Gaeng Keow Wan Gai — Green Curry with Chicken / แกงเขียวหวานไก่

Central Thai — the definitive Central Thai curry; the dish's name (sweet green) refers to the pale green of young, sweet chillies

Green curry is the benchmark test of a Thai kitchen — there are no shortcuts that survive scrutiny. The technique begins with taek man (cracking the coconut cream fat), then frying the paste vigorously until the raw aromatics are fully cooked and the fat re-separates around the paste. The chicken (always on the bone in the traditional version, or free-range breast sliced thinly for speed) is added and sealed in the fried paste before second-extraction coconut milk is added in stages. The eggplant (makheua phuang — pea eggplant — and makheua pro — golf ball Thai eggplant) are added at different stages based on their density. The finished curry should be vivid green, creamy but not thick, and hot with the lingering warmth of the fresh chillies.

Green curry's flavour profile — fresh, herbal, fragrant, hot — is the antidote to the coconut cream's richness. The two elements must be in tension; when the cream dominates, the curry becomes sweet and bland; when the paste dominates, it can be harsh. The balance is the technique.