Beef Panang Curry

Rich, creamy, and packed with bold flavors—Beef Panang Curry is definitely a Thai style comfort food. This dish features tender beef in a luscious coconut curry. It is a perfect blend of sweetness, spice, and umami.

Beef Panang Curry
Beef Panang Curry

Panang VS Massaman Curry

Massman and Panang curries are both rich and creamy Thai curries, but they have distinct flavors and origins. Panang curry is a thicker, drier curry with a bold, slightly sweet, and nutty flavor. In fact, the Panang curry paste is basically red curry paste blends with peanuts. It has a pronounced red curry paste base with hints of kaffir lime, making it more aromatic and slightly spicier than Massaman. On the other hand, Massaman curry has Persian and Indian influences, giving it a milder, more complex flavor with warming spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and star anise. It is often made with beef or chicken and includes potatoes and peanuts, making it heartier and more stew-like compared to the thicker, more concentrated Panang curry.

Authentic Thai Massaman Chicken Curry Recipe
Authentic Thai Massaman Chicken Curry Recipe

What is Panang Curry Made of?

Similar to other Thai curries, Panang curry is made with a rich coconut milk base, aromatic herbs, and a flavorful curry paste. For this recipe, I use Aroy-D brand Panang curry paste, which has a well-balanced blend of dried red chilies, lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime. However, Maesri and Mae Ploy are also excellent and reputable brands that work just as well. The curry is slightly thicker than traditional Thai red curry, with a nutty undertone from ground peanuts and a hint of sweetness. It pairs beautifully with beef, chicken, or tofu and is best served with steamed jasmine rice to soak up the creamy, flavorful sauce.

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Panang Curry Ingredients
Panang Curry Ingredients

How do Thai Restaurants Make Curry So Creamy?

If you’ve made beef Panang curry and found it too runny instead of creamy, the extra liquid from the beef is likely the reason. To achieve a rich and creamy texture, cook the beef with a small amount of coconut milk until it’s about 70% done, then set it aside. Prepare the curry sauce separately, then add the beef back in along with bell peppers or sweet peppers. Finish with Makrut lime leaves and serve. Not only this method give you creamy curry, the beef will also stay tender. Over cooking beef can result in tough texture!

Cooking beef with coconut milk until 60-70%
Cooking beef with coconut milk until 60-70% done

How to Get Your Curry to be Colorful?

Take an extra five to ten minutes to stir-fry the thick part of the coconut milk with the curry paste until vibrant oil starts to separate. Some restaurants first stir-fry the curry paste with coconut or vegetable oil for a few minutes before adding coconut milk and continuing to cook. Then add the remaining coconut milk. As you do so, you will notice the contrast of the white coconut milk and colorful oil from the curry paste.

Stir frying curry paste with coconut milk
Stir frying curry paste with coconut milk

More Curry Recipes

Serving Panang Curry
Serving Panang Curry
Beef Panang Curry

Beef Panang Curry

Mary Thatcher
Rich, creamy, and packed with bold flavors—Beef Panang Curry is definitely a Thai style comfort food. This dish features tender beef in a luscious coconut curry. It is a perfect blend of sweetness, spice, and umami.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine thai
Servings 4
Calories 488 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 pot (or skillet)

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb beef (preferably chuck roast, skirt or flank steak, but any cut will work.)
  • 400 mL coconut milk (1 small can)
  • 2 tbsp Panang curry paste (See the link)
  • ¼ cup water (to clean the can and make thinner coconut milk)
  • (one and half tablespoon) coconut sugar (or palm sugar or brown or regular sugar) (Use granulated monk fruit to make it Keto friendly.)
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 7 Makrut lime leaves (Kaffir lime leaves)
  • 1 red bell pepper (or 2-3 sweet red pepper for garnish)

Instructions
 

Preparing Ingredients
  • Thinly slice the beef and set a side.
  • julienne the bell or red sweet peppers and set them aside.
  • Devein and tear or julienne the Makrut lime leaves and set them aside.
Cooking and Assemble
  • Cook the beef with ¼ cup of coconut milk over medium heat until it is about 60–70% done. This helps evaporate excess liquid and prevents overcooking later. Set it aside.
  • Add about ½ cup of the thicker part of the coconut milk to the pan. Stir constantly to reduce and render some coconut oil. If no fat separates after 5 minutes, proceed with adding the curry paste.
  • Stir-fry the curry paste with the coconut milk for another 5 minutes until you see a layer of vibrant red oil form. If the mixture gets too dry, add a little more coconut milk as needed.
  • Add the remaining coconut milk. Also, add about ¼ to the empty coconut milk can to wash the can and make a thin coconut milk. Then season the curry sauce with sugar and fish sauce.
  • Pour half of the beef juices from the bowl into the curry to enhance the flavor. Let it simmer for a few minutes to reduce the liquid.
  • Add the beef back into the pan and cook for another minute.
  • Add the Makrut lime leaves and red pepper, stirring to combine. Turn off the heat and serve this delicious, creamy Beef Panang Curry with steamed rice. Enjoy!

Notes

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Note 2: When slicing meat, first slice it with the grain to shorten the length of the meat. After that thinly slice into bite sizes again the grain. Slicing beef against the grain makes it more tender and easier to chew. The “grain” refers to the direction of the muscle fibers in the meat. When you cut against the grain, you shorten these fibers, reducing their toughness. If you slice with the grain, the meat remains chewy and more difficult to bite through. This technique is especially important for cuts like flank steak, skirt steak, and brisket, which have long muscle fibers.
Note 3: Sometimes, it’s hard to see the coconut oil separate from the coconut milk when making curry due to a few factors
*Many store-bought coconut milk brands contain stabilizers or emulsifiers that prevent separation.
*  Light or low-fat coconut milk has less fat, making it harder for the oil to separate. For best results, use full-fat coconut milk.
* The process of breaking coconut milk down into oil requires consistent medium heat and patience. Stir-frying it too briefly or at too low a temperature may prevent separation.
* Some nonstick pans prevent oil from visibly pooling, making it seem like separation isn’t happening even when it is. A stainless steel or carbon steel pan may show the oil separation more clearly.
If separation doesn’t happen, you can still proceed with cooking the curry—just make sure to stir-fry the curry paste well with the coconut milk to enhance the flavor!
 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupCalories: 488kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 22gFat: 43gSaturated Fat: 27gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 798mgPotassium: 605mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 933IUVitamin C: 39mgCalcium: 44mgIron: 6mg
Keyword beef panang curry, panang curry, panang nuea, phanaeng, phanaeng curry, Thai Panang Curry
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