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Thai Panang Curry Fried Rice

Thai Panang Curry Fried Rice on a black plate with sliced cucumber and lime cheek.
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Thai Panang Curry Fried Rice combines all the creamy, nutty and mildly spicy flavors you love in panang chicken curry with rice, veggies, and aromatic Thai sweet basil to make a flavor-packed 30-minute weeknight dinner!

Ingredients

Scale

Chicken Marinade:

  • 280 grams / 9.87 ounces Chicken Breast, boneless, skinless – cut into bite-sized pieces
  • ¼ TSP Fine Sea Salt (or use ¼ TSP Kosher Salt)
  • ¼ TSP ground White Pepper
  • 1 TSP Fish Sauce
  • 1 TSP Light Soy Sauce (preferably a Thai one, substitute with any low sodium light soy sauce)

Thai Panang Curry Fried Rice:

  • 20 grams / 4-5 Garlic cloves – minced
  • 35 grams / 9–10 fresh Red Chilies (Thai Bird’s Eye or any other small hot red chilies – note 1*), to taste – finely chopped
  • 75 grams / ≈ ⅓ medium Red Onion – finely chopped
  • 100 grams / ½ medium Red Bell Pepper – thinly sliced, then sliced in half
  • 60 grams / 4-5 pieces Baby Corn – sliced through the middle lengthwise, then again widthwise
  • 3 fresh Makrut Lime Leaves (note 2) – destemmed, finely minced into a powder
  • 20 grams / 1 cup Thai Sweet Basil Leaves (note 3)
  • 50 grams / ¼ cup frozen Green Peas
  • 75 grams / ¾ cup Frozen Mixed Vegetables (I used a bag with green peas, corn and carrots)
  • 8 grams / 1 TBSP Coconut Milk Powder
  • 2 TBSP Water
  • 15 grams / 1 TBSP Smooth Peanut Butter (I used Skippy brand Creamy Reduced Fat Peanut Butter)
  • 1 TBSP Canola Oil (or any other neutral flavored cooking oil with a high smoke point)
  • 20 grams / 4 TSP Thai Panang Curry Paste (I use Nittaya brand – note 4)
  • 240 grams / 1.5 cups cooked Thai Jasmine Brown Rice, day-old, chilled (100 grams / 3.5 ounces uncooked weight – note 5)
  • ½ TSP Fish Sauce
  • ½ TSP Sugar-free Brown Sugar Replacement (or use coconut sugar or light brown sugar – I used Swerve Brown Sugar – note 6)
  • ½ TSP Thai Chili Powder (optional – substitute with crushed red pepper), to taste
  • To Serve (optional): Finely sliced makrut lime leaves, cucumber slices, lime wedges for squeezing

Instructions

Prep:

  1. Marinate the chicken: Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to a medium bowl. Add the sea salt, white pepper, fish sauce and light soy sauce. Mix well to coat and set aside.
  2. Make the coconut milk and peanut butter mixture: Add 1 tablespoon coconut milk powder to a measuring cup, followed by 2 tablespoons water and 1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter. Mix well to combine until the peanut butter has broken down.
  3. Prepare the fresh ingredients: Chop/prepare the garlic, red chilies, red onion, red bell pepper, baby corn, makrut lime leaves and Thai sweet basil leaves as indicated in the ‘ingredients’ section. Measure out the frozen green peas and mixed vegetables.

Thai Panang Curry Fried Rice:

  1. Cook the chicken: Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large nonstick wok (or heavy bottomed deep skillet) over high heat. Add the marinated chicken and immediately spread the pieces out in the wok in a single layer. Allow to sear for 30-40 seconds, then stir-fry until no longer pink but not yet fully cooked – about 30 seconds.
  2. Stir-fry the onion, bell pepper and aromatics: Add the red onion and bell pepper and stir-fry for 30 seconds until starting to soften. Add the garlic and red chilies and stir-fry for 20-30 seconds until fragrant.
  3. Add remaining veggies, curry paste and makrut lime leaves: Add the baby corn, green peas, mixed veggies, minced makrut lime leaves and panang curry paste. Stir-fry until the curry paste has mostly broken down and combined with everything.
  4. Add the coconut milk and peanut butter mixture: Lower the heat and pour in the coconut milk and peanut butter mixture. Mix well to combine with everything.
  5. Add the rice and seasonings: Turn the heat back up to high and add the cooked rice, fish sauce, brown sugar replacement and Thai chili powder (if using). Stir-fry for 1 minute until everything is combined well.
  6. Toss through the basil: Toss through the Thai sweet basil leaves until just wilted – about 15-20 seconds. Switch off the heat.
  7. To Serve: Divide evenly onto plates and garnish with finely sliced makrut lime leaves. Serve with cucumber slices and lime wedges for squeezing if desired.

Equipment

Notes

  1. Fresh Red Chilies. I used Thai Bird’s Eye chilies but any small hot red chilies that are easily available to you will work. Adjust the quantity of chilies to taste based on your heat level preference.
  2. Makrut Lime Leaves. Also knows as kaffir lime leaves. This citrusy Thai herb is available in Thai grocery stores. You can substitute with the ground dried version which is available in most mainstream supermarkets. In a pinch, use torn dried makrut lime leaves to infuse the fried rice with its flavor. Note that Thai people don’t normally eat the torn leaves as the texture is to difficult to chew. This is why I prefer to mince the leaves into a fine powder – it makes it edible without any unpleasant mouthfeel.
  3. Thai Sweet Basil. This fragrant Thai herb can be found in Thai grocery stores, Asian and some mainstream supermarkets. It has an anise-y sweet flavor and is very fragrant.
  4. Thai Panang Curry Paste. A Thai brand panang curry paste such as Nittaya, Mae Ploy or Maesri is recommended for the most authentic flavor. However, a western brand made panang curry paste can also be used if needed. Substitute with Thai red curry paste if unavailable.
  5. Cooked Thai Jasmine Brown Rice. Any long grain cooked brown or white rice will work, though Thai jasmine rice will be the most fragrant. Using 1 day-old or even rice that is 2 days old and chilled yields the best, non-mushy fried rice texture.
  6. Brown Sugar Replacement. I use Swerve Brown Sugar which is made from erythritol. You can substitute with coconut sugar, palm sugar, light brown sugar, or granulated sugar-free or regular white sugar if needed.
  7. See ‘Variations’ section in the post above if you’d like to customize this Thai Panang Curry Fried Rice.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://thatspicychick.com/thai-panang-curry-fried-rice/