Pad Panang

Panang curry is unlike your typical red or green curry. It’s not like a stew, but a stir-fry, hence the name pad (=stir-fry) panang. I’ve also seen it called gang panang, even though the word gang brings to mind something soupy. Traditionally, it is made with beef, which is generally not a common protein found in Thai cooking. Of course, you can choose the protein of your choice. Flavorwise, panang is generally sweeter and less spicy than red or green curries, so for those of you who can’t tolerate heat, this one is for you. Also, panang should have peanuts in the paste, but I’ve noticed that not all brands include this (the popular Mae Ploy brand doesn't). In that case, you may decide to add in some toasted, ground peanuts to your paste.

Something else you may notice--there is nothing but beef in this dish. In general, Thai curries have very few ingredients, usually just a meat and maybe a vegetable. At some Thai restaurants curries will come jam packed with vegetables. Sometimes I find that annoying because there are too many distracting flavors and textures. Anyhow, if you want to serve this curry with something green, you may try making ajad, which is the cucumber relish often served with fish cakes, satay or massaman curry. Or just serve with sliced fresh vegetables, such as cucumber, tomato and/or sliced carrots.

Lastly, let me touch on the cooking method, because that’s an important factor in the success of this dish. I’ve already discussed the need to fry the curry paste with the coconut cream. If you are unfamiliar with the method, you can read about it in my previous post and see a couple pictures of what it looks like. Of equal importance is the stir-frying bit. Every recipe I’ve come across calls for stir-frying the beef in the curry paste and then adding the coconut milk, allowing it to thicken a bit and adjusting the seasonings. After all the cooking and adjusting, the total cooking time may be 10 minutes or more, which I think is far too long. I have not had much luck stir-frying beef if it has to be in a hot wok for more than about 5 minutes. So here’s my solution: make the curry sauce first, stir-fry the beef and then add the sauce toward the end. Doing it this way allows me to get a good sear on the beef and cuts down the cooking time so the meat won’t overcook.

I know it may seem like a lot of information, but hopefully it has been helpful. Now, on to the recipe!

Pad Panang
Adapted from The Food of Thailand (see right sidebar)
Feeds 2 t0 3

• ¾ pound beef, sliced for stir-frying
• 7 kaffir lime leaves (2 will be finely sliced and used for garnishing)
• 5 oz coconut cream + 10 oz can lite coconut milk (NOT TJ's brand!!) or just one can of regular coconut milk, cream and milk separated
• 2 to 3 tbs panang curry paste
• sugar (palm sugar if you can find it), to taste
• fish sauce, to taste

In a large frying pan (nonstick not recommend) over medium heat, cook the coconut cream with the curry paste and kaffir lime leaves until the oil begins to separate out. Stir frequently and watch the heat to prevent burning. When the oil has separated out, the mixture will change in texture and move more as a mass. Be patient, as this may take a few minutes. Then slowly add the coconut milk and stir well. Allow to simmer until thickened slightly. Add sugar and fish sauce to taste. Don’t be too shy about it because the flavor will have to hold up when you add it to the beef. Set the sauce aside until needed. Also, you probably won’t need this entire portion. I think I used only half of it. Freeze the rest to use at another time.

Heat a wok over high heat. When it’s really (really!) hot, add couple tablespoons of oil and swirl to coat. Add the beef and let it sear. This means don’t move it around for 20 to 30 seconds, then move it around only occasionally. When the beef is just about done, drizzle about half of the curry sauce down the sides of the wok. This will further caramelize the sauce, concentrating the flavors. Add more sauce if it seems too dry. Toss the meat in the sauce and quickly taste, adjusting if required. Once the meat is done, remove to a serving dish and garnish with sliced lime leaves.

Serve with steamed jasmine rice.


This is my submission to Weekend Wokking, a blogging event created by Wandering Chopsticks that focuses on a theme ingredient and the different ways to prepare it. This month we’re doing beef and the host is Palachinka. If you want to play along, send your submissions to palachinkablog(at)gmail(dot)com by March 29th.

Healthier Peanut Curry Sauce

Last week I had lunch at one those trendy cafes that touts fresh, healthy meals. You know the kind. Most of the meals are vegetarian and organic. The menu is comprised of salads, wraps, burritos and brown rice bowls. Everything is grilled or steamed; nothing is fried. The staff is heavily tattooed and/or pierced, with dreadlocks to complete the dirty hippy look. Don't get me wrong. I've got nothing against dirty hippies and steamed vegetables, as long as they taste good. The vegetables, not the hippies.



