The idea for using Thai green curry paste as a sauce to season a stir fry came from my favourite food writer, Nigel Slater. To be honest I wasn’t sure it would be very good but as usual when I trust St. Nigel everything turns out much more delicious that expected.
Green Curry Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 2 heads broccoli chopped into little trees
- 450 g ground (minced) chicken
- 3-4 tablespoons green curry paste
- 2-3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 bunch basil leaves picked & torn if large
Instructions
- Heat a little oil in a wok or large frying pan on a super high heat. Stir fry the broccoli until it is bright green and starting to soften but still a little crunchy. About 4-5 minutes.
- Remove broccoli from the pan. Add a little more oil then stir fry the chicken until no longer pink.
- Add back the broccoli, curry paste and fish sauce. Stir until everything is hot.
- Remove from the heat. Taste and season with more fish sauce and curry paste if needed.
- Serve with basil leaves scattered over.
Variations
different veg/ more veg – any stir fry veg will work here. Try bok choy, chinese broccoli, any chinese greens really, broccolini, cauliflower, red capsicum (bell peppers), zucchini (courgettes), carrots, snow peas (mange tout), green beans or a combo of any of the above.
vegetarian / vegan – replace the chicken with 2-3 large handfuls of cashew nuts, tempeh, chickpeas or tofu. And season with soy sauce or salt instead of the fish sauce. And make sure your green curry paste is vegetarian. Most brands are but good to check.
can’t find green curry paste? – most other curry pastes will be good but you’ll need to adjust the quantity depending on the variety. OR just go for a simpler stir fry and use soy, oyster or hoisin sauce instead of the curry paste.
no fish sauce? – season with salt OR use soy sauce instead.
different meat – replace chicken with minced (ground) beef, pork or turkey. You could also use sliced meat instead of the mince if you prefer.
more substantial – serve with roast cashew nuts and steamed rice on the side.
more substantial (low carb) – serve on cauliflower or zucchini rice.
family friendly – use less curry paste or make without and serve up for the kids then add curry paste and fish sauce at the end for the adults.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
broccoli – will keep for a few weeks in a plastic bag in the fridge. Can be frozen.
chicken – freeze.
curry paste, fish sauce – pantry.
basil – make basil oil by packing washed and dried leaves in a clean jar and covering with extra virgin olive oil.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
I just added this to my recipe app as something I definitely want to make. The first thing I ever fed my husband right after we got married, was a Thai green curry chicken. The look on his face when he tasted it told me that he wasn’t ready for anything like that. Obviously, I haven’t made it since, and didn’t keep the recipe. But we were just talking about it a couple of nights ago, and in 16 years, I’ve managed to change his taste in foods. Thank you for saving me from having to look for that old recipe. I will be using whole chicken pieces cut up, because I’ve always had very bad luck with buying ground chicken.
This went over very well. I like that it is so simple, and my husband’s tastes have definitely changed.
This was so good!! I used 2 bags of frozen broccoli and heated those up on high heat in ghee. I also used thawed ground turkey (in ghee as well). The green curry paste and fish sauce gave this a lot of flavor, and I topped it with sesame seeds and avocado. Yum!
OMG avocado would be next level! LOVE it Claire
rMmmm. I made this tonight with sliced chicken thighs, zucchini, red capsicum and roasted cashews (as I didn’t have any basil)! So good.
I also used your green curry recipe with lemon zest instead of lemongrass and some hot curry sauce instead of fresh chilis. SO fresh and zingy!
Thanks for everything you do!
Fantastic Kate!
Love your substitutions and additions đŸ™‚
Maybe I’m just sensitive since we cut way back on salt since the baby started eating table food with us but wowee a little fish sauce goes a long way! I may try tamari next time as suggested above đŸ™‚
Yes your taste buds definitely adjust quickly Angeline!
And fish salt is super salty… the other option is to just add a teaspoon or splash and start from there. Tamari is still pretty salty so be careful đŸ™‚
Jx
This is fabulous! I served with cauliflower rice and used tamari instead of fish sauce. My husband loved it too. Thanks for all of the quick and flavorful ideas!
Glad you both liked it Stephanie!