Gaeng Panang — Dry-Reduced Coconut Curry / แกงพะแนง

Central Thai — via Penang, Malaysia; the dry-curry reduction technique may reflect Malay culinary influence

Panang is the most concentrated of the coconut curries — it is cooked with far less liquid than standard curry, and the sauce is reduced almost to a glaze that clings to the protein rather than pooling around it. The technique requires perfect paste frying (standard taek man → paste → fry hard) followed by the addition of minimal coconut milk — just enough to sauce the protein without creating a soup. The sauce is reduced continuously during cooking until it thickens and glosses. Kaffir lime leaf chiffonade, red chilli slices, and a final fresh coconut cream drizzle are the classic finishing moves. Pork (moo) and beef (neua) are the traditional proteins.

Panang's richness comes not from quantity of sauce but from concentration — a small amount of intense, fatty, fragrant sauce coating each piece of protein delivers more flavour than a generous pool of thin curry.