I tasted Thai food for the first time when I was in college. I remember having Thai iced tea and loving how sweet and refreshing it was. Then I had tom kha gai and thought how unusual (and delightful!) it was to be sipping a spicy, tangy, coconut milk based soup. And I finished the meal with a bowl of yellow curry with chicken, which was so similar in some ways to stews that I had growing up, but was really so different.
The similarities were in the ingredients - chicken, potatoes, and onions - that form the base of a lot of western-style stews. The thickness of the curry is also similar to many stews and the spiciness of yellow curry is more subdued than many other Thai curries. I think this is why some Thai people say that yellow curry with chicken is a good dish for "farang" (the Thai word for foreigners) to start with.
Yellow curry is made in the same way that many other Thai curries are made. You start with thick coconut cream and heat it until the oil starts to separate from the milk. Then you add the curry paste and cook until it's nice and aromatic. You cook the chicken in this curry paste, then add more coconut milk, water, and the vegetables, and adjust the seasonings.
You're welcome to make your own curry paste, but the boyfriend and I have found that pre-made pastes generally work pretty well. Just be sure that you get a brand that's made in Thailand (our current favorite is Mae Anong, but you can see the full curry paste taste comparison here!). With a good paste like this, you should be able to produce a respectable restaurant-quality bowl of yellow curry.
I imagine that many "farang" are introduced to Thai food with yellow curry like I was. And it's a great place to start. It can open the doors to many other types of curries - some fragrant, some peanuty, some sour, all spicy - and from there to other combinations of flavors that Thai food is so famous for. So if you haven't made Thai yellow curry with chicken at home before, I hope you give it a try!
For some other great Thai curries, check out these recipes:
- Yellow curry with fried tofu and vegetables
- Green curry with chicken and eggplant
- Green curry with fish, eggplant, and green peppercorns
- Red curry with pumpkin
- Red curry with pork belly and water spinach
- Panang curry with thinly-sliced beef
And lastly, here is a simple tutorial for how to make Thai curries that covers everything from the most basic to the more complex. Happy curry making!
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 14- ounce can of coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons yellow curry paste
- 1 large chicken breast
- 1-2 cups water
- 2 medium potatoes
- ½ of a large onion
- 1 cup baby corn
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Prepare your ingredients. Slice the onion, baby corn, and chicken into bite-sized pieces. Peel, cut, and parboil the potatoes for ~5 minutes. Set aside.
- Open the can of coconut milk and scoop the top thicker cream part into a pan (approximately ½ cup). Heat this cream over medium heat until the oil just starts to separate from the milk. Then add the yellow curry paste and saute with the cream until it becomes fragrant.
- Add the chicken, coat in the curry paste, and cook until it's done. Then add the rest of the coconut milk and water and bring to a boil. Let cook until the consistency of the curry is what you prefer. You can use less water if you want a shorter cooking time.
- Add the potatoes, onions, and baby corn and cook until just done, but still firm. Adjust seasonings with fish sauce and sugar to taste. Some curry pastes will not need any sugar or fish sauce, and others will need more than the amounts specified here.
- Garnish with thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves and red peppers, if you like. Serve with jasmine rice.
Carol
My husband is Asian. He is very picky about his Curry. I was able to get most of the ingredients at the local store. Found yellow curry in China Town of St. Louis, MO. He came home and was very pleasantly surprised by dinner. Thank you for the recipe. He wants me to frame it, because it was so good. I added to my recipe folder.
Rachel
Thanks, Jessie. I haven't posted a recipe for massaman curry yet, but it's certainly on my list of things to do.
Jessie
Hi Rachel,
This looks delicious! I just ordered my curry paste to try this out. I especially like your "Pantry" feature, it's great to have recommendations about which ingredients are the best. Do you have a recipe for a massaman curry? I'd love to see one!
emma
oh man, what a find this blog is. I'm an australian in portugal, where there is no thai food whatsoever. Can you imagine a life without thai? It's just wrong. I rely on a stock of pastes, bought on OS trips. You can get coconut milk here, but then forget all the herbs, and noodles are priced for millionaires only. The husband (a pom) is a convert to asian food (I like to make vietnamese & lao dishes and a laksa occaisionally, all thoroughly improvised) and certainly thai curries compete for the A list ahead of Indian. Thanks for your blog and mouthwatering photography. Keep up the good work.
