What is Cashew Chicken? Is it Chinese or Thai?

Cashew chicken is simply a stir fry of chicken and cashews with a sauce that's got a salty-sweet flavour profile. Many people might think of cashew chicken as a Chinese dish, and indeed China is where this dish originated. You can tell by the presence of sesame oil, which we don't use very much of in Thai cooking.

But Thai cuisine is heavily influenced by Chinese food, and this is one dish that has become a mainstay in Thailand, and in Thai it's called gai pad med mamuang himmapan ไก่ผัดเม็ดมะม่วงหิมพานต์ . (I swear that whole thing just says "cashew chicken stir fry"!)

But as usual, no matter where dishes come from, once they arrive in Thailand, Thai people put our own spin on it. So the flavours are a little different in predictable ways; a little lighter, a little spicier, and with a little more fish sauce 😉.

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients for Thai cashew chicken with important notes. It looks like a lot, but many of these you probably already have on hand. And if anything looks unfamiliar, not to worry - I'll explain everything you need to know!

• Spicy dried chilies (optional). You can use any kind you want, I uses the generic dried chilies you find at Chinese markets. These are totally optional, but they are a classic part of cashew chicken in Thailand. They serve mostly as garnishes but people can also break them up for extra heat.
• Extra-roasted cashews. The extra roasting makes them a little darker, crunchier, and nuttier! (See more under Pro Tip)
• Garlic, chopped
• Green onions, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-2 inch pieces.
• Chicken thigh or breast, cut into bite-sized pieces. If using breasts don't cut them thinner than ½-inch to prevent them from drying out too quickly.
• A mix of green, red and/or yellow bell peppers, 1-inch diced
• Onion, 1-inch diced
• Soy sauce
• Golden Mountain Sauce, this is another type of Thai soy sauce. You can use Maggi Seasoning instead which is very similar, or sub more fish sauce.
• Fish sauce
• Sugar
• Thai chili paste, store bought or homemade. For store bought I like Mae Pranom brand, but Pantai brand is also good. (See more on this in the FAQ)
• Oyster sauce
• Toasted sesame oil

How to Make Cashew Chicken

Here's a bird's eye view of the steps. But to ensure success I highly recommend watching the video tutorial before you start, as I often include extra tips; and for a very fast-cooking dish like this it's always good to see the whole process ahead of time, as you won't have time to read the recipe once the stove is on!

1. Marinade chicken in soy sauce. If using breast, add a little water.
2. Combine all sauce ingredients together.
3. Heat oil in a wok until very hot and spread the chicken in one layer and allow to sear.
4. Once browned, toss the chicken until fully cooked. Remove from the pan.

5. In the same wok, add the garlic and cook till golden.
6. Add the onions and cook briefly.
7. Add bell peppers, chicken, and the sauce mixture.
8. Toss on high heat for about a minute until everything is well combined and heated through.

9. Turn off the heat, then toss in the cashews and green onions.
10. Enjoy with some jasmine rice!

Pro Tips: Why This Recipe Is Special

• Double-roasting cashews make them crunchier and nuttier, and that makes then pop. Some brands of commercially roasted cashews are quite light in colour, and aren't that crunchy. Stick them on a baking sheet and roast them again at 350°F for another 8-10 minutes, and you'll get crunchier and nuttier-tasting cashews that will be well worth the extra time.
• Marinating the chicken while you prep makes it flavourful inside and out. The sauce is super flavourful, but it's only sitting on the outside. For the best result your chicken should also be flavourful inside.
• Browning chicken adds flavour without the need to fry. Restaurants often dredge the chicken in flour and then deep fry them before tossing them into the stir fry. But if you just let the chicken brown in the wok, you'll develop that deeper "fried chicken" flavour, no frying required!
• Adding onions after the garlic keeps them crisper. You might be tempted to cook onions first along with the garlic to get them soft and sweet, but here, the sauce is already sweet, and the chicken is tender, so minimally-cooked onion can better provide balance.

How to Make Cashew Chicken Faster

If you love cashew chicken and, like my husband, want to eat it again and again but don't want to do all the prep every time, I got you. Here are a couple of ways you can prep ahead and save time when the urge for cashew chicken strikes:

Make a big batch of cashew chicken sauce

1. Make 3, 4 or even 10 times the amount of sauce in this recipe. Be sure to scale all ingredients proportionally. Because sugar doesn't dissolve well in the thick sauce, I would first dissolve it in just a little bit of hot water before adding it to the rest of the sauce ingredients. Stir to mix well.
2. Measure the final volume of the sauce before you put it away, and divide it by the number of batches to get the volume that you need per batch. Write this amount on a piece of tape and tape it to the jar so you don't forget. Keep it in the fridge, it'll last indefinitely. Stir the sauce well before using.

OR..Start with my Universal Stir Fry Sauce

1. If you don't want cashew chicken THAT often, make a jar of my universal stir fry sauce, which is super useful for all sorts of things, including this recipe.
2. For the recipe given below, use 3 tablespoon of the universal sauce instead of the oyster sauce, soy sauce, Golden Mountain Sauce, and fish sauce. When you cook, you'll just need to add the chili paste, sugar and sesame oil.

Before you start, be sure to watch the video tutorial to ensure success! I always include little tips and tricks not mentioned in the blog post. The video is in the recipe card below, but you can also watch it on YouTube!

Print

Cashew Chicken Recipe

A popular takeout dish that's easy to make at home and is super weeknight-friendly. This authentic Thai recipe also includes many tricks to maximize deliciousness. Guaranteed to be better than takeout!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Thai

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Calories 391kcal

Author Pailin Chongchitnant

Ingredients

• 14 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs bite-sized pieces (see note 1)
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• 7-10 dried chilies, small to medium size (optional)
• 4 cloves garlic chopped
• ½ onion 1-inch diced
• ¾ cup green bell pepper 1-inch diced
• 1 ¼ cups red, orange and/or yellow bell pepper 1-inch diced
• ¾ cup unsalted roasted or raw cashews plus extra for sprinkles (see note 2)
• 2 green onions halved lengthwise and cut in 1.5-inch

Sauce

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Golden Mountain sauce (see note 3)
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 ½ Tablespoons Thai chili paste
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• For the cashews: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and roast the cashews (yes even if you bought them roasted, roast them again) on a baking sheet for 8-10 minutes, and until they darken in color. If starting with raw cashews, roast them for 10-12 minutes, stirring them half way through for more even roasting, until they are slightly darker than golden.
  ¾ cup unsalted roasted or raw cashews
• Combine the chicken thigh with soy sauce and mix well. If using chicken breast, add 1 ½ tablespoon of water in addition to the soy sauce. In either case let it sit for at least 15 minutes.
  14 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs, 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
  1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon Golden Mountain sauce, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, 1 ½ teaspoon sugar, 1 ½ Tablespoons Thai chili paste, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• If using dried chilies, add the oil to a wok and add the dried chilies; turn the heat on to low. Keep stirring the chilies until they puff and darken into a maroon colour, about 1 minute. Quickly remove them with a mesh skimmer, leaving the oil behind, and place them onto a paper towel lined plate to drain.
  7-10 dried chilies, small to medium size, 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• In the same wok, turn the heat up to high. Once the oil is very hot, add the chicken and spread the pieces out into one layer as much as you can.

  Allow the chicken to sear, undisturbed, for about 2 minutes or until the underside is nicely browned. Once browned, toss the chicken, and keep cooking, stirring frequently, until the chicken is completely cooked. Turn off the heat and remove the chicken from the pan, leaving all the oil behind.
• With the heat still off, add the chopped garlic, then turn the heat on to medium. Stir the garlic until the smallest pieces turn golden, then add the onions and stir for about one minute.
  4 cloves garlic, ½ onion
• Turn the heat up to high then add the bell peppers, the chicken, and the sauce mixture and toss until heated through and well mixed, about 1 minute.
  ¾ cup green bell pepper, 1 ¼ cups red, orange and/or yellow bell pepper
• Turn off the heat, then add the green onions and cashews and toss just until mixed. Plate and top with fried chilies, and serve immediately with jasmine rice.

  Note: Cashews should only be added right before serving to maintain crunch. Trust me, soggy cashews are NOT good! So if you’re making more of this recipe than you can finish today, set aside what you won’t eat before adding the cashews.
  2 green onions

Video

Notes

1. I prefer chicken thighs for this, but if using breasts, cut them into pieces no thinner than ½ inch thick, to prevent them from drying out too quickly. Also add 1 ½ tablespoon water to the marinade to give them some extra juiciness. 
2. You can also start with raw cashews and roast them as per the instructions below.
3. Instead of Golden Mountain Sauce you can sub Maggi Seasoning or more fish sauce in equal amounts.

Nutrition

Calories: 391kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 95mg | Sodium: 853mg | Potassium: 639mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1680IU | Vitamin C: 87mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 3mg

What is "Nam Tok"?

Nam tok literally means "falling water" or "waterfall," so you might have seen this steak called "waterfall salad" on some menus. The name refers to the dripping (i.e., falling) of meat juices as it’s being grilled; so the one requirement for this dish is that the meat has to be grilled. There are two common types of nam tok: one made with pork, usually grilled pork jowl, and the other made with beef.

Ingredients and Notes

Ingredients for the Steak Marinade

This marinade is a simplified version of my ultimate steak marinade recipe because the steaks are going to get even more flavour from the salad.

• Grilling steaks. Pictured are picanha steaks, also known as "top sirloin cap," but any other grilling steaks can be used. In Thailand, tri-tip is quite common.
• Oyster sauce. Check out this post for how to choose the best oyster sauce.
• Soy sauce. Watch this video for a soy sauce 101.
• Sugar
• Water
• Neutral oil
• Black pepper

Ingredients for the Salad

• Uncooked jasmine or glutinous rice for making toasted rice powder
• Makrut lime leaf (optional, not pictured). This is for adding fragrance to the toasted rice powder.
• Cilantro
• Mint
• Shallots
• Lemongrass
• Shallots
• Sawtooth coriander (optional, not pictured)
• Roasted chili flakes - You can simply toast some plain chili flakes in a dry skillet over low heat for just a minute or so, until it darkens slightly and smells smoky. Or toast whole chilies, then grind.
• Fish sauce. Learn more about choosing the best fish sauce here.
• Lime juice
• Water
• Sugar
• Thai sticky rice, for serving. This salad is always paired with sticky rice and I highly recommend it. Check out this post for how to make sticky rice.

