Dry Red Curry Chicken with Green Beans (Pad Prik King)

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A near-dry Thai curry stir-fry: red curry paste is fried hard in oil until it darkens and splits, then coats sliced chicken thigh and snappy green beans instead of drowning them. Shredded makrut lime leaves go in at the end for a hit of citrus perfume. Fifteen minutes in a hot pan, no coconut milk, no simmering — the paste itself becomes the sauce.

Ingredients

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

• 3 tbsp neutral oil, such as canola or rice bran
• 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste (Maesri or Mae Ploy)
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 12 oz green beans or Chinese long beans, cut into 2-inch lengths
• 1 small red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
• 8 leaves fresh or frozen makrut (kaffir) lime leaves
• 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp palm sugar, chopped, or light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water or unsalted chicken stock
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 Thai red chile, thinly sliced (optional)

• 4 cups hot jasmine rice
• lime wedges

Instructions

1. Toss the sliced chicken thigh with 1 teaspoon fish sauce and 1 teaspoon cornstarch. Let it sit at room temperature while you prep everything else — this stir-fry moves fast once the pan is hot.
2. Stack 6 of the makrut lime leaves, roll them into a tight cigar, and slice crosswise as thinly as you can into hair-fine shreds. Tear the remaining 2 leaves in half and set both piles aside separately. Have the garlic, beans, and pepper within arm's reach of the stove.
3. Heat a 12-inch carbon steel or nonstick skillet (or a wok) over medium heat and add the 3 tablespoons oil. When it shimmers, add the red curry paste and the 2 torn lime leaves. Fry, stirring and pressing the paste against the pan, for 3 to 4 minutes: it should darken from bright red to brick, smell toasty rather than raw, and you'll see red oil separating out at the edges. Lower the heat if it starts to scorch — this step is where all the flavor comes from, so don't rush it.
4. Add the sliced garlic and stir for 30 seconds, just until fragrant.
5. Raise the heat to medium-high, add the chicken, and spread it into a single layer. Let it sit undisturbed for 1 minute, then stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes until the pieces are coated in dark paste and no longer pink on the outside.
6. Add the green beans and bell pepper and stir-fry hard for 2 minutes, tossing so everything gets slicked with paste.
7. Add the water, fish sauce, and palm sugar. Stir-fry for 3 to 4 more minutes, scraping the pan, until the liquid has almost entirely cooked away and what's left is a glossy paste clinging to the beans and chicken — you want maybe a tablespoon of oily sauce pooling in the pan, not a puddle. The beans should be blistered in spots and still snap.
8. Kill the heat. Stir in the lime juice, the shredded lime leaves, and the sliced fresh chile if using. Taste: add another splash of fish sauce for salt or a pinch of sugar to round it out. Serve immediately over jasmine rice with lime wedges.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

More from Sprig Originals

One-Skillet Blackened Cajun Chicken Pasta

One-Pot Chicken Creole

Dark Roux Seafood Gumbo with Quick Shrimp Stock

Are you this recipe's original author or publisher? Report a problem