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the protein and the main ingredients, for example Red Curry with Beef, Coconut Milk, Thai Basil and Kaffir Lime Leaf.
• Flag shrimp paste and fish sauce in the curry paste and sauce, since both are standard in the classic recipe.
• State the heat level and whether fresh chilli is added.
• Specify the protein choice (beef, chicken, pork, duck, prawn or vegetable) and note that the vegetable version usually still uses shrimp paste and fish sauce unless stated otherwise.