Inspired by my love of ethnic food and upcoming trip to Thailand, I have decided to try cooking new cuisines. This past Sunday afternoon I went grocery shopping in Chinatown. One of my favorite shops is tucked away on the corner of Mosco and Mott Streets in New York City. Bangkok Center Grocery has some of the hardest to find Thai ingredients in the city and the employees are super helpful.
When I entered the grocery store, I told the gentleman at the register that I wanted to make panang beef curry. We weaved in and out of the cramped store as he gathered palm sugar, fresh panang curry paste, fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves and coconut milk. He explained to me that all of the ingredients are shipped directly from Thailand.
After reviewing many recipes online and in a few cookbooks, I created this recipe for panang beef curry. The dish was extremely flavorful and I enjoyed the spice from the panang curry paste and the sriracha sauce.
Panang Beef Curry
3 Servings
Ingredients
1 cup coconut milk, divided
2 tbsp fresh panang curry paste
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp palm sugar
3 kaffir lime leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 lb thinly sliced beef, 2-inch strips
3 tbsp ground peanuts
1 tsp sriracha sauce
Directions
Pour a half cup of coconut milk into a skillet on medium-high heat. Once the coconut milk is hot and foaming, add the fresh panang curry paste. Stir and combine the coconut milk and curry paste.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining coconut milk along with the water, fish sauce, palm sugar and kaffir lime leaves. Let simmer for about 3 minutes, add the beef and stir.
Cook the beef, stirring continuously for about 4 minutes. Add sriracha sauce and the ground peanuts and reduce the heat to low. Stir to combine the peanuts with the curry.
Serve with rice.