Thai curries
Thai curry is a whole family of pots: green with basil, red, thick sweet panang, mild potato massaman and sour, fiery gaeng som. At a market tray, the local move is to point at two over one plate of rice.
Photo: Takeaway (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Green curry is coconut, green chili, and Thai basil. Red curry uses the same coconut idea with a red paste. Panang is thicker and sweeter. Massaman is the mild potato and peanut pot. Gaeng som, also called gaeng leuang in the south, is sour and hot, not a coconut curry. A market set of rice and two curries is often 40 to 80 THB.
Point at the tray. Do not ask for a menu essay. The south page covers the sour pots. A named vegan massaman is On's in Kanchanaburi. Heat words are on the spice page.
Which pot
- Massaman if you want mild and filling.
- Green or red if you want coconut and chili. Say pet nit noi.
- Gaeng som if you want sour fish. It is a southern lunch, not a sweet soup.
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- Are all curries coconut?
- No. Gaeng som is sour and watery. Jungle curry (gaeng pa) has no coconut either.
- How many dishes?
- Two curries over one rice is a lunch. Add a soup only if you are sharing.