Kua Kling (Southern Thai-Style Red Curry)

By Ali Slagle

Updated Dec. 16, 2020

Kua Kling (Southern Thai-Style Red Curry)
Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
5(1,257)
Comments
Read comments

Whereas larb is bright and acidic — light on its feet — this simple adaptation of a traditional Southern Thai dry red curry, is grounding and spicy. It owes much of its flavor to red curry paste, turmeric and fresh chile that have been toasted until they shake awake. For scorching heat (a curry like this is typically brutally hot), add more chile. As the chicken — though it could be ground pork, sliced beef or chicken, or mushrooms — cooks, its fat renders and the fired-up curry paste adheres. Season it with brown sugar and fish sauce, and serve with rice, cabbage, herbs, avocado, cucumber and-or a crisp fried egg.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe

  • Print Options

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 2tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
  • ¼cup Thai red curry paste (ideally one with makrut lime, lemongrass and shrimp paste)
  • 1teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 2Thai or serrano chiles, thinly sliced, or to taste
  • 1pound ground chicken
  • ½teaspoon dark brown sugar
  • 2teaspoons fish sauce
  • ¼teaspoon freshly grated lime zest, or 10 makrut lime leaves, deveined and thinly sliced
  • Rice, sliced cabbage, chopped herbs, sliced avocado, chopped cucumber and fried egg, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

337 calories; 17 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 22 grams protein; 385 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by
Cooking Newsletter illustration

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, warm the oil and toast the curry paste, turmeric and chiles (if using) until extremely fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir and lower heat as needed to prevent sticking.

  2. Step 2

    Add the chicken and cook, breaking the meat up with a spoon. Stir to coat the meat in the curry paste and to prevent sticking, and cook until the chicken is opaque, 7 to 10 minutes. If everything is sticking, don’t panic — just add a little water or neutral oil.

  3. Step 3

    Stir in the brown sugar, fish sauce and lime zest, and cook just until the liquid’s been absorbed, about 1 minute. Season to taste with more brown sugar and fish sauce. (The chicken should be spicy first, salty second.) Serve at once with desired toppings.

Ratings

5 out of 5
1,257 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

anna

Delicious!!! 1 tsp grated ginger added with curry paste 8oz mushrooms + 3/4# ground chicken thigh meat needed 1 tsp lime zest and more of both brown sugar/fish sauce at the end served with: coconut rice mint cucumber cabbage cilantro lime wedges

Tom

Super dish. Quick and easy. A great way to get those familiar Thai flavors basically from the pantry. I used thighs, and ran them through a food processor for a few pulses. This left them with some texture. Also served with a spicy dipping sauce of lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, pickled chiles, garlic, and cilantro.

Ana

We love this recipe. Instead of ground chicken, I slice up boneless chicken thighs. They take a little longer to cook but make the dish sooo much better. Added minced ginger with the paste and turmeric, and followed advice to add lime juice and mint leaves at the end.. delicious. Perfect served with rice and a cucumber-red bellpepper-peanut salad with homemade Thai dressing. Will not stop making this ever.

Andrew

Delicious recipe. Made better with half a red onion with the curry paste, three 3 tsp each of garlic and ginger, and some coconut cream to tamper the spiciness one the meat is cooked. Added the juice of a lime and fresh basil to finish.

Eric

My fish sauce had gone bad so I swapped soy sauce instead, still came out quite tasty.

Mike

Very tasty! The fish sauce tastes better than it smells while cooking, but I think I'll use soy sauce next time so that leftovers are work-friendly when I microwave it. The sugar and lime zest are way too skimpy, and I found that some lime juice was perfect to finish it. One note: "2 Thai or serrano chiles" leaves a lot of room for variation given different sizes, heat levels, and whether you choose to seed them. I used 2 Thai chiles and left the seeds in, and thought it was just right.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.