Here is another recipe that uses the grilled or roasted chicken breast slices like those featured in my book, Twice As Nice. Thai red curry is usually served in restaurants with roast duck; using chicken makes it easier on your wallet and on your waistline. Go ahead and use roast duck in this recipe for a special treat! The recipe calls for some ingredients that may be more difficult to find in a standard grocery store (I’ve listed some substitutions), but otherwise, this dish is easy to make, and it’s delicious! This recipe makes four generous portions.
Ingredients for Thai-style red curry with chicken
- 1⅓ cups coconut cream
- 4 tablespoons Thai Kitchen brand (or your favorite brand) red curry paste, or to taste
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 kaffir lime leaves, minced, or zest of 1 lime, minced, plus the juice of the lime
- 1 medium Chinese eggplant, cut in half the long way, then sliced into ½-inch pieces crosswise
- 1 (15-ounce) can light coconut milk
- 7 ounces snap peas
- 1½ cups pineapple, from a 20-ounce can of sliced pineapple, each slice cut into 8 wedges (save the remainder for another use)
- 8 cherry tomatoes
- 12 ounces grilled or roasted chicken breast slices, frozen
- ¾ cup Thai basil leaves, roughly chopped, loosely packed
For serving:
- Cooked jasmine rice
Preparation
Heat a wok or heavy saucepan over medium heat, until hot, but not smoking. Carefully add the coconut cream to the wok: the coconut cream may spurt when it first touches the hot surface of the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes. Add the curry paste, fish sauce, sugar, and kaffir lime leaves to the wok; stir, and simmer for 2 more minutes.
Stir in the eggplant and the coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the snap peas, pineapple, cherry tomatoes, and the chicken. Turn the heat up to medium, bring to a low boil, then turn the heat back down to low, and simmer for 3-4 minutes, just until the chicken is heated through.
Serve hot, over rice.
