Panang Curry with Pork

Name: Panang Curry with Pork
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 10 oz Pork tenderloin sliced 1/4 inch thick; 2 cups Coconut milk; 4 tablespoons Panang curry paste; 2 tablespoons Coconut sugar; 2 tablespoons Fish sauce; 2 small bunches Pea eggplant cleaned; 2 Thai long chili sliced diagonally; 10 Kaffir lime leaves most torn into pieces, a couple sliced thin for garnish; 2 cups Thai sweet basil leaves and flower tops; 2 tablespoons Vegetable oil

Panang Moo

Pork tenderloin in a rich dry panang curry loaded with pea eggplant and basil

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 10 min
Serves: 4
Heat: mild

Most panang recipes keep things simple, just meat in sauce over rice, but this version goes further, packing in pea eggplant, mild chili, and a generous handful of basil until it's closer to a thick stew than the usual plain bowl. Thin pork slices sear quickly before the coconut milk and curry paste cook down together into a rich golden sauce, thick enough that panang is often called a dry curry rather than a soup. Torn kaffir lime leaf and basil, added toward the very end, keep their fragrance bright rather than cooking away into the richness of the coconut base.

Ingredients

10 oz Pork tenderloin (sliced 1/4 inch thick)
2 cups Coconut milk
4 tablespoons Panang curry paste
2 tablespoons Coconut sugar
2 tablespoons Fish sauce
2 small bunches Pea eggplant (cleaned)
2 Thai long chili (sliced diagonally)
10 Kaffir lime leaves (most torn into pieces, a couple sliced thin for garnish)
2 cups Thai sweet basil (leaves and flower tops)
2 tablespoons Vegetable oil

Directions

Clean the pea eggplant. Strip the stems from the kaffir lime leaves and tear most into pieces, slicing a couple thin for garnish. Slice the chili diagonally. Pick the basil leaves, saving a few nice pieces for garnish. Slice the pork thin.
Heat the oil in a wok until hot. Add the pork and fry quickly until sealed on all sides.
Add the coconut milk, curry paste, coconut sugar, and fish sauce. Cook until the paste and sugar are fully melted in and the mixture turns a rich golden brown.
Add the torn kaffir lime leaf pieces and cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the pea eggplant and chili. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Turn off the heat and stir in the basil just until mixed in. Remove from the pan right away so it doesn't overcook.
Serve in a bowl, garnished with basil leaves and flower tops, sliced chili, and the slivered kaffir lime leaf. Serve with jasmine rice and cucumber wedges on the side.

Notes

Cook the curry paste and coconut milk together until they turn a rich golden brown before adding the vegetables — that color change signals the sauce has thickened enough to be a proper dry curry rather than a thin soup.

Substitutions

Beef can replace the pork tenderloin. Tofu works well for a vegetarian version in place of meat, seasoned with soy sauce instead of fish sauce.