Must go and defrost some chicken. I'm substituting potato for sweet potato... Yum!
Bill
Hi. First time cooking Thai. Your directions made it simple. I used tofu instead of chicken. For Darcia above, I pressed the water out of the tofu and added just like the chicken with no trouble. This was fantastic. I had this dish at a local Thai restaurant and this came out every bit as good. Thank you. Now...what to try next.....
Rachel
Hi Erica, I'd probably just add a little less curry paste. Good luck!
Erica Williams
I tried this last night and it was tasty, but the curry was a little too spicy for my tase. How do I cut down on the heat? Do I add more coconut milk? Or is there another ingredient that I should use?
joe
i made this last night - it wasn't very sweet, kind of had a bitter taste...ended up adding about 3 tablespoons of sugar before it had the flavor I'm used to...anyone had similiar experience.
Rachel
I'm so impressed that you made your own paste, Darcia! I don't have a set time to cook the curry paste, but I guess its generally about a minute or two, just enough to let all the flavors come out but without burning it. And I've never made this with tofu, but I would imagine adding it in place of the chicken and using less water for shorter cooking time would work well. Thanks for stopping by!
Darcia
At what point does the coconut milk cream and curry paste smell "fragrant?" I mean, I thought it smelled really good instantly, but still left it to cook a while since I thought that that was what you meant. I'm curious, though, if there's a rough time for the paste and cream to saute. I couldn't wait to make it and so I made my own paste so I could have it for supper (my Asian store was out of paste!). My order of paste is coming Saturday and I'm already planning to have it then to see the difference between the the real paste and my own creation. =) One other question, I always get the tofu yellow curry when we eat out, so do you have any directions for adding tofu if you were making that type? Thanks, Rachel!
Rachel
Thanks for the suggestion, Veit. I'm actually working on that right now 🙂
Veit
Hi Rachel,
Great recipe! It would be fantastic if you could have a print feature added to your recipes that would allow to print the recipe (and comments) only. Just a thought.
Veit
Rachel
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Phil! I appreciate your suggestions. I agree with you that yellow curry shouldn't be too dilute and ours doesn't generally turn out that way, but of course feel free to adjust the water content so that yours doesn't either.
I believe that many Thais also eat yellow curry with ahjaad, a chilled salad of cucumbers, shallots, chilis, vinegar, and sugar (same recipe as here: https://www.rachelcooksthai.com/home/2011/10/chicken-satay-one-year-later.html). This helps to boost the flavor of the yellow curry, as it is usually not cooked with kaffir lime leaves and/or basil like many of the other Thai curries are.
Thanks again for stopping by. I'll look forward to hearing more about your journey with cooking Thai food in the future! It's certainly been an adventure for me so far 🙂
Phil
I'm also going to chime in on the "too much water" theme with Dan... if you put 2 or even 2 cups of water in with the curry paste/coconut milk it takes a long time for it to boil off and thicken and in that time the chicken gets overcooked and dried out/tough. I also dont like my curry soupy and as one who has traveled to Thailand and had yellow curry and all other types countless times I have never had it once cooked soupy unless at a really poor quality Americanized Thai restaurant. Should be just a bit thicker than gravy a little oily and not make the rice soggy in my humble opinion.
Lastly, the above recipe is about 1/4 the authentic spiciness level and again seems Americanized. Might want to add an option for those who like it spicy, like add some chili!! 😉
Oah and adding a bay leaf or an additional sprig of lemon grass really makes it pop!
Just some friendly suggestions here. I applaud you for your Thai adventures and your blog. I will be coming here often as I undertake the journey of teaching myself how to cook Thai. Happy NY!
Rachel
Hi Kayle, if you click on the link for yellow curry on my "pantry" page, you can buy the brand I use online. Otherwise, there are generally other brands available at most Asian markets like Ranch 99 and such... Good luck!
Kayle
Help!!! Where do I find yellow curry paste. I can't wait to try.....
Rachel
Hi Will - Yellow curry is by nature not as spicy as other Thai curries like green or red, but if you wanted to spice it up, you could pound a few red Thai chili peppers with the paste before using.
Will
Suggestions for spicing it up?
Rachel
Sure Alycia, fish works really well with curry.
Alycia
Can I use fish instead of chicken?