Coconut Red Curry Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbsboneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cansfull-fat coconut milk 13.5 oz each — do not shake
• 3 tbspred curry paste
• 1 tbspneutral oil
• 1 smallshallot, finely diced
• 4 clovesgarlic, finely grated
• 1-inch pieceginger, finely grated
• 1red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 smallzucchini, half-mooned
• 2 tbspfish sauce
• 1 tbsplight brown sugar
• 1lime, zest and juice
• 1 small handfulThai basil leaves
• 1 small handfulcilantro leaves
• 1red chili, thinly sliced optional
• to servejasmine rice

Method

1. 01

   Open the coconut milk cans without shaking. Spoon the thick white cream from the top into a wide, heavy pan — about a cup. Reserve the thinner liquid below.

2. 02

   Set the pan over medium heat. Let the coconut cream bubble and break, three to four minutes — it should split into oil and solids, sizzling quietly. This is where flavor lives. Coconut milk that has been shaken back together can't break this way.

3. 03

   Add the curry paste to the broken cream and fry, stirring, for two to three minutes. The paste will deepen in color from terracotta to brick red and the kitchen will smell of toasted spice — this is blooming. Dry paste tastes raw and dusty; bloomed paste tastes built.

4. 04

   Push the paste to one side of the pan. Pour the neutral oil into the open space and add the shallot, garlic, and ginger. Cook gently for a minute, then stir into the paste.

5. 05

   Add the chicken and turn it through the paste until every piece is glossy and coated. Cook for two minutes, just to seal.

6. 06

   Pour in the reserved thinner coconut liquid, the fish sauce, and the brown sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer.

7. 07

   Add the bell pepper. Simmer until the chicken is tender and cooked through, ten to twelve minutes — the sauce should thicken to a glossy, silky body.

8. 08

   Stir in the zucchini and cook for two minutes more. It should keep some bite.

9. 09

   Off the heat: lime zest and juice. Taste — the curry should taste salty, sweet, and bright in even tension.