How to Make Thai Grilled Steak Salad

Here's a bird's eye view of how to make neua yang nam tok, but be sure to watch the video tutorial first to ensure success!

1. Make the marinade by combining all ingredients.
2. Marinade steaks for at least 2 hours.
3. Grill the steaks, flipping at least twice for more even cooking.
4. I recommend medium to medium-well doneness for this recipe. Rare steaks don't hold up as well in this salad.

5. Toast the rice with a makrut lime leaf in a dry skillet or wok until browned.
6. Grind into a powder.
7. Slice the steak and place into a mixing bowl, adding any juices collected during resting.
8. Add all dressing ingredients and the toasted rice powder and toss.

9. Toss in all the fresh herbs.
10. Serve immediately with sticky rice!

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Check it out and you'll be amazed! Access the Gateway here or scan this QR code below!

Hung Lay Curry Powder

Whole spices are always preferred as the flavours are more aromatic when freshly ground, but if you don't have it, ground version can be substituted.

• Cinnamon stick or ground cinnamon
• Black peppercorns
• Turmeric powder, you can also pound fresh turmeric root into the curry paste
• Green cardamom
• White cardamom, these can be found a Chinese grocery stores.
• Cumin seeds
• Coriander seeds, this is the one spice I ask you use whole because in my experience ground coriander has so much less flavour than whole.
• Star anise
• Cloves
• Nutmeg
• Fennel seeds

How to Make Gaeng Hung Lay

Here are all the steps to make this recipe. If this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.

Make Hunglay Curry Powder:

1. For whole spices, toast them in a dry saute pan until aromatic and darkened slightly. You can combine spices of similar size and toast them at the same time.
2. Then combine all spices in a coffee grinder or blender and grind into a powder.
3. Once made, store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. You will have more than you need for this recipe, so feel free to use it as rubs, marinades, or on vegetables!

Make the curry paste: 

1. Grind dried chilies into a powder in a coffee/spice grinder, removing the seeds if you want to reduce the heat. 
2. If using an immersion blender: combine lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, shallots, garlic and shrimp paste, and blend into a paste. Add the ground dry spices and blend just to mix.
3. If using a mortar and pestle: start by pounding lemongrass and galangal into a fine paste. Then add turmeric and pound until fine, then add shallots and garlic until fine. Then add the shrimp paste and ground dry spices and pound to mix.
4. If using a regular blender: combine lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, shallots, garlic and shrimp paste, and blend into a paste. If it's too thick you can add a little water to get it going, but only add as much as needed. Pour
5. Add the dried chilies and the hung lay curry powder and blend just until well combined.

Make the curry:

1. Preheat a wok or large pot over medium heat, do not add any oil as there will be a lot of pork fat rendered. Add the pork belly pieces in one layer, and without crowding the pan, and let them sear until well browned on 4 sides. They will stick at first but once they are browned they will release from the pan.
2. Add the pork ribs and give it a quick toss. Then add the curry paste and toss to coat all pieces of pork well. Once the paste is well distributed and it has had a couple of minutes to fry in the pork fat, add water just until it barely covers the pork.
3. Add fish sauce, black soy sauce, tamarind and sugar, and cook for 1 hour 45 mins to 2 hours, loosely covered, until the pork is fork tender.
4. Towards the last 20 minutes, check the amount of liquid, and if it's very soupy, uncover the pot completely to allow liquid to evaporate. You want the sauce to be thick and rich in the end.
5. Once pork is tender add julienned ginger, whole garlic and pearl onions and simmer for another 15-20 minutes until the garlic is tender. You can add a little more water at any point if it gets to dry. 
6. Taste and adjust seasoning.
7. Garnish with extra fresh julienned ginger if desired and serve with rice, enjoy! This curry can also be made in advance and kept in the fridge, and it'll keep well in the fridge for at least a week.

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

What is Moo Ping หมูปิ้ง?

Moo means pork, and ping means to grill, so the name simple means "grilled pork." But there is much more to it than that. The pork is marinated in a slightly sweet mixture of umami sauces, herbs, and coconut milk. They're then skewered and grilled, and always served with sticky rice.

In Thailand, you can find these sold by street carts outdoors, or inside malls where there are also plenty of food stalls. Nowadays, many of these vendors do not make their own moo ping, and instead buy them from a large supplier. In my opinion, the quality of the average moo ping in Thailand has gotten worse since this started happening. Mass produced moo ping are made from finely chopped pork, they use evaporated milk instead of coconut milk, and they always taste too sweet. So this is definitely one recipe I now prefer to make myself, so I can make them like the good old days!

Ingredients

Here are all the ingredients you'll need to make this recipe. For amounts, check out the full recipe card below.

• Bamboo skewers, soak these for at least an hour before grilling, and up to overnight, to prevent them from burning on the grill. Though if you forget, you can use my other trick of placing a strip of foil down on the grill and making sure the exposed skewers rest on the foil to insulate them.
• Pork collar butt roast, or pork shoulder. You want to use a fatty cut for this for maximum juiciness.
• Garlic
• Cilantro roots or chopped cilantro stems
• Oyster sauce
• Soy sauce
• Black soy sauce to add a dark colour. You can sub Chinese dark soy, but you have to reduce the amount of regular soy sauce as Chinese dark soy is much saltier than Thai soy sauce.
• Palm sugar, or light brown sugar.
• Neutral flavoured oil
• Coconut milk
• Water, this is added to create a brine to make the pork juicier.
• White and black peppercorns, though you can use one or the other if you only have one.
• Corn starch
• Sticky rice for serving

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

How to Make Thai BBQ Pork Skewers

Here are all the steps to make this recipe. If this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.

1. For the marinade: Pound garlic, cilantro roots, peppercorns in a mortar until fine. Add palm sugar and pound until dissolved.
2. Add all remaining marinade ingredients, except cornstarch, and stir to mix.
3. If you see any silver skin on the pork, remove it, then cut pork into thin, bit-sized pieces. If you start with a roast, first cut the roast into long "cylinders" along the grain, about 1.5" wide by 1" tall.
4. Then slice each cylinder into 5 mm (¼ inch) thick pieces against the grain. See the video tutorial for a demo. Slicing thinly against the grain ensure that the muscle fibers are shortest, producing the most tender pork.

5. Pour the marinade over the pork and mix well. Let marinate overnight (8 hours) or at least 3 hours if you're in a rush.
6. After marinating, sprinkle cornstarch over the marinated pork and mix well.
7. Skewer the pork by simply poking through the middle of the piece, then lay them flat on a tray so that the pork pieces are laying flat, shingled on top of each other. Pack them tightly and neatly on top of each other and it'll help shape the skewers. If you have time, let the pork sit in the fridge on the skewers for another hour or longer to set the shape of the skewers, and the pork will not flop around as much when you grill.
8. Grill over medium to medium high heat, 1.5 - 2 minutes per side. I like to place a folded strip of foil on the grill under the exposed skewers; this prevents the skewers from burning, especially important if you did not soak the skewers. Serve with sticky rice!

Recipe Card

BBQ Pork Skewers หมูปิ้ง (moo ping)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 6 reviews

• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Marinating time: 3 hours minimum
• Cook Time: 40 mins
• Total Time: 4 hours
• Yield: Makes about 24 skewers

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Description

Moo ping are grilled pork skewers that are the ultimate poster child of Thai street food. You can find these anywhere served along with sticky rice. They're quite easy to make at home, and it's even better than on the street!

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Ingredients

• About 24 bamboo skewers, soaked for at least an hour
• 1 ½ lb pork collar butt roast
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 cilantro roots or 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro stems
• 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp black soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp (35 g) palm sugar
• 1 Tbsp neutral flavoured oil
• ¼ cup coconut milk
• 3 Tbsp water
• ¼ tsp white peppercorns
• ¼ tsp black peppercorns
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch

For serving: Sticky Rice

Ingredients & Kitchen Tools I Use

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Instructions

1. For the marinade: Pound garlic, cilantro roots, peppercorns in a mortar until fine. Add palm sugar and pound until dissolved. Add all remaining marinade ingredients, except cornstarch, and stir to mix.
2. Cut pork into thin, bit-sized pieces against the grain, about 5 mm thick (a little less than ¼ inch). If you see any silver skin on the pork, remove it. If needed, see blog post above for a visual for how to cut the pork.
3. Pour the marinade over the pork and mix well. Let marinate overnight (8 hours) or at least 3 hours if you're in a rush.
4. After marinating, sprinkle cornstarch over the marinated pork and mix well.
5. Skewer the pork, about 4-5 pieces per skewer, by poking the skewer right through the middle of the piece. Then lay the skewers down on a tray so the pork pieces are laying flat, shingled on top of each other. Pack them neatly and tightly on top of each other and it'll help shape the skewers. If you have time, let the pork sit in the fridge on the skewers for at least an hour before grilling to set the shape of the skewers and the pork pieces won't flop around as much.
6. Grill over medium to medium high heat, 1.5 - 2 minutes per side. Place a folded piece of foil under the exposed skewers to prevent them from burning.
7. Serve with sticky rice.

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Will Any Char Siu Recipe Work?

Yes. The recipe I show you here is the closest to what a Thai street vendor would make, and it is also a bit simpler. But if you already have your own trusted char siu recipe, or you've made my super popular authentic Cantonese style char siu recipe, each will work just as well. All of these styles have the same flavour profile, just slightly different ingredients.

