Takeout-Style Red Curry Chicken
Chicken thighs glazed with fish sauce and brown sugar and seared hard, red peppers and onion charred in the same skillet, then everything simmered briefly in red curry paste and a can of coconut milk with lime: the Thai restaurant order Americans know, in 30 minutes.
Thai food is one of America's most common restaurant cuisines. Pew Research Center counted Thai restaurants as 11 percent of all Asian restaurants in the United States in 2023, third after Chinese and Japanese, in about a third of US counties, and noted that only about 2 percent of Asian Americans are Thai. Pew adds that the Thai government has historically backed efforts to open Thai restaurants abroad as a form of diplomacy. Vice reported that the program began in 2001 with a goal of at least 3,000 Thai restaurants worldwide.
America's Test Kitchen's 30-minute red curry, the model for this recipe, is built the American way, browning the chicken and charring the vegetables in a skillet before a brief simmer, where a Thai cook would fry the paste in cracked coconut cream first (see our Thai Green Curry recipe). Serious Eats' Derek Lucci notes that red and green pastes are fundamentally the same except for the chiles, dried red or fresh green.
Why it works the kitchen science
A sweet-salty glaze
Fish sauce and brown sugar on the chicken caramelize in the hot pan, giving the browned, savory-sweet edges a takeout curry is known for.
Searing in stages
Browning the chicken alone, then the vegetables alone, keeps the pan hot enough to char instead of steam; everything meets the sauce only at the end.
Step by step
- Step 1
Toss the chicken with 2 tbsp fish sauce and the brown sugar. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until shimmering, about 2 minutes.
- Step 2
Add the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes, until well browned and the largest piece reads 165°F. Move it to a plate and wipe the skillet clean with paper towels.
- Step 3
Add the peppers and onion to the skillet and cook over high heat, stirring now and then, about 7 minutes, until crisp-tender and charred in spots.
- Step 4
Push the vegetables aside, add the curry paste and the remaining 1 tbsp oil and stir about 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Step 5
Stir in the coconut milk, bring to a boil and cook about 4 minutes, until slightly thickened.
- Step 6
Stir in the lime juice, the chicken and the remaining 1 tbsp fish sauce and cook about 1 minute, until hot. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lime wedges and jasmine rice.
Takeout-Style Red Curry Chicken
Serves 4 · about 5 cups · 30 min total
Chicken
- 1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 3 tbsp fish sauce, divided
- 2 tbsp packed brown sugar
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
Vegetables and sauce
- 2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tbsp red curry paste
- 1 (14-oz) can coconut milk
- 2 tbsp lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
To serve
- Jasmine rice
Method
- Toss the chicken with 2 tbsp fish sauce and the brown sugar. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until shimmering, about 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes, until well browned and the largest piece reads 165°F. Move it to a plate and wipe the skillet clean with paper towels.
- Add the peppers and onion to the skillet and cook over high heat, stirring now and then, about 7 minutes, until crisp-tender and charred in spots.
- Push the vegetables aside, add the curry paste and the remaining 1 tbsp oil and stir about 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Stir in the coconut milk, bring to a boil and cook about 4 minutes, until slightly thickened.
- Stir in the lime juice, the chicken and the remaining 1 tbsp fish sauce and cook about 1 minute, until hot. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lime wedges and jasmine rice.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Thai-Style Red Curry Chicken with Vegetables" (published June 27, 2017; no byline shown), serves 4. The fish sauce and brown sugar glaze, the 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat, the 8 to 10 minute sear, the 7-minute charred vegetables, the 1-minute paste bloom and the 4-minute coconut milk simmer are ATK's. ATK says to cook the chicken through; the 165°F check is ours. "Takeout-style" describes the American restaurant format; it is not any restaurant's recipe. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- ATK's preferred fish sauce is a premium Vietnamese brand; any fish sauce works, but brands vary in saltiness.
- Store-bought red curry paste varies widely in heat; 2 tbsp of a mild supermarket brand gives a gentle curry.
- Swap the chicken for shrimp, tofu or sliced beef, the way restaurant menus do; shrimp needs only 2 to 3 minutes.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Thailand's government is behind America's Thai restaurant boom. Disputed: Pew says the government has historically backed the effort as diplomacy, and Vice dates a program to 2001; commentators also credit Thai food's broad appeal and immigrant entrepreneurs. Pew does not measure cause and effect.
- Red curry is hotter than green. Disputed: Wikipedia's curry article ranks green mildest and red hottest, but its green curry article says green tends to be more pungent; it depends on the paste.
- Restaurant curry is the "real" Thai curry. Folklore: Thai cooks fry the paste in cracked coconut cream (Serious Eats); the skillet method here is a fast American adaptation.
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