← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 400 ml full-fat coconut milk, unshaken
• 3 tbsp Panang curry paste
• 500 g rump, sirloin or flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain
• 125 ml Water
• 2 tbsp roasted unsalted peanuts, finely ground
• 1½ tbsp Fish sauce
• 1 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
• 6 Makrut (kaffir) lime leaves, stems removed, very finely shredded
• 1 long red chilli, thinly sliced
• 1 handful Thai basil leaves (optional)
• 300 g jasmine rice, to serve

Method

1. Scoop about half the thick coconut cream into a wok or frying pan and simmer over medium heat for 3–4 min, stirring, until it thickens and little pools of oil appear.
2. Add the curry paste and fry for 2–3 minutes, stirring constantly, until deep red and very fragrant. Add a splash of the remaining coconut milk if it starts to catch.
3. Add the beef and stir to coat it in the paste. Cook for 2 min, until the outside is no longer red.
4. Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and the water, add the ground peanuts and simmer for 5–8 min, until the beef is tender and the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon.
5. Season with fish sauce and palm sugar: panang should be rich, salty and slightly sweet. Stir in most of the lime leaves.
6. Serve over rice, topped with the rest of the lime leaves, the chilli and basil.

Tips

• Contains peanuts. Most panang pastes contain shrimp paste and some contain peanuts too.
• Panang is meant to be thick rather than soupy; if you want more sauce, add a little more coconut milk, not water.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Rachel Cooks Thai RecipeTin Eats Temple of Thai