Choosing Pork for Kao Moo Dang

Chinese style char siu typically uses port butt or pork shoulder, which works fine for this, however the Thai style is leaner and we like to use pork loin. This works because there's gravy to keep the dish moist even though the meat is lean.

Buy a pork loin roast (pic shown in the video), then cut it lengthwise with the grain into long strips about 2"x1" in diameter. Try to cut it in such a way that each piece has a bit of fat on it, because this fat will help keep everything moist and tender.

If you can, get the fatty end. When I went to get my pork from the specialty butcher, he was cutting my roast from a whole piece and asked if I wanted the "lean and pretty end" or the "fatty end". Turns out the two sides of a pork loin are different! Either will work depending on whether you like fatty or lean meat, but it's nice to have the option! I got the fatty end, naturally.

How about pork chops? If you can't find pork loin roast, pork chops will work but you want to make sure they are at least 1-inch thick. The pork needs time to brown and char slightly without overcooking the inside.

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need to make this recipe and important notes about them. For amounts, check out the full recipe card below.

Thai-Style BBQ Pork (Moo Dang)

• Pork loin roast, you can also use tenderloin if you prefer that.
• Soy sauce
• Golden Mountain Sauce. This is a type of soy sauce with a different flavour. You can also use Maggi Seasoning which has a similar flavour, or simply sub more soy sauce.
• Black soy sauce. This is added for a dark, rich colour. You can sub Chinese dark soy sauce, but because it is saltier you should reduce the amount of regular soy sauce slightly.
• Five spice powder, store bought or see my homemade recipe
• Honey
• Toasted sesame oil
• Garlic
• Ground white pepper
• Red food colouring (optional). In Thailand the pork is typically dyed bright red. If you're not going for the classic look, it can be omitted.

Gravy:

• Pork or chicken stock, unsalted or low sodium. See my homemade pork stock recipe here.
• Pork marinade from above
• White sesame seeds, toasted
• Tao jiew fermented soybean paste. This is basically the Thai version of miso, but it is runnier and comes in a glass bottle. You can substitute equal amount doenjang or miso.
• Chopped palm sugar or light brown sugar
• Black soy sauce (optional) to adjust colour as needed. Chinese dark soy can also be used.
• Cornstarch or tapioca starch to thicken the gravy.

Dark Soy Chili Vinegar (optional):

This is a condiment typically served with kao moo dang, it adds bright spicy acidity which works nicely with the dish. But it is optional as not everyone uses it.

• Sweet soy sauce or packed brown sugar
• White vinegar
• Soy sauce
• Thai black soy sauce or sub Chinese dark soy sauce and omit the regular soy sauce
• Chopped chilies, to taste

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Here are some ingredients you may not have and how to substitute. You can also watch my video where I explain all the different sauces used in Thai cooking.

• Thai seasoning sauce (Golden Mountain Sauce is a brand most commonly available). This is a type of soy sauce with a different flavour from our regular soy sauce. Maggi Seasoning or Bragg's Liquid Amino will work fine.
• Tao Jiew or Thai fermented soybean paste. This is the Thai version of miso, except the consistency is runny and the soybeans are whole. It's very salty and comes in a glass jar; typically Healthy Boy Brand is the one most commonly available. You can substitute Japanese miso paste or Korean doenjang paste although they do taste slightly different; use them in equal amounts.
• Five Spice Powder is a Chinese blend of spices that is absolutely key to the identity of this dish and is not substitutable. You can buy it, but if you have a lot of spices in your cabinet you can probably just make it. It's as simple as blitzing them in a coffee grinder. I prefer to make it from whole spices because the flavours are so much fresher than pre-ground spices. Check out my recipe for homemade five-spice powder here.
• Thai black soy sauce is what we use to add dark, delicious-looking colour to various dishes like pad see ew. It's not very salty and has a molasses-y, slightly sweet flavour. You can substitute Chinese dark soy sauce, but because the Chinese one is much saltier, you have to be careful how much you add, and you may need to reduce the amount of the regular soy sauce a bit. You can also omit it altogether if you don't care about the colour.
• Sweet soy sauce. Think brown sugar syrup + soy sauce. Indonesian sweet soy sauce will work just as well as the Thai one. As the name suggests it is mostly sweet and is very thick. In this case you can use dark brown sugar instead.

How to Make Chinese BBQ Pork & Rice (Kao Moo Dang)

Here are all the steps to make this recipe. If this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.

1. Cut pork loin into long strips, about 1" x 2" wide (see video to get a better idea of what this looks like). You can then cut each strip in half if you wish.
2. Place them in a large zip-top bag or a dish that's just big enough to contain the pork in one, even layer.
3. Combine all marinade ingredients together and stir to dissolve the honey then pour over the pork, mixing well to ensure all surfaces of the pork are coated.
4. Marinade for 24 - 48 hours, flipping the bag or turning the pork over half-way through to ensure even marinating.
5. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) with the rack set in the middle. Allow it to preheat for at least 30 mins.
6. While the oven preheats, pull the pork from the fridge so that it has time to come to room temp a bit before roasting. Also now is a good time to get the rice going and prep any other garnishes you're serving. 
7. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and put a rack on it. Remove the pork strips from the marinade (don't throw away the marinade!), shaking off as much excess as possible, and place them on the roasting rack. If your pork is quite lean, it's a good idea to brush with some vegetable oil.
8. Roast for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature registers 155°F for well-done but still juicy pork. If you want medium doneness, pull them at 145°F. 
9. While the pork is roasting, make the gravy: In a small pot, add the stock and the pork marinade and bring to a boil. 
10. While you wait for it to boil, in a mortar and pestle crush the toasted white sesame seeds briefly just until they're broken but still look mostly whole. You should be able to smell the aroma once they're sufficiently broken. Remove from the mortar.
11. Add the Thai fermented soybean paste to the mortar and crush until there are no more chunks of soybeans; if using doenjang or miso you don't need to do this. 
12. Once the stock is boiling there will be a lot of congealed scum floating on top; this is just cooked pork juice, and you can skim it off with a fine mesh skimmer and discard.
13. Add the tao jiew, white sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon of the palm sugar, and just enough of the black or dark soy sauce to get a nice rich brown colour (if using Chinese dark soy sauce, add a little at a time as it can become too salty.)  Allow the gravy to simmer gently for about 5 minutes then taste and adjust seasoning with more soy sauce or sugar as needed. 
14. Mix the cornstarch with a splash of water and stir to dissolve, then pour the slurry into the gravy while stirring. Bring the gravy to a boil, stirring constantly, until it's thickened.

For the dark soy chili vinegar

1. Combine all ingredients together and stir. This can be made well in advance and any leftovers will last in the fridge for several weeks. 

Assembly:

1. Once the pork is done, allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. The pork can even be served room temp if the gravy and rice are hot. 
2. While the pork rests, slice the cucumber, cut the boiled eggs in half, and prep any other sides you're serving.
3. Slice pork into thin pieces and place on top of the hot rice, ladle some gravy on top and serve with the eggs, cucumber slices, and Chinese sausages, if using.

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

Just an FYI that the recipe has been updated after the release of this video (which is very old!), so some of the steps and amounts in the recipe card may differ slightly. But it is still good to watch to get the idea of the process!

How to Make Massaman Curry มัสมั่นไก่

Here's a bird's eye view of this recipe, when you're ready to make, please see the full recipe card below!

Before you cook: Like all stews, this dish is better the next day after the flavors have had time to mingle. So if you can, make it a day in advanced!

Storage

Massaman curry keeps VERY well. In fact, I recommend making it one day in advance for even better flavour. But when you reheat, be careful not to overcook the potatoes! In the fridge, in an airtight container, the curry will keep for up to a week.

If you want to make this recipe a part of your regular rotation, I suggest making the massaman curry sauce in advance and freeze it!

Ingredients and Notes

Here are ingredients you'll need and important notes about them. For amounts, see the full recipe card below.

• Red curry paste - Using store bought red curry paste is fine, most Thai people do! BUT it's important to choose a good brand as that can make or break your curry. I recommend Maeploy, Aroy-D, or Namjai in that order, and you can see my full review of red curry paste here. If you're feeling ambitious, you can absolutely make your own! Here's my homemade Thai red curry paste recipe.
• Coconut milk - This is what makes the curry rich and creamy, and it's important to use good quality, full-fat coconut milk. See this post on how to choose the best coconut milk.
• Chicken thigh - I highly recommend using chicken thighs over breast so that it can have time to braise in the liquid so it will become tender and load the curry sauce with more chicken flavour.
• Chicken stock - you can theoretically use water, but for maximum flavour, go with chicken stock. You can use store bought or homemade stock, but make sure it's unsalted or at the very least low-sodium because the curry paste and fish sauce are both quite salty already.
• Fish sauce - fish sauce is the key seasoning for all Thai curries! If you're allergic to fish, soy sauce can be used instead. It's important to choose good quality fish sauce, and you can read more about how to choose good fish sauce here.
• Palm sugar - it is traditional to use palm sugar, but light brown sugar or granulated sugar are fine substitutes in this case because the curry is strongly flavoured, so it won't much much difference.
• Kabocha squash - I love using kabocha squash for red curry as the creamy sweetness pairs so well with the curry. However, feel free to substitute other vegetables - Thai eggplant and bamboo shoots are common vegetables for Thai curries.
• Thai basil - If you don't have it, regular Italian basil will do.
• Red pepper - this is added just for some colour. Red bell pepper will do, or anything mild.

How to Make Thai Red Curry Chicken

Here's a bird's eye view of the process. For full instructions, see the recipe card below, and I also recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success!

1. Wash the kabocha squash and slice off any woody blemishes off the skin, but otherwise the skin can be left on. Remove the seeds and cut into bite-sized cubes. (If you have leftover squash, try using it in this stir-fry recipe.)
2. Bring ½ cup of coconut milk to a boil, add curry paste and stir to break up lumps.
3. Continue cooking and reducing over medium high heat until it is very thick and the coconut oil starts separating from the curry paste.
4. Add the chicken and toss to mix with the paste and add the remaining coconut milk.

