How do I use Thai curry paste?
In this brief guide, we will answer the question “How do I use Thai curry paste?”, with an in-depth analysis of all the ways a curry paste can be used. We will also tell you how to make your curry flavorful.
How do I use Thai curry paste?
You can use Thai curry paste for a bunch of dishes. Most common dish made with Thai curry paste is of course curry, as the name suggests.
In order to use Thai curry paste, it needs to be cooked first before adding other ingredients. Curry paste is a blend of raw aromatic spices mixed together with vegetable oil. In order for them to make a flavorful curry, they need to be cooked beforehand. If you eat raw curry paste, it may taste bad.
Fry the curry paste with a dash of oil in a pan before adding meat and vegetables. Or just simmer the curry paste in water or stock for a while before adding other ingredients. This ensures that the spices burst out their flavor.
In addition, you never know where the raw spices have been while they are being processed. They might as well contain some bacterial spores which need to be killed by heating them.
Some people also suggest microwaving the curry paste as it is over rice for example. If this works for you, go ahead.
Our suggestion is to properly cook the paste before you go ahead with adding other ingredients to it for best results.
What are some different ways in which I can use curry paste?
Curry paste is very versatile in a way that it can be used to make a bunch of dishes. Some of them are mentioned here:
Curries
Well, of course the most common use of curry paste is to make curry. Just fry a little bit of curry paste in a pan with some oil to pop out the flavors. Then add your desired meat and vegetables. Add coconut milk, stock, or water to thin out the consistency of the curry.
Soup
Yes, you read that right. You can use curry paste to make soup. You can add cream or coconut milk to make cream based soups. The milk or cream adds smoothness and richness to the curry paste.
Pasta
You can use curry paste to make pasta sauce. Pick whichever type of thai curry you like best and just add cream to it. Let it simmer for a while then pour it over spaghetti or any type of paste that you prefer. You can also add vegetables and protein according to your liking.
Salad dressing
If you are bored of eating the same bland salad everyday, try making a salad dressing of curry paste to give it a kick. Add curry paste in yogurt or mayonnaise and give a little stir until fully combined. Then pour it over your salad.
Marinate
Use curry paste as a marinade for chicken. Add curry paste in some curry paste, then add your chicken to it. Coat all the chicken evenly and leave it in the fridge overnight.
Seafood
Curry paste adds a bunch of flavor to seafood. Either marinate the seafood in it or use it to make the sauce served with seafood. It goes well with salmon.
Make a sauce
Well it might sound unconventional but you can add a spoonful of curry paste to mayonnaise and use it as a dip or in your sandwiches. You can also use it to top nachos or tacos.
Find out more about the uses of curry paste here.
How to make the curry more flavorful?
As you must have heard, curry tastes better the next day. To make the most of your curry, you need to leave it in the fridge overnight and have it the next day. Here’s why:
Marination
The longer you leave the curry in the fridge overnight, the longer the spices will get to penetrate through the outer layer of meat and vegetables. By the time you eat it, the flavors are not only present in the sauce, but also in the meat.
Tender meat
Meat contains muscle fibers which break while cooking due to exposure to heat. Fibers keep breaking down until after the cooking process has been completed.
So the longer you let the meat rest, the more tender it gets.
Thicker curry
Curry tends to get thicker and more cremier after it has been resting for a while after being cooked.
This is because some vegetables like onions, peppers, and potatoes are abundant in starch which tends to soak up the free water in the curry. After all this extra water has been soaked up, the sauce gets thicker.
The vegetables also taste more flavorful due to having soaked up the juices.
Spices
Over time, spices present in the curry have time to fully impart their flavors and even combine together to give new flavors
Other FAQs about Curry that you may be interested in.
Is curry the same as curcumin?
Can you eat korma when pregnant?
Can you eat curry without rice?
Conclusion
In this brief guide, we answered the question “How do I use Thai curry paste?”, with an in-depth analysis of all the ways a curry paste can be used. We also told you how to make your curry flavorful.
