Thai Curry with Roasted Spices
Gaeng Phed Luk Thung Phak Dai
I was introduced to this unusual curry, said to originate from southern Thailand, last week by Frederik from the Facebook group Thai-Kitchen ครัวไทย. The photo he posted there immediately caught my attention and I wanted to try this Thai curry with roasted spices right away. Fischi didn’t need much convincing either, and so the scent of roasted spices filled our kitchen last evening. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get fresh green pepper anymore and had to fall back on our home-pickled pepper, which didn’t hurt the flavor but definitely costs points in the presentation.
- Gaeng (
) - Curry, Soup
- Phed (
) - spicy seasoned
- Luk Thung (
) - rural, rustic, folk-style
- Phak Dai (
) - Southern Thailand (cultural)
Ingredients for 4-5 servings
For the curry paste
- 4 pieces long pepper
- 10 black peppercorns
- 4 dried large Thai chillies
- 8 dried birdeye chillies
- 2 stalks lemongrass
- 6 coriander roots
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2cm (0.8 in) galangal (approx. 5g / 0.2 oz)
- about 6cm fresh turmeric root
- 1 fingerroot (Krachai)
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- 2 tsp shrimp paste
For the curry
- 700g (24.7 oz) pork neck
- the curry paste prepared above
- 1 large piece galangal (approx. 20g / 0.7 oz)
- 1 piece palm sugar (approx. 5g / 0.2 oz)
- 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
- 1 tsp pork powder
- 6 clusters fresh green pepper
- 12 kaffir lime leaves
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 400ml (13.5 fl oz) water
Preparation
First, the curry paste must be prepared. Toast the two types of pepper in a pan without oil. While the pepper is toasting, remove the seeds from the large Thai chillies and break them into smaller pieces. Remove the pepper from the pan and set it aside. Then toast the chillies until lightly browned.
While the chillies are toasting, slice the lemongrass, coriander roots, galangal, turmeric root, and fingerroot into thin rounds. Peel the garlic cloves and slice them as well. Have all ingredients ready.
By now the chillies should be lightly browned and have spread their sharp aroma through the kitchen. Remove the chillies from the pan and replace them with the freshly sliced spices. Grind the chillies together with the pepper in a mortar until reduced to a powder and set it aside.
Once the roasted spices release their aroma, blend them with a little water using an immersion blender into a paste. Stir in the coarse sea salt, the freshly ground powder, and the shrimp paste. Set the finished paste aside.
Now we turn to the curry itself: cut the pork neck into bite-sized cubes, trimming away particularly fatty pieces but keeping them for now. Slice the galangal — our only vegetable — including the skin, into thin strips.
Heat a little oil in a wok and fry the curry paste in it. At the same time, bring about 400ml (13.5 fl oz) of water to a boil, add the trimmed fatty meat pieces, and let them render out, then add a teaspoon of pork powder.
Once the paste is fragrant, strain the pork broth through a sieve into the wok, stir, and bring to a boil. Add the galangal strips to the sauce and continue simmering.
Next, add the palm sugar, fish sauce, and meat, and let everything simmer for about half an hour until the meat is tender. Meanwhile, fold each lime leaf once along the stem, pull out the stem, and cut the leaf halves into very, very thin strips.
After about half an hour, add the green pepper to the curry and simmer for about two more minutes. Finally, add the lime leaf strips, stir briefly, and serve the curry with jasmine rice.