5. Add the chicken stock, half of the fish sauce, and the palm sugar, then simmer for about 8 minutes.
6. Add the squash, then simmer on low heat for another 6-8 minutes or until the squash is cooked through.
7. Taste the sauce and add more fish sauce as needed. Be sure the make it strong-tasting as it'll be served over plain rice.
8. Turn off the heat and stir in Thai basil and red peppers, if using. Enjoy!

Substituting Other Proteins

Anything and everything, but make sure you change the cooking time to match your protein of choice! Everything works with red curry - pork, beef, seafood, you name it.

You can check out my pineapple red curry recipe and a vegan red curry with tofu here as examples. While other curries in Thailand have common meat pairings, for example massaman is usually paired with chicken or beef, the basic a Thai red curry can take any and all proteins.

This is because the flavours of red curry is "basic" relative to other curries, meaning it doesn't have a lot of spices (compared to Thai massaman curry, for example), so the flavours can go with anything from delicate fish to gamey beef.

Substituting Other Vegetables

I like using kabocha squash because creamy squash and red curry is one of my absolute favourite flavour pairings.

While you can use a different kind of squash or whatever vegetables are available to you, here are a few common pairings in Thailand: Thai eggplant, pineapple, winter melon, and bamboo shoots (see the green curry recipe for how to deal with bamboo shoots).

Is it better to make the curry paste from scratch?

Homemade red curry paste can taste better, but not necessarily. I want to get this misconception out of the way because it hinders many people from making Thai food. You do not have to make the curry paste in order to make "legit" curry, and most Thai people do not make their own curry paste.

Growing up in Thailand my family always bought curry pastes, with the exception of very simple curries such as the sour curry or gaeng som. Go to any markets in Thailand and you'll see mounds of curry pastes people but in bulk.

Making curry paste from scratch is not something I'd do on a weeknight. Even if you're using a power tool to help as shown in my red curry paste recipe, gathering ingredients is no small feat. And just because you made the curry paste from scratch, does not mean you'll end up with a better curry! There are some very good curry pastes on the market that can rival homemade ones.

So when I make curry paste, I do it more for the experience of it. It connects me to the dish and the cuisine in a deeper way, it's a labour of love, and I love it when I can really taste the difference between mine and the store bought one. Or sometimes I make it because it's not available to buy, such as the paste for kao soi.

1. If using beef short ribs with bones, separate the bones from the meat but keep the bones.
2. Optional step: In the pot you'll use the make the curry, sear the beef in oil until browned on 2 sides. You'll need to do this in batches. Once done, pour out any excess oil and put the beef back into the pot along with the bones.
3. Add ½ cup of the coconut milk, 1 tablespoon of the curry paste, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, and top it up with just enough water to submerge. Simmer for 2 - 2.5 hours until fork tender. While you wait you can move on and make the curry sauce.
4. Once the beef is done, remove it from the cooking liquid. Discard the bones but keep the cooking liquid.

5. Bring ¾ cup of coconut milk to a boil then add the curry paste and stir to dissolve the paste.
6. Keep stirring over medium heat until the coconut oil starts sizzling out of the paste.
7. Add some of the remaining coconut milk and stir to dissolve the paste, then add the rest.
8. Add the cooked beef into the curry sauce.

9. Add the potatoes, onions, sugar, tamarind, fish sauce, and then top it up with just enough of the beef cooking liquid to keep everything submerged. (The remaining liquid you did not use you can use as a base for a tasty beef soup!)
10. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
11. Add the peanuts, if using.
12. Enjoy your super tender beef with jasmine rice!

Advance Prep Tips and Storage

Since massaman beef takes a few hours, there are lots of different ways to spread out the work to make serving day much easier! Here are a few other things you can do to spread out the work:

• Braise the beef up to a few days ahead, then make the curry sauce and finish the curry on serving day. You can also cut up the onions and potatoes ahead of time so they're ready to go.
• You can finish the whole curry ahead of time and simply reheat when ready to eat, and in fact it'll taste even better that way! However, be careful not to reheat for too long as the potatoes may over cook during the reheat.
• If making your own curry paste, it can be made any time in advance and frozen until ready to use. You can add it to the pot directly from frozen.

Storage: Massaman curry will last in the fridge for one week. It's a great dish for meal prep!

Watch The Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need, and some important notes about them. For amounts, see the full recipe card below.

• Chicken thighs; boneless, skinless. Dark meat is always my preferred cut for chicken stir fries because it's juicy and essentially overcook-proof in a stir fry. But if you really prefer breasts, or if that's the only thing you have, it will also work in this recipe with no modification needed.
• Fish sauce. See my post about how to choose high quality fish sauce.
• Oyster sauce. Oyster sauce comes in various qualities, so make sure you are using a good one! See my post here about how to choose good oyster sauce.
• Golden Mountain sauce or soy sauce. Golden Mountain Sauce is a type of Thai soy sauce, and the flavour is similar to Maggi Seasoning for those who are familiar with that. I love it in this dish, but whatever soy sauce you've got on hand will work just fine.
• Sugar. This will help with flavour and browning of the chicken.
• Chili flakes or chili powder; mild to medium. It's important to use mild or medium chili flakes otherwise you won't be able to add a lot, and you'll be giving up on the chili flavour. Generic "red pepper flakes" you find at Western grocers work great for this, as they tend to be quite mild. I used chili flakes from an Indian store, and that got me about medium spiciness. You can also use whole dried chilies and grind them up; guajillo or puya peppers are great milder options.
• Garlic.
• Optional garnish: chopped green onions, cilantro, or Thai basil add a little freshness and a pop of green that makes the dish look much prettier! If using Thai basil, I like to go easy on it as I don't want the dish to taste overwhelmingly like Thai basil.
• Jasmine rice for serving if you want to keep it Thai, or you can serve with another carb of your choice. I've had this in a sandwich and it was great, and it would probably go well with noodles, pasta, even mashed potatoes!

How to Make Chili Garlic Chicken

Here's a bird's eye view of the process. The full instructions are in the recipe card below, and if this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success!

1. Marinate the chicken with fish sauce and sugar. Mix well and let it sit while you prep the other things.
2. Combine oyster sauce, Golden Mountain sauce or soy sauce, sugar and water; stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. If your chili flakes are large or you're using whole chilies, blitz them into small flakes.
4. Heat a wok until very hot, add the chicken and let it sear until brown on the underside; about 2 minutes. Do this in 2 batches if you don't have a powerful stove.

Advance Prep & Storage

This dish is so quick already, but if you like to prep weeknight meals in advance, here are some things you can do:

• Marinade the chicken in advance, and up to 2 days ahead as long as your chicken is fresh.
• Mix the sauce in advance. If you want to make the dish regularly, mix the sauce in bulk, in advance. It'll keep in the fridge indefinitely. Remember to measure the amount of sauce needed per batch and note it down on the jar so you know how much to use.
• Make the whole dish in advance. This is one of those dishes that reheat really well, so if you're cooking a bunch of dishes for a dinner party and you want to get ahead, just make the whole thing (minus the garnishes), and simply reheat it in the microwave when it's time to serve. You can also throw it back into the wok for a quick reheat, though you will need to add a splash of water to the wok to compensate for the additional evaporation during reheating.

Storage: Chili garlic chicken will keep in the fridge for up to a week (great for meal prep!).

Other Quick Meal Ideas You May Like

What is Panang Curry?

Of all the different Thai coconut milk based curries, panang curry is one that is quite unique. Instead of having plenty of liquid like a Thai green curry or red curry, panang curry comes in a small amount of thick, rich sauce. You can make an argument that it's more of a saucy stir fry.

Another defining feature is the generous use of cumin and coriander seeds which distinguishes its flavour from the basic Thai red curry. Makrut lime leaves (aka kaffir lime leaves) are also considered must-have for panang curry. Peanuts are ground into the curry paste, making the resulting sauce thicker and richer, though for commercial panang curry pastes, the peanuts are often omitted or replaced with mung beans to avoid allergies.

You can buy panang curry pastes from some Asian grocery stores that stock a lot of Southeast Asian products, but it's not an easy one to find. So I have included how to make panang curry paste from scratch in this recipe, OR if you're short on time you can also try my shotcut - the semi-homemade panang curry paste - which includes just a few ingredients added to store bought red curry paste.

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need and important notes about them. For amounts, see the full recipe card below.

• Panang curry paste, store bought or homemade (recipe below). This is the heart of the curry and the quality of your curry hangs on the quality of your paste. So if you're going to use store bought, make sure it is good quality. My preference is for Maeploy or Aroy D brands, and if you cannot find store bought panang curry paste, you can also buy red curry paste and add a few ingredients to it to turn it into a panang paste.
• Coconut milk. It's important to use good quality coconut milk when it comes to Thai curries, read more about how to choose good coconut milk here.
• Fish sauce. More about how to choose good fish sauce here.
• Sugar. If you have palm sugar, you can use it, but for this granulated white sugar or light brown sugar will also work just fine.
• Pork tenderloin or pork collar butt, sliced thinly (~⅛ inch) or you can substitute chicken breast or thigh, sliced about ½-inch thick.
• Makrut lime leaves, also known as kaffir lime leaves. This is an important flavour in panang curry. It adds a citrusy aroma the helps brighten and lighten the otherwise rich curry. If you can't find fresh, frozen is the second best option, and dried would be the last resort.
• Mild red chilies for garnish, optional. This is just to give it some colour. Traditionally we use spur chilies or prik chee fa, but any kind of red pepper will do.

Homemade Panang Curry Paste Ingredients

Again, you do NOT have to make it from scratch! It is perfectly acceptable to use store bought, and see my hack for making semi homemade panang curry paste below!

