The full preparation of green curry from scratch — combining the green curry paste (Entry TH-05), the cracked coconut cream technique (Entry TH-03), and the four-flavour balance (Entry TH-02) in a single dish. A green curry correctly made is not a cream-forward preparation — the coconut milk is the medium, not the flavour. The flavour is entirely the green curry paste's aromatics, amplified and distributed through the coconut fat by the cracking and frying technique. The chicken should taste of the curry, not of coconut milk; the broth should taste simultaneously of every component of the paste simultaneously.
**The preparation sequence:** 1. Crack 200ml thick coconut cream in the wok over medium heat (Entry TH-03). 2. When the fat has separated and the milk solids are beginning to colour: add 3 tablespoons of green curry paste. Fry, stirring constantly, for 2–3 minutes. 3. The paste fries in the cracked fat — the volatile aromatic compounds release with an immediate, intense smell. The paste darkens slightly. The raw smell of the lemongrass transitions to a cooked, more complex note. 4. Add the chicken pieces. Coat in the fried paste. Cook for 2 minutes. 5. Add thin coconut milk (500ml). Bring to a simmer. 6. Add Thai eggplants and pea eggplants. 7. Add kaffir lime leaves, torn. 8. Season: fish sauce (salt register), palm sugar (sweet register). A Thai green curry does not use tamarind — the lime leaves provide the aromatic brightness that other dishes achieve with lime juice. 9. Taste and adjust (Entry TH-02). 10. At service: fresh Thai basil leaves (horapa) — torn and folded in at the last moment, not cooked. Fresh red chilli slices for colour and additional heat. **The eggplant:** Thai green curry traditionally uses two types of eggplant: small white or green Thai eggplants (makeua khao, approximately 3cm diameter, halved) and pea eggplants (makeua phiang, approximately 1cm, used whole). Both provide a slight bitterness that is integral to green curry's flavour complexity. The small eggplants should be added with the thin coconut milk — they need 10 minutes to cook through. The pea eggplants are added in the last 3 minutes. **Thai basil (bai horapa):** The holy basil (bai grapao) and the sweet basil (bai horapa) are entirely different plants with entirely different aromatic profiles. Green curry uses horapa — sweet basil with a slight anise-clove note. Grapao (holy basil) is used in grapao-based stir-fries. Outside Thailand, standard sweet basil (Italian) can substitute for horapa, but its aromatic profile is less complex. Decisive moment: Frying the curry paste in the cracked coconut fat — specifically, frying until the paste's raw smell has been completely replaced by a cooked, complex aromatic — 2–3 minutes of continuous stirring and frying. Under-fried paste (raw smell still present): the curry will taste harsh and unintegrated, with the individual aromatic notes still distinct rather than merged. Over-fried paste (beginning to catch and darken at the pan's base): the bottom notes begin to burn and a slightly bitter, acrid note enters the curry. Sensory tests: **Smell — the paste frying:** At the beginning: the raw paste's intense, sharp smell — the lemongrass's rawness, the shrimp paste's pungency. At the correct end of frying (2–3 minutes): the smell has shifted to something deeper, more complex, and less individually identifiable — the aromatics have begun to merge and the raw character has cooked out. **Taste — the finished curry:** The correct green curry should taste of the paste's entire aromatic range — citrus-bright (lemongrass, kaffir lime), resinous-warm (galangal), mellow-deep (shrimp paste), hot (fresh chilli) — carried through the medium of the coconut milk. The coconut milk should be the delivery system, not the primary flavour. If the coconut milk tastes dominant, the paste quantity was insufficient or the cooking time of the paste in the cracked fat was too brief.
- The chicken can be replaced with fish fillet (added 3 minutes before service), prawns (2 minutes before service), or tofu (added with the thin coconut milk) - For a more intense curry: use a higher ratio of paste (4–5 tablespoons) and more cracked coconut fat. For a milder curry: 2 tablespoons of paste with more thin coconut milk. The ratio determines both intensity and heat level - The fresh Thai basil must never be cooked — the heat of cooking drives off the horapa's aromatic compounds (estragole and linalool) within 30 seconds. It is a finishing herb, not a cooking herb.
— **Coconut-milk-dominant, one-note soup rather than complex curry:** Under-frying of the paste in the cracked fat. The aromatic compounds were not extracted from the paste into the fat phase — they remain in the paste rather than being distributed throughout the curry. — **Harsh, raw-tasting green curry despite correct components:** The paste was not fried at all — it was added to already-simmering coconut milk without the cracking step. A Thai curry made by adding paste directly to coconut milk without the fat-frying stage will always lack the depth of a correctly made curry.
David Thompson, *Thai Food* (2002); *Thai Street Food* (2010)