It’s red, but it isn’t red hot. And that’s why it’s the sort of curry the average American is going to love.
Red curry paste is one of a literal rainbow of intensely flavorful Southeast Asian seasonings.
To be clear, curry pastes are not the same as the curry powders most people know, though they do share some ingredients.
Curry pastes, used in Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian and Indian cooking, combine dry spices with ground fresh herbs and roots, garlic, chiles and other ingredients to form thick pastes.
These pastes often are classified by color. Green curry paste, for example, is a fiery Thai blend that combines green chiles, lemon grass, garlic, shrimp paste and kaffir lime leaves. It usually is blended with coconut milk to season beef, pork and chicken.
Yellow curry paste is a bit milder and usually sports garlic, lemon grass, galangal (a relative of ginger), cumin, cinnamon and turmeric. It’s popular for adding to soups.
But the most versatile and widely used is red curry paste, a mash of red chiles, coriander roots and leaves, shrimp paste, lemon grass, garlic, shallots and galangal.
It has some kick, but it won’t sear your mouth. It’s used with everything from chicken, duck and beef to pork and shrimp. And it lands in everything from stews, curries and soups to dressings, marinades and condiments.
The smell is comfortingly tomatoey and exotically heady with spicy aromas. The flavor is warm, but not biting, with tastes of ginger and garlic.
Conveniently, red curry paste also is the easiest variety to find at American groceries. It usually is packed in small glass jars or cans and can be found in the Asian section. Once opened, the remainder can be refrigerated for months.
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Red Curry Chicken Noodles
Hands on: 20 minutes Total time: 20 minutes Serves: 4
Not in the mood for noodles? The curried chicken mixture also makes a killer sandwich, warm or cold.
1 (12-ounce) package fresh fettuccine pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, cored and diced
1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
11/2 to 21/2 tablespoons red curry paste (more or less to taste)
Meat from a 11/2-pound rotisserie chicken
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime, quartered
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan over medium-high, heat the olive oil. Add onion and bell pepper, then sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and red curry paste. Stir until the curry paste and coconut milk are smooth, then bring to a simmer.
Chop or pull the chicken meat into bite-size chunks, then add to the coconut milk mixture. Toss well to coat evenly. If the meat is cold, return to a simmer. Stir in the cilantro.
Serve the pasta topped with the chicken. Alternatively, add the drained pasta to the pan with the chicken and toss to mix. Just before serving, squeeze a bit of lime juice over each plate.
Per serving: 610 calories (percent of calories from fat, 43), 30 grams protein, 57 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams fiber, 29 grams fat (20 grams saturated), 120 milligrams cholesterol, 390 milligrams sodium.
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