This Thai beef green curry with eggplant is easy to make and delicious. It’s ready in 25 minutes and perfect with steamed rice or fermented rice noodles for a quick lunch or dinner.
Thai Beef Green Curry | Gaeng Keow Wan Neua
Say HELLO to this delicious Thai beef green curry (gaeng keow wan neua – แกงเขียวหวานเนื้อ) aka your new best bud that will make your weeknight dinners a little more exciting. Can you believe that this beef green curry recipe is ready in just 25 minutes? I mean, who wouldn’t want a bowl of freshly steamed rice with beef green curry and a glass of butterfly pea lemonade after a long day at work?
This is a really quick and easy Thai green curry recipe that can be made with either store-bought or homemade curry paste.
I like to make mine with beef. In my humble opinion, that’s the best kind of green curry! But you can use chicken, pork or even tofu if you want to go for a meatless version. Either way, you’re definitely gonna love it!
Vegetables To Use
When it comes to vegetables, just don’t get too crazy. Most of us Thais like to use Thai eggplant, pea eggplant (also known as Turkey berry), bamboo shoot, coconut shoot and Thai sweet basil leaves. Using other types of vegetables is fine if your point is to get more vegetables into your diet or you can’t find any of the vegetables I’ve mentioned. However, if you can and want to make it authentic, stick to the list above.
Thai Green Curry Paste (Prik Gaeng Keow Wan)
If you have the time and ingredients, I definitely recommend a homemade version using my Thai green curry paste recipe. I also have a short video tutorial in that post which is really easy to follow! And trust me, nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment you get when you make your own curry paste.
However, if you live in Thailand, you can get freshly made green curry paste at your local market. I admit I also do this when I’m feeling a bit lazy. This is not to say that it’s a bad thing if you don’t make your own curry paste. I feel the need to mention this as there seems to be a stigma attached to ready-made curry pastes when it comes to Thai curries.
I think they’re great for those who can’t find every single ingredient needed to make the paste or don’t have the time to make it themselves. Also, I can assure you that ready-made curry pastes are good enough. Of course, they’re not as good as the fresh ones but they’re fine. When I was living abroad, I used them all the time!
Notes On Thai Green Curry
- Coconut Cream vs. Coconut Milk In Thai Green Curry
Although probably less known than coconut milk, traditionally we would actually use coconut cream to make our creamy curries. The difference between coconut cream and coconut milk is that coconut cream is thicker. We call the cream hua kati and the milk haang kati in Thai, with hua meaning head, haang meaning tail and kati meaning coconut cream or coconut milk.
Both coconut cream and milk is made the same way. You simply pour warm water over freshly shredded coconut, let it sit for a bit before squeezing the coconut with your hand and then straining. The first time you do this with your coconut you get the cream, and the second time you get the milk. Hence, the terms head and tail. 🙂 Both types of kati are used together in curries. We fry the curry paste in the coconut cream and use the coconut milk when we want to add more liquid to the curry.
That said, people tend to use the two items interchangeably these days as we don’t always remember to stock up on both. Also, those who don’t want their curries to be very creamy for health reasons will use just coconut milk.
I’ve made curries with coconut milk countless times and they were good every time. If I’m using the cream, like in this recipe, I don’t even bother to use the milk. Since the cream is already thick and I need just a little bit more liquid, I just add water. If I’m making a large pot and I know I can finish a can or carton of coconut milk, then I’ll use that (you need to finish ingredients like this within a few days of opening).
- Homemade Or Canned Coconut Cream / Milk?
I’ve mentioned this in a few posts but just in case you haven’t come across them. Homemade coconut cream and milk is so much better than the canned version. Somehow, the fresh version just makes curries richer.
My dad and I could always tell when my mom cooks with canned coconut cream/milk. If it’s possible for you to get shredded coconut, even if it’s just for once, do go ahead and try it. You may not only enjoy your curry more, but also the experience of making homemade coconut cream/milk.
Ingredients
- 8.45 ounces (250 milliliters) of coconut cream
- 6 tablespoons (80 grams) of Thai green curry paste
- 0.55 pounds (250 grams) of beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 8 kaffir lime leaves hand-torn
- ½ cup (118 milliliters) water
- ½ teaspoon fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 8 Thai eggplant, quartered (If you can’t find the Thai eggplant, you can use 7 ounces or 200 grams of any type you can find)
- ⅓ cup pea eggplant, also known as Turkey berry
- 1 cup Thai sweet basil leaves
Garnishes
Instructions
- Heat half of the coconut cream in a pot over medium heat.
- Once the coconut cream starts to bubble, fry off the green curry paste in it until fragrant (This is a very important step).
- Pour the rest of the coconut cream in and continue to stir for about 1-2 minutes
- Add the beef and kaffir lime leaves to the pot and cook until the beef is done. If your curry is too thick, you can add ½ cup of water to it at this point.
- Add fish sauce and sugar and taste-test your green curry to see if it needs more fish sauce or sugar.
- Once the curry is boiling, toss in the Thai eggplant and pea eggplant and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Toss the Thai sweet basil leaves in and turn off the heat.
How To Serve This Curry
You can serve this Thai beef green curry in a sharing bowl and enjoy it with rice or fermented rice noodles (khanom jeen). Alternatively, you can pour the curry over rice or fermented rice noodles in individual serving dishes.
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:
- Thai Chicken Panang Curry
- Thai Green Papaya Sour Curry with Shrimp | Kaeng Som
- Easy Thai-Style Omelet | Kai Jeow
- Thai Style Beef Jerky
- Thai Stir-Fried Morning Glory | Pad Pak Boong
Thai Beef Green Curry Recipe | Gaeng Keow Wan | แกงเขียวหวานเนื้อ
Ingredients
- 8.45 ounces coconut cream
- 6 tablespoons Thai green curry paste
- 0.55 pounds beef cut into bite-sized pieces
- 8 kaffir lime leaves hand-torn
- ½ cup water
- ½ teaspoon fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 8 Thai eggplant quartered (If you can't find the Thai eggplant, you can use 7 ounces or 200 grams of any type you can find)
- ⅓ cup pea eggplant also known as Turkey berry
- 1 cup Thai sweet basil leaves
Instructions
- Heat half of the coconut cream in a pot over medium heat.
- Once the coconut cream starts to bubble, fry off the green curry paste in it until fragrant.
- Pour the rest of the coconut cream in and continue to stir for about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the beef and kaffir lime leaves to the pot and cook until the beef is done. If your curry is too thick, you can add ½ cup of water to it at this point.
- Add fish sauce and sugar and taste-test your green curry to see if it needs more fish sauce or sugar.
- Once the curry is boiling, toss in the Thai eggplant and pea eggplant and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Toss the Thai sweet basil leaves in and turn off the heat.