• Dried Chilies. Panang is not supposed to be a super spicy curry, so I stick with mild dried chilies such as guajillo or puya chilies. If you want to add some heat, you can add some spicier chilies such as Thai or arbol chilies as well.
• Coarse salt. If you're pounding by hand, the coarseness will help add some friction, but if making by machine, any kind of salt is fine.
• Cumin seeds, toasted
• Coriander seeds, toasted
• White peppercorns
• Chopped lemongrass, use lemongrass from the bottom half only which is where the flavour is most concentrated. More about lemongrass here.
• Chopped galangal. Fresh or frozen galangal will do. More about galangal here.
• Makrut lime zest. AKA kaffir lime zest. This is the green part of the skin of the makrut limes, and it is very hard to find so I wouldn't worry so much if you don't have it. It has the same aroma as makrut lime leaves, so you can always just add a few extra leaves into the curry. More about makrut lime leaves here.
• Cilantro roots. Simply the roots of the cilantro/coriander plant! This is a common ingredient in Thai cuisine, but outside of Thailand it can be hard to find. Not to worry, you can substitute cilantro stems instead!
• Garlic
• Shallots
• Shrimp paste, called gapi in Thai, this is a fermented shrimp paste, which is an ingredient added to most Thai curries. It is salty and has a funky smell but adds a huge amount of umami. If you don't have it, you can omit it, and you'll just need to add a little more fish sauce to the curry.
• Roasted peanuts. This adds richness to the curry, if you're allergic to peanuts you can substitute another nut or seeds that you are not allergic to to mimic the same richness.

How to Make Panang Curry

Here's a bird's eye view of the process, the full instructions are in the recipe card below, and if it's your first time make sure you watch the video below to ensure success.

1. Reduce some of the coconut milk in a wok or large skillet until very thick.
2. Add the curry paste and stir to mix.
3. Keep stirring until coconut oil starts to separate and sizzle around the curry paste.
4. Add the palm sugar and torm makrut lime leaves and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

5. Add the meat and toss to coat in the paste (image shows beef, but it would be the same if using pork or chicken).
6. Add the remaining coconut milk and stir until the meat is cooked through, then turn off the heat.
7. Taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce if needed, then stir in the red pepper.
8. Plate and top with julienned makrut lime leaves for garnish.

Watch the Video Tutorial

Here's the video showing how to make panang curry with beef, though the process would be exactly the same if using pork or chicken. (I do have a video that shows how to make panang curry with pork, but I have since updated my process so this one is better 😊). If you enjoy my videos, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

Storing Leftover and Advance Prep

Panang curry keeps quite well and is great for meal prep. In the fridge it should last up to a week, just be sure not to overcook the meat when you reheat it. Any leftover curry paste can be frozen.

To make this dish even quicker to pull off on a weeknight, make your curry paste in advance, and you can keep curry paste frozen for several months. You can even make a large amount if you want to come back to this dish regularly!

FAQ

More Classic Thai Recipes You'll Love

If you're ready to try more dishes, here are some popular classic Thai recipes to check out, complete with video tutorials as always!

Recipe

Authentic Thai Panang Curry

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 12 reviews

• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• If making curry paste: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 2 servings

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Description

Authentic recipe for Thai panang curry, just like you'd have it in Thailand! This recipe uses pork, which is the most common type of panang curry in Thailand, but you can substitute chicken if you wish. If you want to use beef, see my recipe for panang beef which gives some extra tips for making sure your beef is tender.

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Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp (60 ml) panang curry paste, store bought use one of the recipes below (see note 1)
• 10.5 oz (300 g) pork tenderloin or collar but, thinly sliced against the grain (see note 2)
• 1½ tsp (7.5 ml) fish sauce
• 2 tsp (10 ml) neutral oil
• 1 ¼ cups (300 ml) coconut milk, plus a little extra for garnish if you wish
• 10 makrut lime leaves, 7 roughly torn into chucks, 3 finely julienned for garnish
• 1½ Tbsp (18 g) palm sugar, finely chopped, packed 
• ⅛ red bell pepper, julienned for garnish, optional
• Jasmine rice for serving

Option 1: Homemade Panang Curry Paste

• 10 g dried mild chilies, such as guajillo or puya peppers. 
• ½ tsp coarse salt
• ¾ tsp cumin seeds
• 1½ tsp  coriander seeds
• ¼ tsp white peppercorns
• 3 Tbsp chopped lemongrass, from bottom half only
• 1 Tbsp chopped galangal
• 1 ½ tsp makrut lime zest (aka kaffir lime)
• 2 cilantro roots or 6 cilantro stems, chopped
• 3 Tbsp chopped garlic
• ¼ cup chopped shallots
• 1 tsp fermented shrimp paste (gapi)
• 2 Tbsp roasted peanuts (if allergic, sub another type of nuts or seeds)

Option 2: Semi-Homemade Panang Curry Paste

• 4 tablespoon red curry paste
• ¾ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 ½ tsp coriander seeds
• 2 Tbsp roasted peanuts (if allergic, sub another type of nuts or seeds)
• 1 tsp fermented shrimp paste (optional, only if the red curry paste doesn’t already have it)

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Instructions

For the Curry:

1. Add 1½ teaspoon fish sauce and oil to the pork and massage it in with your hands, separating the pieces  that are stuck together as you mix.
2. In a saute pan or a wok over medium high heat, reduce ¾ cup coconut milk until thickened and creamy. Stir in curry paste and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook the paste for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until coconut oil separates away from the paste. If the paste sticks to the pan, you can deglaze with a bit of the remaining coconut milk.
3. Add palm sugar and torn makrut lime leaves and cook for a minute or so until the sugar is dissolved.
4. Add the pork and quickly toss it with the curry paste, separating the pieces as much as you can. Once the pork is about 50% cooked, add the remaining coconut milk and stir for just one more minute, just until the pork is mostly cooked through, then turn off the heat. *Do not overcook the pork or it will become chewy; it will continue to cook in the residual heat even after you turn off the heat. If it looks too dry, you can add a splash of water at this point.
5. Stir in red peppers, if using. Taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce as needed. The amount of fish sauce you need greatly depends on how salty your curry paste is, which varies between brands.
6. Plate, and if you have extra coconut milk handy, it's traditional to garnish panang curry with a little drizzle of coconut milk on top, but don't worry if you don't have any extra. Top with julienned makrut lime leaves and more red peppers as desired.
7. Serve with jasmine rice, enjoy!

For the Homemade Panang Curry Paste:

*This method requires the use of a large granite mortar and pestle. You can also use an immersion blender if you have one, but you'll need to double the recipe to make it grind properly. See my red curry paste recipe for how to use an immersion blender to make curry paste.

1. In a dry skillet toast the cumin seeds over medium heat until they darken slightly and are aromatic and start to pop, 2-3 minutes; remove from the pan. Repeat with the coriander seeds.
2. Add the coriander and cumin seeds into a coffee/spice grinder. Then cut the chilies into chunks and pour out the seeds, and add them to the grinder also. Grinde everything into a powder. Add the roasted peanuts and grind just until mostly fine. 
3. In a large mortar and pestle, add lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime zest, cilantro roots/stems and salt and pound into a fine paste. Add the shallots and garlic and pound into a fine paste, adding the dry spices once the shallots and garlic start to become wet to help absorb liquid. 
4. Pound everything into a fine paste, then add the shrimp paste and pound to mix. 

For the Semi-Homemade Panang Curry Paste:

1. In a dry skillet toast the cumin seeds over medium heat until they darken slightly and are aromatic and start to pop, 2-3 minutes; remove from the pan. Repeat with the coriander seeds.
2. Grind the cumin and coriander seeds until very fine using a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder.
3. Add the roasted peanuts and grind until fine.
4. Mix ground spices into the red curry paste and shrimp paste, if using a mortar and pestle, simply add the paste into the mortar and pound to mix.

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Notes

1. If you are using store bought curry paste, add 2 tablespoons of ground roasted peanuts because most store bought pastes leave out peanuts.
2. If you want to substitute chicken, I recommend boneless skinless chicken thigh, sliced into ½-inch thick pieces. If you want to use beef, see my panang beef recipe for some tips on making sure the beef is tender.

What is Panang Curry?

Panang curry is kind of an interesting dish, because it's quite unique compared to other Thai curries. You may have noticed that most dishes that are classified as "curry" of "gaeng" in Thai cuisine are rather soupy. Lots of sauce, thin and runny sauce, some are even water-based and eat very much like brothy soups like this sour curry or this breast milk boosting curry. (If you have my cookbook, I talk about what is curry in there.)

Panang, on the other hand, might be closer to what you imagine when you think of the word "curry"— a thicker, richer sauce, and just enough of it to coat all the stuff and pool a little. We even have a special word for this amount of liquid in a dish, it's called "kluk klik".  Panang is also unique in that it is all meat—it never has any vegetables added to it. The meat is always thinly sliced, and at most you'll get some red peppers thrown in as garnish.

Flavour-wise, it is similar to a red curry with a couple of important ingredients added: coriander, cumin, and peanuts. You can check out my Thai red curry recipe to compare!

It's a great weeknight curry because it comes together so fast. The cooking technique is almost more of a stir-fry, which awesome!

How to Ensure Tender Beef

When eating a beef curry or stir-fry, my biggest pet peeve is when the meat is chewy. I hate it. No matter how delicious it is...if the meat it chewy, the dish is ruined in my books. There are a few simple keys to make sure you have tender beef without having to braise it for a long time.

1. Choose a cut of beef that you would eat as a steak. The assumption being that any beef you will eat as a steak is considered "tender", at least compared to cuts you would need to stew or braise. This is a good rule of thumb for choosing stir-fry beef, which this recipe essentially is. I'm using New York strip in this video (it's a particularly fatty one, which was just a lucky pick at the store!).This does NOT mean it has to be an expensive cut, but if you're choosing the less expensive, leaner steaks, the next two points are very important.
2. Slice the meat AGAINST THE GRAIN. If the meat is naturally tender (New York, ribeye, or tenderloin), it's not as big of a deal, but for cuts that are borderline chewy....like flank, or lean sirloin tip, it's very important. You want the shortest meat fibers possible because the longer it is, the harder it is to chew. Think of slicing the beef as "pre-chewing"—let the knife do the hard work for you. So pay attention to your steak, look at which direction the meat grain runs, and slice across it. See my video for an example.
3. Slice meat THINLY. For 2 reasons, one is because the thinner the beef the more tender is it to chew, which is important if you're using leaner, less tender meat. The other reason is that this is a quick-cooking curry, not a long simmering one, so if the meat is thick the flavour will not have time to penetrate the inside. Using meat that is still a little frozen inside makes slicing thinly much easier.

