Thai Cooking Lesson – Phanaeng (พะแนง) Curry Chicken

The Phanaeng (or Panang, Penang) Curry is originating from central Thailand and the recipe goes back hundreds of years. The word Phanaeng comes from the Khmer language meaning cross, mostly used for a cross-legged seating position. Traditionally the chicken was placed in a cross legged position upright on the grill. The chicken was bathed in the curry paste with grounded peanuts and then brushed with the same mixture over the whole cooking process. Later the process was simplified by cutting up the chicken in large pieces and, instead of being prepared on the grill, it went to the pot where it was cooked in the sauce. In this cooking lesson you will learn how to cook the Phanaeng Curry Chicken or, if you are vegetarian, Phanaeng Curry can be prepared as well as a vegetarian dish with Tofu.
At home you can use the now widely available ready made pastes. However, more tasty is of course to make your Phanaeng Curry Paste from scratch.

Print Recipe

Penang Curry Chicken

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

Central Thai, Thai

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

10 minutes

Servings

person

Ingredients

• 1 tsp Penang curry paste
• 60 g Boneless chicken
• 125 ml Coconut milk
• 1 Long beans
• 6 slices Carrot
• 2 Lime leaves
• 1/2 Red chilly peppers sliced
• 1 Tbsp Cooking oil
• 1/2 tsp Fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp Oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Baby corn quartered
• 6 slices Pineapple

Course Main Dish Cuisine Central Thai, Thai Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 10 minutes Servings person Ingredients 1 tsp Penang curry paste 60 g Boneless chicken 125 ml Coconut milk 1 Long beans 6 slices Carrot 2 Lime leaves 1/2 Red chilly peppers sliced 1 Tbsp Cooking oil 1/2 tsp Fish sauce 1 Tbsp Oyster sauce 1 tsp sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1 Baby corn quartered 6 slices Pineapple

Instructions

1. Ingredients for one portion. As you can see there is quite a bit more curry paste than a tea spoon. One tea spoon is for a European palate with very little tolerance for spicy food. Just start with a tea spoon and add more if you like it more spicy. You can always add more paste until the very end of the recipe. Just keep in mind that you can't reverse the process :-). As for the vegetables the amounts can vary as well according to taste.

   
2. Fry the curry paste with the oil in a wok

   
3. Add coconut milk until all the paste is covered

   
4. Bring to boil

   
5. Add baby corn and carrots and a bit of water. Add oyster sauce, sugar and salt. Bring to boil again.

   
6. Add chicken and stir it in.

   
7. Add sliced lime leaves and pineapple and bring to boil and add more coconut milk and fish sauce

   
8. Add the sliced long beans and chilly peppers

   
9. Serve with rice