One of the menu offerings was steamed vegetables and brown rice with Thai peanut curry sauce. I'm no purist. I am always drawn to Thai curry, even if it’s not served in a traditional way. Well, traditional it was not. I expected something spicy and savory-sweet with a little coconut milk and peanut, but what I got didn't resemble anything Thai. It tasted like curry powder and peanut butter in yogurt or sour cream or some other tangy base. Yuck.

Anyhow, the whole episode got me thinking about Thai food, particularly curries, and what’s considered healthy. If there is any doubt, let me tell you that Thai curries would be close to the bottom of the “good for you” list. Blame it on the coconut milk. Lite coconut milk will cut out some of the fat, but I have a hard time enjoying curries made with the lite milk. To me the curries taste and feel too diluted. I crave the artery-clogging richness of regular coconut milk. However, in the interest of proving that healthy can be tasty, I wanted to try making a curry sauce using lite coconut milk. I can imagine mom rolling her eyes at that one.

Making a Thai curry, whether it be a traditional red curry or a trendy peanut curry sauce, requires a special first step. All it entails is cooking the coconut cream with the curry paste until the oil begins to separate out. Can you skip this step? Sure, but the curry will never be as good as it can be. And therein lies the problem with using lite coconut milk. There generally isn’t enough cream and the milk is too watery to achieve that separation.

To settle it once and for all, I did a side-by-side comparison of 3 lite milks as well as a half-and-half mixture. The three lite brands were A Taste of Thai, Thai Kitchen and Trader Joe’s. My favorite as far as taste and texture was the Thai Kitchen brand. None of the three had the characteristic solidified cream, but Thai Kitchen had a distinct thickness the other two lacked. I put all three in the fridge before using them and I was able to scoop two or three tablespoons of thick milk from Thai Kitchen. That’s just enough for this recipe. The worst of the three was Trader Joe’s in both taste and texture. It tasted and felt like poor quality coconut flavored water. I recommend that you not use TJ’s lite coconut milk for anything. Ever.

The other alternative, and one I found to be a good middle ground in both taste and texture, is to use a mix of the regular and lite coconut milk. For this recipe, use about 3 or 4 oz of the solidified cream from regular coconut milk and one 14oz can of lite milk. Conveniently, Asian markets sell small cans (about 6 oz) of coconut milk and almost the entire can is solidified cream. Some regular supermarkets may also sell them. If you can't find any in the Asian foods section, try the Hispanic foods. Just make sure there aren't any added sweeteners. Any unused cream can be frozen.


Thai Peanut Curry Sauce
Makes about 1 1/4 cup

• 1 oz smooth peanut butter or chopped peanuts (to taste) if you're into chunky stuff (optional)
• 1 to 2 oz panang or massaman curry paste (use less for less heat)
• 14 oz can lite coconut milk, "cream" and milk separated (recommend Thai Kitchen brand)
  
• sugar (palm sugar if you can find it!), to taste
• fish sauce to taste
• tamarind paste or lime juice, to taste (optional, if you want a sour component)

In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter, curry paste and coconut cream to a uniform mixture. ( If you put the can of coconut milk in the fridge a few hours before, it will be easier to scoop the thick stuff off the top.) Pour the mixture into a wok or skillet over medium heat. Cook , stirring frequently, until the oil starts to separate out of the mixture.



You’ll start to notice the texture of the mixture change, pictured below. Be sure to watch the heat because it will burn.


At this point, slowly add the coconut milk while stirring to get a uniform sauce (you may want to switch to a whisk). Add sugar and fish sauce to taste. Add the lime juice or tamarind puree here too, if using. Allow the sauce to cook a little to thicken, about 10 or 15 minutes. The sauce will also thicken a little as it cools.

That’s it! Easy, right?

How could you use this sauce? How about drizzled atop vegetables and brown rice? Or as a dipping sauce for tasty fried things. Or for dipping raw carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, if you’re more health conscious.

Here are some other (relatively) healthy Thai dishes you may enjoy:
laab (ground pork or chicken with fresh herbs)
som tom (spicy papaya salad)
tom yum soup (hot and sour soup)
Thai beef salad
Spicy shrimp and pomelo salad