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

Ingredients

Here are all the ingredients you'll need to make this recipe. For amounts, check out the full recipe card below.

• Beef, very thinly sliced against the grain (see notes about tender beef above)
• Fish sauce. More about fish sauce here.
• Oil
• Coconut milk
• Homemade or semi-homemade panang curry paste (recipe follows)
• Makrut lime leaves, 7 roughly torn into chunks which we'll add to the curry, and 3 finely julienned which we will use as garnish on top.
• Palm sugar, finely chopped, packed. If you don't have it, light brown or even granulated white sugar will be fine as it is a small amount.
• A handful mild red pepper, thinly julienned for garnish, optional
• Jasmine rice for serving

Semi-Homemade Panang Curry Paste

If you can't find pre-made panang curry paste at the store, you can easily make one using red curry paste as a base.

• Store bought red curry paste. I recommend Maeploy, Aroy D, Maesri and Namjai brands. I don't recommend Thai Kitchen. Read my red curry paste review here.
• Toasted cumin seeds.
• Toasted coriander seeds. Do not use ground coriander as it is often lacking in flavour. Buy whole coriander seeds, widely available at Asian and Indian grocery stores.
• Roasted peanuts, if allergic, you can sub another type of nuts or seeds.
• Fermented shrimp paste, for some extra umami. This is optional, only if the red curry paste doesn’t already have it.

How to Make Panang Curry Beef

Here are all the steps to make this recipe. If this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.

For the semi-homemade panang curry paste:

1. Grind the cumin and coriander seeds until very fine using a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder.
2. Add roasted peanuts and grind until fine.
3. Mix the red curry paste and shrimp paste into the ground spice mixture.

For the Curry

1. Add 1½ teaspoon fish sauce and oil to beef and massage it in with your hands, separating the pieces of beef that are stuck together as you mix.
2. In a saute pan or a wok over medium high heat, reduce ¾ cup coconut milk until thickened and creamy.
3. Stir in curry paste and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook the paste for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until coconut oil separates away from the paste. If the paste sticks to the pan, you can deglaze with a bit of the remaining coconut milk.
4. Add palm sugar and torn kaffir lime leaves and cook for a minute or so until the sugar is dissolved.
5. Add beef and quickly toss it with the curry paste, separating the pieces of beef as much as you can. Once the beef is about 50% cooked, add the remaining coconut milk and stir for 30 more seconds or just until the beef is fully cooked. If it looks too dry, you can add a splash of water at this point.
6. Stir in red peppers, if using, and turn off the heat.
7. Taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce and/or sugar as needed.
8. Garnish with julienned kaffir lime leaves and more red peppers as desired.
9. Serve with jasmine rice, enjoy!

Recipe Card

Panang Curry Beef แพนงเนื้อ

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 18 reviews

• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
• Yield: 2-3 servings

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Ingredients

• 300g beef, very thinly sliced against the grain (see notes about tender beef above)
• 1½ tsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp oil
• ¾ cup + ½ cup coconut milk
• 1 recipe homemade or semi-homemade panang curry paste (recipe follows)
• 10 kaffir lime leaves, 7 roughly torn, 3 finely julienned
• ~1 teaspoon fish sauce, to taste
• 1½ Tbsp palm sugar, finely chopped, packed (if using granulated sugar, use 1 tablespoon to start then taste and adjust)
• A handful mild red pepper, thinly julienned for garnish, optional
• Jasmine rice for serving

Semi-Homemade Panang Curry Paste

• 3-4 tablespoon red curry paste (see notes)
• ¾ tsp toasted cumin seeds
• 1 ½ tsp toasted coriander seeds
• 2 Tbsp roasted peanuts, unsalted (if allergic, sub another type of nuts or seeds)
• 1 tsp fermented shrimp paste (optional, only if the red curry paste doesn’t already have it)

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Instructions

For the semi-homemade panang curry paste:

1. Grind the cumin and coriander seeds until very fine using a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder.
2. Add roasted peanuts and grind until fine.
3. Mix the red curry paste and shrimp paste into the ground spice mixture.

For the Curry

1. Add 1½ teaspoon fish sauce and oil to beef and massage it in with your hands, separating the pieces of beef that are stuck together as you mix.
2. In a saute pan or a wok over medium high heat, reduce ¾ cup coconut milk until thickened and creamy.
3. Stir in curry paste and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook the paste for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until coconut oil separates away from the paste. If the paste sticks to the pan, you can deglaze with a bit of the remaining coconut milk.
4. Add palm sugar and torn kaffir lime leaves and cook for a minute or so until the sugar is dissolved.
5. Add beef and quickly toss it with the curry paste, separating the pieces of beef as much as you can. Once the beef is about 50% cooked, add the remaining coconut milk and stir for 30 more seconds or just until the beef is fully cooked. If it looks too dry, you can add a splash of water at this point.
6. Stir in red peppers, if using, and turn off the heat.
7. Taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce and/or sugar as needed.
8. Garnish with julienned kaffir lime leaves and more red peppers as desired.
9. Serve with jasmine rice, enjoy!

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Notes

You can use any curry paste brand that you like. In this video I used Maesri brand. Watch this video for my tips on choosing a curry paste.

Ingredients

Here are ingredients for char siu, mostly basic stuff with the exception of the red bean curd.

• Pork shoulder roast, boneless. See below for more on choosing the right pork for char siu.
• Soy sauce
• Hoisin sauce
• Red bean curd. You can find Chinese red bean curd in a glass jar at most Chinese grocery stores. More on this below.
• Five spice powder, store bought or use my easy homemade five-spice powder recipe.
• Honey
• White pepper, black pepper is fine if you don't have it
• Garlic
• Chinese cooking wine, optional
• Toasted sesame oil, optional

For the Glaze

• Honey
• Red bean curd liquid or cooked leftover marinade

What is Red Bean Curd?

You can think of red bean curd as a kind of fermented tofu. They are soft, salty, funky cubes of fermented soybean curds that come submerged in a red liquid. The red colour comes from red yeast rice which is used during fermentation of the bean curd. Thankfully, it's quite widely available at most Chinese grocery stores.

It's the main ingredient for Cantonese char siu and is the source of the iconic red colour. If you don't have it, you can substitute 1½ tablespoons of miso thinned out with a bit of water, plus bit of red food coloring.

Don't know what else to use it for? Try these other recipes that use red bean curd: Thai style hot pot and sukiyaki stir fry.

Choosing The Best Pork for Char Siu

Choosing the right pork is the most important step. Traditionally, Chinese barbecued pork uses pork butt, a.k.a. pork shoulder. It is a flavourful and fatty cut that is perfect for dry roasting.

I go to the butcher and ask for a boneless pork shoulder roast, something that is at least 5 inches long so you have a nice long-ish piece at the end. It'll be at least 4 lb, more than what you need for this recipe, but you can save the rest for a slow braised pork dish like adobo, or make Thai street-style grilled pork skewers.

Preparing the Pork

Pork butt is an irregular piece of meat and it can seem intimidating to deal with, but rest assured that it isn't. The roast is made up of different muscles that look (and taste) slightly different, which I think keeps it interesting. It's also got lots of fat (yum) and some connective tissue running throughout, which means some parts are a bit chewier. The chewiness will be mitigated by slicing thinly when serving.

Despite its irregular shape, breaking it down is simple: Cut it down into log-shaped pieces, going with the grain of the muscles, ignoring any connective tissue or fat that's in your way—just cut right through them. You want to cut each log with the grain so that when you slice them for serving, you'll be slicing against the grain, which will yield more tender pieces.

You can trim off big chunks of fat, but don't trim too much as the fat keeps it juicy. And don't worry if your logs end up oddly shaped; Chinese BBQ pork is supposed to be rustic looking!

The Glaze

The glaze is what makes this pork shine and glisten, and yields a sweet caramelized crust. I like to simply mix some honey with a bit of the red bean curd juice, but for an extra oomph of flavour you can take some of the leftover marinade, heat it up to boiling to cook off raw pork juice, and then combine that with the honey to make a glaze. It'll be less red that way, but it'll give you more of the flavours of the spices. You can always boost it with a couple of drops of red food colouring.

How to Make Char Siu

Here's a bird's eye view of the steps, the full instructions are in the recipe card below, and be sure to watch the full video tutorial before starting to ensure success.

1. Mash the red bean curds with a fork.
2. Add all marinade ingredients and stir to mix.
3. Pour the marinade over the pork and toss to coat well. Marinate the pork for 24-48 hours.
4. Roast the pork at 400°F (200 °C) on a rack for 15 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, combine the glaze ingredients.
6. Once the pork is out, brush the tops and sides with the glaze and return to the oven for 5-7 minutes until the glaze is dry.
7. Remove the pork from the oven and apply another layer of glaze, and put it back in for another 5-7 minutes to dry.
8. Repeat the glazing one more time and roast again for another 5 minutes until internal temp reaches 155°F (68°C). The total cooking time should be about 30 minutes. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

What is moo deng?

Moo means pork, and deng means bouncy, and it refers to a kind of pork bouncy pork meatballs that we put in various dishes, typically noodle soups, including the viral tom yum instant noodles, pictured below. Sometimes, the pork is formed into patties instead of balls.

Some non-Thai news outlets have been incorrectly reporting that moo deng means "bouncing pig," which I suppose is correct on paper, but not in practice. It's a classic case of "lost in translation" because in Thai, moo means both pork and pig (the same way that "chicken" refers to both the animal and the meat). But moo deng is a food!

