This Thai red prawn curry is a weeknight version built on a jar of paste. The paste is fried in oil and a spoonful of coconut cream until it smells toasty, then simmered with coconut milk, stock and green beans into a brothy red sauce. The prawns go in last and cook in 3 minutes, so dinner is ready in 20.
Why this works
Frying the paste first, with the thick cream from the top of the tin, cooks out its raw edge and releases the flavour into the oil. It's the step that makes a jar taste closer to a Thai restaurant.
Prawns need only 2 to 3 minutes at a simmer. Adding them last, once the beans are nearly done, means they come out pink and juicy instead of shrunken and tough.
Key ingredients
- Thai red curry paste. Any jar works, but heat varies by brand. Taste the sauce before adding the full amount.
- Coconut milk. Full fat, for a sauce that's rich but still brothy. Light coconut milk tastes thin.
- Raw king prawns. Shell on or peeled, fresh or frozen and thawed. Raw prawns stay juicier than cooked ones.
- Fish sauce, sugar and lime. Salt, sweet and sour. Adjust all three at the end until the sauce tastes balanced.
Amounts for 1 to 6 people are in the recipe card below, in grams or cups.
Method
- 01
Prepare the prawns
If your prawns have shells, snip along the back of each with the seafood scissors and peel them, leaving the tails on. Snip down the back of peeled ones too, and rinse out any dark vein.
Curved Seafood Scissors - 02
Fry the paste
Heat the oil in a wide pan over a medium heat. Grate in the ginger on the rasp, add the curry paste and a couple of spoonfuls of the thick cream from the top of the coconut milk, and fry for 2 minutes, stirring, until it smells toasty and the oil turns red.
Rasp Zester and Fine Grater - 03
Simmer the sauce
Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and the stock, and add the fish sauce, sugar and green beans. Bring to a simmer and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the beans are nearly tender.
- 04
Cook the prawns
Add the prawns and simmer gently for 2 to 3 minutes, until they're pink all the way through and curled.
- 05
Balance and serve
Take the pan off the heat and squeeze in half the lime. Taste: add a splash more fish sauce for salt, a pinch of sugar for sweetness or more lime for sourness. Scatter with coriander and serve with rice or noodles, and the rest of the lime in wedges.
What to serve it with
Jasmine rice or rice noodles, and steamed pak choi or broccoli with a splash of soy sauce on the side. For a curry night for more people, add Thai green chicken curry.
Storing and reheating
- Fridge
- Cool quickly, cover and eat within 2 days. Eat leftover rice within 1 day.
- Freezer
- Freeze the sauce without the prawns for up to 3 months, and add fresh prawns when you reheat it.
- Reheat
- In a pan over a gentle heat until piping hot. Cooked prawns toughen if they boil, so keep it at a simmer. Reheat rice once only.
Questions
Jars vary a lot in heat. If the brand is new to you, start with half and add more once the sauce is simmering. Thai brands such as Maesri and Mae Ploy are hotter than most supermarket pastes.
Yes. Stir them in at the end and heat them for about a minute, until piping hot. Any longer and they turn tough.
A little oil rising to the top is normal in a Thai curry and carries the flavour of the paste. Use full fat coconut milk and keep it at a gentle simmer rather than a hard boil.
Make the sauce with the beans up to 2 days ahead and keep it in the fridge. Bring it back to a simmer and add the prawns when you're ready to eat.
Recipe
Thai red prawn curry in 20 minutes
Jar paste fried until fragrant, a brothy coconut sauce with green beans, and king prawns cooked for the last 3 minutes. By Hannah Ellis.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 20 min
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
Method
- 01If your prawns have shells, snip along the back of each with the seafood scissors and peel them, leaving the tails on. Snip down the back of peeled ones too, and rinse out any dark vein.
- 02Heat the oil in a wide pan over a medium heat. Grate in the ginger on the rasp, add the curry paste and a couple of spoonfuls of the thick cream from the top of the coconut milk, and fry for 2 minutes, stirring, until it smells toasty and the oil turns red.
- 03Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and the stock, and add the fish sauce, sugar and green beans. Bring to a simmer and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the beans are nearly tender.
- 04Add the prawns and simmer gently for 2 to 3 minutes, until they're pink all the way through and curled.
- 05Take the pan off the heat and squeeze in half the lime. Taste: add a splash more fish sauce for salt, a pinch of sugar for sweetness or more lime for sourness. Scatter with coriander and serve with rice or noodles, and the rest of the lime in wedges.
