Cooking in
New York
Thai
Jungle Curry — Gaeng Pa / แกงป่า
Jungle curry (gaeng pa, forest curry) is the roughest and most elemental of Thai curries — made without coconut milk (historically unavailable in the interior forest regions), with whatever protein and forest vegetables were at hand, and seasoned with fiery bird's eye chillies, fresh green peppercorns, and wild herbs. The curry paste base is closest to red curry paste but omits the cream-friendly spices (less galangal, no coriander seed) and amplifies the heat and herbs. Wild boar, fresh water fish, frog, or whatever forest animal was hunted are the traditional proteins; in modern cooking, chicken or pork are standard. The cooking liquid is water or broth — the dish should be assertively flavoured, herbaceous, and very hot.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the curry paste
8–10
Bird's eye chillies
stems removed
Not yet stocked in New York
3
Dried red chillies
soaked and drained
Not yet stocked in New York
4 cloves
Garlic
roughly chopped
Your own market
3 stalks
Lemongrass
tough outer leaves removed, lower stalk finely sliced
Origin · ThailandNot yet stocked in New York
30 g
Krachai (fingerroot, Boesenbergia rotunda)
fresh or frozen, peeled and roughly chopped — not galangal, not ginger
Not yet stocked in New York
4
Kaffir lime leaves
centre rib removed, finely shredded
Not yet stocked in New York
1 tsp
Shrimp paste (kapi)
Not yet stocked in New York
For the curry
500 g
Chicken or pork
cut into bite-sized pieces; wild boar or freshwater fish are traditional alternatives
Your own market
750 ml
Water or light broth
not coconut milk
Not yet stocked in New York
2 sprigs
Fresh green peppercorns on the vine
added whole during cooking — dried or brined peppercorns are not an adequate substitute
Not yet stocked in New York
100 g
Thai eggplant (pea eggplant or round green variety)
halved if round, left whole if pea
Your own market
4
Kaffir lime leaves
torn
Not yet stocked in New York
1 handful
Thai basil (horapa)
leaves only, added at the end
Origin · New ZealandNot yet stocked in New York
2 tbsp
Fish sauce (nam pla)
adjust to taste
Your own market
1 tbsp
Neutral oil
for frying the paste
Not yet stocked in New York
II
The Method
1
Pound the curry paste ingredients — bird's eye chillies, dried red chillies, garlic, lemongrass, krachai, kaffir lime leaves, and shrimp paste — in a heavy granite mortar, working from the hardest to the softest, so that each ingredient is broken down before the next is added and nothing fibrous escapes into the finished paste. Work the pestle in a circular grinding motion rather than simply crushing, turning the paste back into the centre with a spoon as you go. The paste is ready when it is fully homogenous, deeply fragrant, and no fibrous strands remain visible.
From the canon — The making of a Thai curry paste in a granite mortar — the sequential pounding of aromatics from hardest and driest to most moist, each added only when the p… Curry Paste: Pounding Technique (Khreuang Gaeng) →
2
Heat the oil in a wok over high heat, add the paste, and fry it, pressing and folding it against the wok, so that every part of the paste makes direct contact with the hot iron and the raw smell of chilli and shrimp paste cooks off into something toasted and intensely aromatic — 2 to 3 minutes. This is where the dish lives or dies: an under-fried paste will taste raw and bitter; an over-darkened paste will turn acrid. The correct moment is when the paste begins to stick to the wok and the oil separates slightly at the edges.
From the canon — Kapi — fermented shrimp paste — is the foundational umami ingredient of the Thai kitchen. Shrimp Paste (Kapi): Quality, Brands, and Roasting →
3
Add the protein and stir immediately to coat every piece in the paste, so that the meat takes on the flavour of the fried aromatics before any liquid dilutes them. Fry over high heat until the exterior of the meat is sealed and no longer raw at the surface.
4
Pour in the water or broth and bring to a vigorous boil, so that the paste and the liquid are driven together into a unified broth rather than sitting as separate elements. The liquid should be sufficient to produce a thin, assertive broth — not a thick sauce.
5
Add the green peppercorn sprigs whole, the eggplant, and the torn kaffir lime leaves, tearing the leaves just before they go in so their oils are still live when they hit the broth. Simmer until the eggplant is just tender and the peppercorns have released their heat into the broth, then season boldly with fish sauce — without coconut milk's sweetness to buffer the seasoning, the fish sauce must carry the entire dish, and the broth should finish assertively savoury, fiercely hot, and deeply herbaceous.
From the canon — Fish sauce — nam pla — is the universal salt of the Thai kitchen. Fish Sauce (Nam Pla): Selection and Use →
6
Remove from heat and fold in the Thai basil leaves, allowing them to wilt in the residual heat for thirty seconds rather than returning the wok to the flame, so the basil softens without cooking through and losing its green colour and fresh anise fragrance. Serve immediately.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Wild boar or freshwater fish sourced from a foraging or hunting context; fresh krachai dug from cultivated rhizome stock; fresh green peppercorns cut from a living vine the day of cooking.
02
Estate — Free-range chicken or heritage-breed pork; fresh krachai from a Thai or Southeast Asian specialist grocer; fresh vine peppercorns purchased the day of use.
03
Market — Standard chicken thigh or pork shoulder; frozen krachai (widely available at Asian supermarkets) thawed and patted dry; fresh vine peppercorns sourced from an Asian supermarket.
04
House — Any available cut of chicken or pork; frozen krachai used directly from frozen; fresh vine peppercorns are still required — dried or brined peppercorns alter the texture and heat delivery categorically.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Smell. The fried paste smells toasted and fiercely aromatic, with the raw chilli and shrimp paste note fully cooked off and the oil just beginning to separate at the wok's edge.
◇Touch. The eggplant yields cleanly under light pressure without collapsing — it is tender but not mushy.
◇Sight. The broth remains thin and mobile in the wok; it does not coat the back of a spoon, as a coconut curry would.
◇Smell. The finished dish smells camphor-floral from the krachai, sharply herbaceous from the basil, with the heat of bird's eye chilli evident even at distance.
◇Where it lives or dies. The paste must be fried until it smells toasted and the oil separates at the edges — neither raw and bitter nor scorched and acrid.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Ancient Lakes of Columbia Valley Riesling
Ancient Lakes Vineyard — Cave B · Ancient Lakes
Not yet stocked in New York
Wine
From New York
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The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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The working kitchen