Panang Gai

A popular Thai dish is Panang Gai which is red curry paste fried up with chicken and then doused with coconut cream that creates a succulent and spicy red curry. The dish is then served with finely chopped kaffir lime leaves sprinkled on top. This is a dish that if made correctly should explode with dynamic flavors as soon as it touches the tip of your tongue.

Although milder than the other traditional Thai curries, this dish includes dried chili peppers, galangal, lemongrass, coriander root, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, garlic, shrimp paste and salt, and sometimes also shallots and peanuts.

One popular variation is beef phanaeng, which is a dish based on beef in a curry sauce. The traditional dish contains beef cut in thin strips, kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, phanaeng curry paste, palm sugar and fish sauce. The dish typically contains thick coconut milk and has very little other liquids added.

For vegetarians and vegans, there are vegetarian/vegan alternatives for shrimp paste called kapi chae in Thai, and the fish sauce can be substituted with a strong vegetable stock or soy sauce. Tofu can be used in place of beef.