Panang Curry Chicken with Cracked Coconut Cream

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Panang is red curry's thicker, richer cousin — nutty from ground peanuts and glossy from coconut cream that's been reduced until the oil separates and the paste fries in it. That one step, called cracking the cream, is what makes the sauce cling to chicken instead of pooling in the bowl. Kaffir lime leaves, slivered fine and stirred in at the end, give it the perfume that separates a takeout curry from a great one.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch

• 2 13.5-oz cans full-fat coconut milk, unshaken
• 4 tbsp panang curry paste (Maesri or Mae Ploy)
• 3 tbsp unsalted roasted peanuts, finely ground
• 1 tbsp coconut oil or neutral oil
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1.5 tbsp palm sugar, chopped, or light brown sugar

• 1 red bell pepper, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 4 oz green beans, trimmed and halved
• 8 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves
• 1 red Thai chile, thinly sliced (optional)
• 2 tsp fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup Thai basil leaves

• 4 cups cooked jasmine rice
• 2 tbsp roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

• 1.5 cups jasmine rice, rinsed
• 2.25 cups water

Instructions

1. Toss the sliced chicken thighs with 1 teaspoon fish sauce and 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch. Set aside at room temperature while you prep everything else — the cornstarch keeps the thin slices tender and helps the sauce grip.
2. Start the rice: combine rinsed jasmine rice and 2 1/4 cups water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, cover, reduce to the lowest heat and cook 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it steam, covered, 10 more minutes.
3. Open the cans of coconut milk without shaking them. Spoon the thick white cream from the top of both cans into a wide skillet or wok — you want about 1 1/4 cups. Reserve the thin liquid left in the cans separately.
4. Stack the kaffir lime leaves, fold them, and slice into hair-thin slivers, discarding the tough center vein from any large leaves. Reserve 2 whole leaves for simmering and sliver the rest.
5. Set the skillet over medium heat and simmer the coconut cream, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 9 minutes. It will bubble, thicken, then break — you'll see clear coconut oil pooling around curdled-looking solids. That's the crack, and it's exactly what you want.
6. Add the coconut oil and the panang curry paste to the cracked cream. Fry the paste, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes over medium heat until it darkens a shade, tightens into a thick jam, and smells sharply fragrant with visible red oil separating out. This is the flavor foundation — don't rush it.
7. Stir in the ground peanuts and cook 1 minute more, then add the chicken. Stir to coat every piece in paste and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the outsides turn opaque.
8. Pour in the reserved thin coconut milk, add the 2 whole kaffir lime leaves, and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered 8 minutes at a bare bubble, stirring now and then, until the sauce reduces by about a quarter and coats the back of a spoon.
9. Add the green beans and simmer 3 minutes, then the bell pepper and simmer 2 to 3 minutes more, until the beans are crisp-tender and the chicken is cooked through (165°F). The sauce should be thick enough to cling to the chicken — if it looks loose, simmer 2 extra minutes uncovered.
10. Turn off the heat. Stir in the fish sauce, palm sugar, lime juice, slivered kaffir lime leaves, sliced chile, and Thai basil. Taste and adjust: more fish sauce for salt, sugar to round it out, lime if it feels flat. Fish out the whole lime leaves.
11. Rest the curry 5 minutes off the heat so the sauce settles and thickens further. Serve over jasmine rice, scattered with chopped peanuts.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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