Ingredients and Notes

Here are ingredients you'll need for moo deng and some important notes about them. It's super simple! For amounts, see the full recipe card below

• White peppercorns
• Garlic
• Ground pork, preferably not lean for the best texture.
• Soy sauce, use Thai soy sauce for the authentic flavour, but without it, other kinds of soy sauce is also fine.
• Fish sauce. See this post on choosing good quality fish sauce.
• Sugar
• A small ice cube, optional.
• Food processor. Ideally, you'll also need a food processor for the right texture and to get that bounciness, though a small one is fine. If you don't have one, you can still make it and it'll be tasty, but the texture will be more coarse and it won't be bouncy.

How to Make Moo Deng

Here's a bird's eye view of how to make moo deng. Like any other meatballs, you can make these ahead of time and freeze!

1. Pound the garlic and pepper into a paste (not shown). Add the pork, the garlic paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and a small ice cube into a food processor.
2. Process the pork into a smooth-ish paste - the smoother it is the bouncier the meatballs will be. Without a food processor just knead all ingredients well together well with your hand.
3. Roll them into little balls with gloved hands. Without gloves, wetting your hands will prevent the pork from sticking to your hands.
4. Cook them in boiling water for about 2 minutes or until cooked through. Fish them out, and they're now ready to be added to any noodle soup or any dish you want, or you can freeze them for another day.

What is Nam Jim Jeaw?

Nam jim jeaw is the classic Thai dipping sauce for all manner of meats, especially grilled meats. It's made from fish sauce, lime juice and/or tamarind, sugar, dried chilies, toasted rice powder and fresh herbs. The spicy acidity, with toasted rice aroma and fresh herbs, makes it the perfect thing to enhance and balance the richness of meats.

Nam jim means dipping sauce and jeaw also means dipping sauce, but in the Northeastern Thai dialect! This is because the sauce originated in Northeastern Thailand, but it quickly spread to the rest of the country due to its ease, versatility, and deliciousness. So nam jim jeaw essentially means "the dipping sauce from the Northeast"!

Ingredients

There aren't many ingredients for nam jim jeaw, and they're all staples in Thai cuisine!

• Fish sauce. See my post here on how to choosing good fish sauce
• Tamarind. Store bought tamarind paste (aka tamarind concentrate) is fine, just be sure to buy one from Thailand. If you want to make your own from pulp it is easy! Follow my guide to making homemade tamarind.
• Lime juice.
• Palm sugar or white sugar. Read all about palm sugar here!
• Toasted chili flakes. You can buy store bought chili flakes and toast in a dry pan briefly until smokey, or toast whole chilies (arbol is a good choice) and then grind. The toasting is optional, but adds a nice smokiness.
• Shallots.
• Toasted rice powder. This is absolutely key to this recipe! Adds an iconic toasty aroma that makes all the difference. It's made simply by toasting raw rice (pictured) in a dry skillet and then grinding it.
• Fresh herbs, commonly green onion and cilantro, though mint, sawtooth coriander or even dill can be used.

How to Make Nam Jim Jeaw

Here's a bird's eye view of the process, for amounts and detailed instructions, see the recipe card below!

1. If making toasted chili flakes from whole chilies, toast them in a dry skillet over medium high heat for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until some charred spots form on the chilies. You can also toast store bought chili flakes in this way.
2. Grind the chilies in a coffee grinder or spice grinder.
3. Make the toasted rice powder by toasting the rice in a dry pan over high heat, stirring constantly, until dark brown.
4. Grind into a powder using a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle.

5. Combine the fish sauce, tamarind, lime juice, and palm sugar or white sugar.
6. Stir until most of the sugar is dissolved. Any stubborn chunks of palm sugar should dissolve in 5 minutes or so as it sits in the liquid.
7. Add the shallots, toasted rice powder, chilies, and fresh herbs.
8. It's now ready to use!

• "Original" All-Purpose Jeaw. When in doubt, this is the one to make. A good balance of salty, sour, and sweet that will go with most thing; especially BBQ chicken, steak, and pork jowl. It has a bit of a thicker body so it will cling well to meats when dipped.
• Light Jeaw. Made to be lighter in body with more lime juice, it will cling lightly to meats when dipped, making it perfect for thin, delicate pieces of meat such as in hot pot. It is also less sweet and more tart and salty, which helps it cut the grease of very fatty meat such as pork belly, or meat that is already quite sweet.
• Mellower Tomato Jeaw. The original jeaw is very intense, making it easy for those unfamiliar to overdo it. So I came up with a mellower version with the addition of diced tomatoes that people can more generously spoon onto their meat.

What to Serve with Nam Jim Jeaw

Some classic dishes that are always served with nam jim jeaw are:

• Thai BBQ chicken (gai yang). This is a staple in my house, and you can bake the chicken instead as well.
• Grilled steaks. We love it so much that even some Western steak houses will offer nam jim jeaw alongside gravy because some Thai people (me included) just cannot have meat without it!
• Grilled pork jowl.
• Northeastern Thai hot pot (aka jim jum or jeaw hon). Since the pieces are delicate, we use the lighter jeaw for this one.
• Crispy pork belly, I especially love it with crispy pork belly because the jeaw cuts the fat so well that you'll be able to enjoy it without it feeling overly greasy. I also recommend the light version for this.

But really, any meat, Thai or not, can benefit from nam jim jeaw. Try it on roast beef, roast chicken, or even some firm-flesh fatty fish such as salmon, trout, or mackerel.

Storage and Advance Prep

Storage: You can keep leftover nam jim jeaw in the fridge for up to a week. The herbs will look wilted, of course, and the sauce will thicken slightly because the rice will have absorbed some liquid, but it will still taste fine. So ideally, you don't want to make more than you need. But you can....

Make nam jim jeaw "base" in bulk! If you want quick and easy access to nam jim jeaw you can absolutely make a bunch of the "base" ahead of time and keep it in the fridge. You simply need to omit a couple of things:

• Leave out the leafy herbs and add when serving. Otherwise the herbs will look dodgy within a day. If you're lazy you can definitely serve the sauce without the herbs at all.
• Leave out the toasted rice powder and add when serving. You can toast the rice ahead of time and keep it whole in a jar. When ready to serve, grind it up and add to the sauce. The aroma of toasted rice is fleeting so you don't want to add it far ahead of time.

What is Hainanese Chicken Rice (khao man gai)?

Known as khao mun gai or khao mun gai in Thai, this dish originated on the Chinese island of Hainan (obviously!), which is off the coast of Southern China. There are many Hainanese immigrants in Southeast Asia due to the island's proximity. And indeed, my mother's side of the family are Hainanese immigrants to Thailand!

Hainanese chicken rice is made by first poaching a whole chicken. Then the chicken cooking liquid, which will have turned into tasty chicken broth, is used to cook the rice. The rice is also first sauteed in rendered chicken fat that you get from trimming excess fat from the chicken.

In my family, we make khao man gai usually during Chinese New Year or Qingming festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) because these are days when we poach whole chickens to offer to our ancestors. Once the ancestors have had their share, we bring the chickens home and make delicious Hainanese chicken rice!

Khao Mun Gai in Thailand

Khao mun gai is the epitome of Thai street food. You can find them sold by street vendors, mom-and-pop restaurants, and food courts. It's cheap, fast, delicious, truly the food of the people. It was even featured in my Top 5 Rice Dishes in Thailand video!

Since it was brought into Thailand by Chinese immigrants, you'll find it more in areas with a large Chinese communities, such as Bangkok. But because of its popularity, it is available just about anywhere in the country so you will definitely come across one.

Khao man gai in different countries vary slightly, but most notably the sauce that's served with khao man gai in Thailand is unique. Ours is made from ginger and fermented soybean paste (taojiew), and in my opinion, I think it really is the best pairing with poached chicken!

As you'll see below, in my household we actually serve 2 different sauces with this dish, the classic taojiew one, and one that my grandmother created herself!

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need to make khao man gai and important notes about them. For amounts, check out the full recipe card below.

This recipe is the traditional method that uses a whole chicken, and it does take time. If you are looking for something easier and quicker, check out my Quick & Easy Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe that can even be done in a rice cooker! 

THE POACHED CHICKEN

• Whole chicken, preferably on the smaller side. If you can get free-range chicken it would also be better for this recipe as they tend to be smaller and more flavourful. If you are shopping at an Asian grocery store, you may find smaller whole chickens with head and feet attached, with the skin slightly more yellow, and these are THE perfect chicken for this recipe!
• Cilantro roots, or 6 cilantro stems
• Garlic, smashed until broken
• Onion, roughly chopped
• Daikon, cut in big chunks. This wasn't used in my original video but daikon makes for a super sweet, tasty broth and I highly recommend it! 
• White pepper, ground or crushed
• Ginger, sliced
• Fine grain salt, I specify fine grain for accuracy in measurements. If you're using coarse grain salt, you'll need to measure out a bit more.
• Green onions and/or cilantro, for garnishing the broth for serving, if desired.

THE RICE

• Jasmine rice
• Chicken fat trimmings, ​you just need to trim these off the chicken before poaching. There's usually a lot of fat around the neck.
• Chicken broth from poaching the chicken, you don't need to buy this!
• Garlic, chopped or pounded in a mortar and pestle
• Cucumber slices, for serving.

SAUCE OPTION 1: The Classic Nam Jim Taojiew

​If you only make one dipping sauce, this is the one to make. This is the classic Thai dipping sauce that every khao man gai vendor serves in Thailand. 

