Full of flavor and ready in just minutes, this Thai chicken panang curry is one of the best curries with mild heat. As it's freezer-friendly and reheats like a dream, it's also a great make-ahead meal with rice - the perfect midweek dinner!
Thai Chicken Panang Curry (Panang Gai - พะแนงไก่)
Me and my chicken panang? Yeah, we're best buds.
Panang (พะแนง) is a rich and creamy Thai curry that is only mildly spicy. Unlike the more generic red curry, panang is salty and sweet. While it may sound a bit weird to describe a curry with the word sweet, panang is, in fact, one of the tastiest and most popular Thai curries, along with green curry and red curry.
This recipe uses chicken as the main ingredient but panang can actually be made with other kinds of meat. Other than chicken, the more common types we enjoy in Thailand include pork, beef or even salmon or shrimp. If you want to make it meatless, then you can use vegetables instead.
Although you can find panang at most Thai takeaway outlets, the homemade version will almost always be better because you get to choose your own ingredients and eat it fresh off the pan. Yes, panang curry does reheat well, making it perfect for make-ahead meals. But who wouldn't want to eat it freshly cooked?
Oh, have I mentioned I have a one-pan policy when it comes to making panang? If not, I declare it now!
Panang Curry Paste (Prik Gaeng Panang)
Homemade curry pastes are usually better than the premade ones (if you do it right, that is!). I realize I'm generalizing here but really we don't usually make our own panang curry paste. This isn't just true for panang but also our other curries (my family only makes our own paste for Thai sour curry).
If you live in Thailand, you can find freshly made curry pastes at almost any market. I don't usually make the panang curry paste from scratch and when I have to buy it, I always prefer the market version to the nicely-packaged ones that often come with preservatives in the supermarket.
Yes, I understand that not everyone can find the ingredients and time to make their own Thai panang curry paste or live in Thailand where they can buy good quality fresh curry pastes.
When I was a student abroad, I, of course, relied heavily on the tubbed version too. All I can say about it is that it's not bad at all. The brand I recommend is Mae Ploy, which I believe is distributed to many parts of the world. So, if you can't make or find any fresh panang curry paste, just go with this one and you should be fine.
Coconut Milk
Making Coconut Cream / Milk
- Place the coconut in a bowl and add about 1 cup of warm water to the shredded coconut. Adding warm water is key to extracting the creaminess out of the coconut.
- Squeeze the coconut with your hand in the bowl. Repeat until the liquid becomes creamy. Then use a grachon กระชอน (Thai coconut strainer) to strain. You need to squeeze the coconut when straining the liquid. The first batch will be very creamy and this is what we often call coconut cream or hua gati (หัวกะทิ) in Thai.
- Add more water to the coconut that has already been strained. You can add just about as much warm water as you want to use. There is no set amount that you need to follow. You can just eyeball it but for this recipe, you only need another ¼ cup of warm water. The second batch is what we normally call coconut milk or hang gati (หางกะทิ). It's still creamy but noticeably less creamy than the first batch. Just remember that you don't want it super watery because all the milk will be used as the liquid base in your curry.
- Squeeze and strain again.
And that's it! You've got your coconut cream and milk. 🙂
P.S. It seems to me that the difference between coconut cream and coconut milk is not widely known in the West and people tend to use them interchangeably but refer to both as coconut milk. Again, if you can't find coconut cream, coconut milk is fine.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons of panang curry paste
- 1 cup of coconut cream
- 8 ounces or about 225 grams of chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ cup of pea eggplant (also known as Turkey berry)
- ¼ cup of coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon of sugar
- 5 red Thai chilis, halved and deseeded
- 9 kaffir lime leaves, 8 torn and 1 finely julienned
Instructions
If you look online, you'll see that there are a few ways to make panang. Some people start by cooking the protein in coconut milk, others by frying the curry paste with coconut milk. There's no right or wrong here or at least that's what I think. At the end of the day, it's all about good food and being comfortable in the kitchen, right?
Now, when I said some people start making panang by cooking meat in coconut milk, those people will usually set the meat and coconut milk aside, and then move on to the curry paste. This is absolutely fine, BUT if you hate cleaning up like me, I think you're going to love my method because, like I said, it's one pan and it's ready in just 30 minutes!
So here's how to make panang gai:
- In a large skillet with deep sides, fry the panang curry paste over medium heat until fragrant.
- Pour half of the coconut cream into the pan and bring to a boil.
- Once the coconut cream is boiling, add the chicken and pea eggplant and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the rest of the coconut cream and coconut milk.
- Season with ½ teaspoon of sugar. Taste and adjust as needed, but remember Thai panang curry has to be sweet and salty.
- Add the red chili peppers and torn kaffir lime leaves. Cook for another minute and turn off the heat.
- Transfer the curry to serving bowls, garnish with finely julienned kaffir lime leaves and serve with rice. Or even better, serve it on a bed of rice.
Serving Chicken Panang Curry
You can serve it in a large bowl with a serving spoon to share and enjoy it with rice. This is just Thai etiquette. But if you're not comfortable doing this, then by all means, serve it in two individual serving bowls with two plates of rice OR simply serve it on top of steamed rice! Okay, maybe with a little bit of nam pla prik (Thai chili fish sauce condiment) as well!
Freezing And Reheating
Absolutely! Just put any leftover in an airtight container and pop it in your freezer. When you want to eat, simply microwave it for a few minutes. I'd say it'll stay good for a long time in the freezer but I personally wouldn't keep it longer than a month. Though that's just my thing 😉
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:
- Thai-Style Omelet | Kai Jeow
- Thai Stir-Fried Morning Glory | Pad Pak Boong
- Stir Fried Yardlong Beans with Bacon
- 4-Ingredient Thai Stir-Fried Cabbage – Vegan and Healthy
- Thai Beef Jerky (Neua Dad Deow or Neua Kem)
- Long Bean Stir Fry with Bacon
📖 Recipe
Thai Chicken Panang Curry Recipe | Panang Gai | พะแนงไก่
Equipment
- Grachon (Thai coconut strainer)
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons panang curry paste
- 1 cup coconut cream
- 1.1 pounds chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ cup pea eggplant (also known as Turkey berry)
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 5 red Thai chilis halved and deseeded
- 9 kaffir lime leaves 8 torn and 1 finely julienned
Instructions
- In a large skillet with deep sides, fry the panang curry paste over medium heat until fragrant.
- Pour half of the coconut cream into the pan and bring to a boil.
- Once the coconut cream is boiling, add the chicken and pea eggplant and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the rest of the coconut cream and coconut milk.
- Season with ½ teaspoon of sugar. Taste and adjust as needed, but remember Thai panang curry has to be sweet and salty.
- Add the red chili peppers and torn kaffir lime leaves. Cook for another minute and turn off the heat.
- Transfer the curry to serving bowls, garnish with finely julienned kaffir lime leaves and serve with rice. Or even better, serve it on a bed of rice!