(Experiment 264) Panang chicken

Panang chicken curry (Phanaeng gai) traces its roots to central Thailand back in late 1800 but was widely commercialized recently has a classic Thai dish. It’s much less fiery than red/green curry and add some sweeter notes . Now dont let that fool you, it is still spicy and plenty tasty 😉

Traditional Panang chicken has no vegetables and is purely curry and meat.

You need

• 1-2lbs chicken thigh or breast either cut in small cube or sliced finely
• 4 garlic clove minced
• 1 onion finely diced
• galangal chopped ( about the size of a garlic clove)
• 2-3 inch long lemongrass cut in half
• 1 can coconut milk ( I like the brand aroy-d )
• 2 sliced bell peppers whichever color you like
• 80g of panang curry paste
• 1tsp fish sauce
• 6g brown sugar
• ~1tbsp coconut oil
• 1tbps peanut butter
• ~10g fresh thai basil leaves (no stems) roughly chopped
• 8 kaffir lime leaves crumpled if you can’t find them, use 1tsp of lime zest (roughly a lime)

Note: Don’t cut lemongrass/galangal too fine as you will remove them later

Instructions

1. Heat a pan over medium heat and add the coconut oil.
2. Add the onion and cook for 2–3 minutes until softened.
3. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 15 seconds, stirring constantly.
4. Add the peppers, galangal, and lemongrass, and cook for 2 minutes while stirring.
5. Push everything to one side of the pan, then add the chicken to the empty side. Cook for 4–5 minutes, or until the chicken changes color.

6. Move the ingredients aside again and add the curry paste to the empty area of the pan. Cook until the oil begins to separate from the paste (about 1–2 minutes).
7. Add the peanut butter, sugar and the fish sauce, stirring everything together until well combined.
8. Add the kaffir lime leaves and cook for about 90 seconds.
   –> If like me you cannot get kaffir leave, add the lime zest at the very end ( after the 5 minutes simmering of the coconut milk)
9. Remove the galangal and lemongrass.
10. Reduce the heat to low, pour in the coconut milk, and stir to combine. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
11. Finish by adding the Thai basil leaves, and you’re done.

Common issue : Watery veggies like peppers can thin out your curry. Scoop out the chicken and vegetables into a bowl. Simmer the sauce over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 3–5 minutes until it thickens to your desired consistency. Return everything to the pan, toss to coat, and serve immediately