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Curry Paste | Traditional Sauce From Thailand, Southeast Asia | TasteAtlas
Curry Paste | Traditional Sauce From Thailand, Southeast Asia | TasteAtlas
Curry Paste | Traditional Sauce From Thailand, Southeast Asia | TasteAtlas
Curry Paste | Traditional Sauce From Thailand, Southeast Asia | TasteAtlas

Curry Paste

(Kaeng, Gaeng)

Gaeng is a Thai word for the world-famous Thai curry paste, either yellow, red, or green in color, sorted by the order of spiciness where yellow curry is slightly spicy and green curry is the spiciest. Yellow curry consists of coconut milk as its base and toasted and powdered variety of spices such as turmeric, anise, cinnamon, dried chilis, bay leaves, ginger, coriander, cumin, and fermented shrimp paste.


Yellow curries are often prepared with bits of beef, lamb or chicken, onions, potatoes, and pineapple. Red curries consist of coconut milk, red chili powder, white pepper, cumin, nutmeg, coriander, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, and grated kaffir limes.


The sauce pairs well with roasted pork, beef, shrimp, duck, eel, bamboo shoots, Thai basil, and pumpkin. Green curries consist of coconut milk, hot green chilis, lemongrass, ginger, coriander, cumin, white pepper, onions, palm sugar, grated kaffir lime, garlic, and holy basil (Thailand's beloved pungent herb).  Read more

This devilishly hot curry pairs well with beef or chicken and Thai eggplants. There is also a popular Thai curry that is not linked with a specific color - massaman curry, consisting of cumin, caraway, cloves, anise, cinnamon, cardamom, white pepper, ginger, nutmeg, cashews, lime, garlic, lemongrass, and the extremely hot bird's eye chilis.


Massaman curry is a legacy of Muslim spice traders, so it is not usually paired with pork, but with tamarind, bitter oranges, potatoes, pineapples, chicken, or beef, which is the reason why it is more aromatic than spicy in the end. One might wonder why most curries are served with rice on the side, and the reason is that beverages and liquids spread the spicy, hot oils all over the surface of the tongue while rice is used to "mop them up" - so the next time you eat a hot and spicy curry, try eating more rice instead of drinking a cold beverage to soothe the palate.