• Ginger, just wash the ginger well and no need to peel
• Thai chilies, put as much or as little as you wish depending on how spicy you want it to be
• Tao Jiew (Thai fermented soybean paste) which comes in a glass bottle and in export market this will usually be Healthy Boy Brand. It has the same colour as miso. You can also substitute an equal amount of miso paste of Korean doenjang.
• Sugar
• Black soy sauce, or dark soy sauce. Thai black soy sauce gives it a rich molasses flavour and a dark colour, but it isn't very salty. You can also use Chinese dark soy sauce instead, but because it's saltier, I'd reduce the amount of regular soy sauce. If you have sweet soy sauce, you can also use it and reduce the amount of sugar. Read more about different types of soy sauce here.
• Soy sauce, whatever your regular soy sauce is fine.
• White vinegar, or another type of mild-flavoured vinegar such as white wine vinegar or rice vinegar.
• Chopped cilantro, optional

SAUCE OPTION 2: Grandma's Signature Spicy and Sour Dipping Sauce

You won't find this sauce sold at any khao man gai vendors in Thailand, but my grandma always makes 2 different sauces. For many years I thought that this sauce was the "Hainanese style" that she made back in her hometown. But I just found out from my aunt, during my most recent trip home (2024), that in fact my grandma made it up!

Apparently one day she made the classic sauce, and people said it wasn't good, so she went back into the kitchen and came out with another sauce that she just made up on the fly. And people LOVED it. Since then she's been making two sauces. I find a mix of the 2 makes for the perfect combo, and I always have the 2 together!

• Garlic
• Thai chilies
• Cilantro, stems and leafy parts separated and chopped.
• Soy sauce
• Lime juice
• Sugar

*In the video I put ginger in this sauce, but I misremembered. This sauce only has garlic!

How to Make Hainanese Chicken Rice

Here is an overview of all the steps to make this recipe. See the recipe card below for all the details and ingredient amounts. If this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.

1. If your chicken comes with the head and feet, cut off the neck, feet, and wing tips and add to a stock pot large enough to put the chicken into. And onions, daikon, garlic, ginger, cilantro roots and white peppercorns. Add enough water to generously submerge all ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes to render a stock.
2. Meanwhile, trim excess checking fat from the chicken (lots around the neck and butt areas) and add these trimmings to a wok or to the pot you will use to cook the rice. Set it aside for now.
3. Once the stock is ready, season with 1 tablespoon of salt and fill the pot about ⅔ full with cold water. Add the chicken to the pot and add more water as needed to keep the chicken submerged.
4. On medium high heat, bring the temperature of the water up to about 170°F. If you don't have a thermometer, the water should have lots of steam coming off the top but it is should not be bubbling. Reduce the heat to maintain this temperature and cook until the chicken's internal temperature is at least 175°F at the thickest part of the thighs, and 165°F at the thickest part of the breast. This should take about 40-50 minutes, but it will vary according to the size of the chicken.

5. While the chicken is cooking, make the rice by first washing the rice a few times, and drain. In a wok or the pot you're using the cook the rice, saute the chicken fat trimmings over medium heat until you have at least 2 tablespoon of rendered chicken fat.
6. Remove the chicken bits from the oil and discard, then add the garlic to the chicken fat and saute until the garlic is golden.
7. Add the washed-and-drained rice and stir until the rice is thoroughly heated through, about 2 minutes. If you're sauteing the rice in a wok, transfer the rice to the pot you'll use to cook the rice or the rice cooker. Leave it here for now while the chicken finishes cooking.
8. Once the chicken is done cooking, remove it from the broth and allow to cool. Taste the broth and add more salt as needed to make it taste like a lightly-seasoned but still delicious soup. Use the broth to add to the rice, and stir the rice over medium high heat until it starts to simmer.

9. Once the water is simmering, cover the pot and reduce the heat to LOW and let the rice cook slowly until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 - 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make the sauces (instructions below).
10. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, and the rice and sauces are ready, carve the chicken. If you need guidance for carving the chicken, watch this video: How to carve a chicken.
11. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. The thighs will be a bit harder as you'll need to cut around the bone first before cutting the meat.
12. Serve the chicken over rice with the sauces and some cucumber slices - the chicken can be room temp, but the rice should be hot. It's traditional to serve the remaining chicken broth on the side as well!

A note on the chicken stock

Though store bought stock is okay to use, if you want it to taste like in Thailand, you'll get best results with homemade, Thai style chicken stock. At the very basic level, you can simply simmer chicken bones in water and you'll have chicken stock. But to boost the flavour, adding some aromatics will help.

I like to use daikon and/or onions, garlic, white pepper and cilantro roots or stems. But If you're making the stock specifically for Hainanese chicken rice, adding a few slices of ginger works wonderfully.

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients and important notes about them. For amounts, check out the full recipe card below.

• Pork shoulder or pork loin. I prefer using pork shoulder because it's more flavourful and juicy, but I try to choose pieces that are on the leaner side as you don't really want too many big pieces of fat on it. Pork shoulder can be a bit tricky to work with because of its irregularity, so pork loin or tenderloin can be used instead though be very careful not to overcook these as they are lean and can become dry. Be sure to slice the pork against the grain for max tenderness.
• Soy sauce
• Oil
• Cornstarch. Cornstarch is added to the marinade, and when blanched, the starch will form a very thin layer of gel around the pork which helps keep the juices inside. This technique is called velveting.
• Garlic
• Thai chilies. You can add as many as you want here to customize the spice level.
• Palm sugar. Palm sugar will yield a dressing with more complex flavour. If you don't have it, substitute light brown sugar. Read more about palm sugar.
• Lime juice. Only fresh lime juice for this, no bottled!
• Fish sauce. It's important to use good quality fish sauce as it is a main ingredient. Read about how to choose good fish sauce.
• Cilantro
• Shredded cabbage. You can also do a mix of cabbage and shredded carrots, broccoli stems, kohlrabi, basically anything you'd eat in a slaw.
• Fresh mint leaves.
• Some crunchy fresh veg of your choice (optional). This is extra, but we typically serve moo manao with some raw Chinese broccoli, and you can use the leaves as a wrap and munch on the stems. But really, this could be any fresh veggies you like. Peeled broccoli stems, cucumber, carrots, kohlrabi, celery, or even serve this with some lettuce leaves if you want to wrap it.

How to Make Spicy Garlic Lime Pork "Moo Manao"

Here are all the steps to make this recipe. If this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.

1. Combine pork with soy sauce, water and oil and mix well. Then add the cornstarch and mix well.
2. Marinade for at least 20 minutes and up to overnight.
3. For the dressing, in a mortar and pestle, pound garlic and chilies into a paste.
4. Add the palm sugar and pound until mostly dissolved. Then add fish sauce and lime juice and stir to mix. Stir in chopped cilantro.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a full boil. Prepare a big bowl of warm water on the side for rinsing the pork. Place the pork in a wire skimmer (no fine mesh) or a spider then blanch pork in the boiling water for 15-30 seconds, stirring the pork a bit to spread them apart.
2. Remove the pork as soon as it's done—the pork overcooks very quickly in boiling water! Dunk the skimmer into the bowl of warm water and shake it around to remove any bits of velveting and drain well.
3. Line the serving plate with shredded cabbage and any side veggies.
4. Place the pork on top of the cabbage in one layer, then spoon the dressing evenly over the pork. Top with mint leaves and enjoy!

Recipe Card

Thai Spicy Garlic Lime Pork "Moo Manao"

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 3 reviews

• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 2 appetizer servings

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Description

One of Thailand's best-kept secrets: moo manao. Tender juicy sliced pork with a spicy, garlicky lime dressing. It's a classic drinking food, but it's great any time, served with rice as a meal or on its own as an appetizer!

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Ingredients

• 200g pork loin or pork shoulder, very thinly sliced against the grain (see note)
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp water
• 2 tsp oil
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1-2 Thai chilies, to taste
• 1 ½ Tbsp palm sugar
• 3 Tbsp lime juice
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 4-5 springs cilantro
• ~ 2 cups shredded cabbage
• Some crunchy fresh veg of your choice (see note)
• A few sprigs of mint

Ingredients and Kitchen Tools I Use

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Instructions

1. Marinate the pork: Combine pork with soy sauce, water and oil and mix well. Add cornstarch and mix well, and let marinade for at least 20 minutes.
2. Make the dressing: In a mortar and pestle, pound garlic and chilies into a paste. Add palm sugar and pound until mostly dissolved. Add fish sauce and lime juice and stir to mix. Stir in chopped cilantro.
3. Prepare the plate & veg: Line the serving plate with shredded cabbage. For your side veggies, if using Chinese broccoli, separate the stems and leaves, then peel the outer skin of the stems. Soak the veg in ice cold water to keep them crisp and cold until ready to serve. If using broccoli stem, peel the skin off first. 
4. Cook the pork: Bring plenty of water to a full boil. Prepare a big bowl of warm water on the side. Place the pork in a wire mesh skimmer or a spider (see video) then blanch pork in the boiling water for 15-30 seconds, stirring the pork a bit to spread them apart. Remove the pork immediately as soon as it's done—the pork overcooks very quickly in boiling water! If using lean pork such as loin, remove it as soon as the outside looks done; you want the inside to still be medium to prevent it from being dry. Dunk the pork into the bowl of warm water to rinse off any bits of velveting and drain well.
5. Plate: Place the pork on top of the cabbage in one layer, then spoon the dressing evenly over the pork. Top with mint leaves and serve with a side of veggies.
6. Enjoy!

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Notes

1. I like to use pork butt (collar butt) because it has more flavour and fat, but it's kind of a hard piece to work with because it's such an irregular shape. You can also use pork loin, which is leaner and easier to work with, but I would suggest buying a loin roast, not chops, so you can easily slice the pork against the grain. And if using loin, be EXTRA careful not to overcook the pork because it is very lean and will be bone dry if overcooked. Aim to cook it to medium doneness if using loin. 
2. We typically serve moo manao with some raw Chinese broccoli, and you can use the leaves as a wrap and munch on the stems. But really, this could be any fresh veggies you like. I use peeled broccoli stems, but you can do cucumber, carrots, kohlrabi, celery, or even serve this with some lettuce leaves if you want to wrap it.

*This is an old video and I spelled the dish as larb back then. I (and you) know better now 😉.