Thai Red Pork Curry

I love all types of ethnic cuisines and one of my favorites is Thai food. When the weather is cool there is nothing better than a bowl of flavorful Red Pork Curry served with jasmine rice and a cooling Thai cucumber salad.

When you live in a small town, it is sometimes  hard to find a good restaurant when you are craving a good, spicy Thai meal. You either have to settle for a just OK meal at a local Asian restaurant that serves Chinese, Japanese and Thai food that all looks and tastes similar or you can do what I do and prepare the meal yourself.

I have experimented with different ingredients that I am able to find in my area and try to keep my pantry stocked with curry pastes, coconut milk, and lemongrass paste. I usually have fresh ginger, basil, cilantro,  green onions and peppers in my refrigerator. My dish will vary with what I have on hand the evening I decide to make a Thai dish.

My version of Thai Red Pork Curry is fragrant and has a nice depth of flavor. It is by no means what you would find on the streets of Bangkok but it is delicious. It is fast once all the ingredients are prepped. The dish would be good with chicken or seafood, you can vary the vegetables and can adjust the spiciness to your palette.

Thai Red Pork Curry With Jasmine Rice and Cucumber Salad

Thai Red Pork Curry

• 3/4 to 1 lb. of thinly sliced pork loin (about 1/4″ thick) cut into bite size pieces
• 1/2  medium onion, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 small red bell pepper, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 small chili pepper, diced small
• 1 to 4 Tbsp. Thai Red Curry Paste, depending on taste
• 1″ piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp. lemongrass paste
• 2 Tbsp. peanut oil
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock (more if needed)
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 lime, 1/2 for curry and the other half for garnish
• 5 green onions, sliced into 1″ pieces
• 1 handful fresh basil leaves, slice

Heat peanut oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Sauté onion and peppers until soft. Add pork and cook until barely done. Remove from pan and set aside.  Add more oil if necessary and then add the curry paste and stir for about 2 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic and lemongrass and cook for 30 seconds. Add coconut milk and stir well to mix all the ingredients. Add broth and fish sauce and cook for five minutes until sauce  thickens. Add additional broth if necessary. Return vegetables and pork to the pot and warm through. Take off the heat and add the green onion, basil and juice from 1/2 of lime. 

Serve in bowls with jasmine rice, cucumber salad and wedges of lime.

Thai Red Pork Curry

I hope you will try cooking Thai food if you haven’t already. This dish of tender thin slices of pork in a Thai style curry sauce can be prepared in 30 minutes or less so it is good any day of the week. Enjoy.