Spicy Coconut Prawn and Green Bean Curry
Plump prawns and tender green beans simmered in a rich, spicy coconut sauce spiked with red curry paste. Spoon it over fluffy rice for a fast, satisfying dinner.
- Total
- 35 min
- Prep 10 · Cook 20 · Rest 5
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Blooming spices · Simmering
- Savory
- Asian
- Spicy
- Stovetop
- Oven
Instructions
-
Rinse the rice under cold water until it runs clear. Put it in a small saucepan with 300 ml water and a pinch of the salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender.
~15 min
Rinsing removes surface starch so the grains cook up separate and fluffy rather than gluey.
-
While step 1 cooks
While the rice cooks, trim the green beans and cut them into 4 cm lengths.
~3 min
-
Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the red curry paste, garlic powder, ground cumin, ground coriander and turmeric. Stir constantly for 45 seconds, until the paste darkens and smells fragrant.
~2 min
Blooming the spices in hot oil dissolves their fat-soluble flavours and toasts them, deepening the curry's aroma.
Blooming spices Cook ground spices in oil over medium heat for under a minute, stirring constantly, until fragrant and darkened. Stop before they burn, which turns them bitter.
-
Pour in the coconut milk and stir to dissolve the paste. Add the green beans and the remaining salt. Simmer for 6 minutes, until the beans are just tender and the sauce has thickened slightly.
~6 min
Simmering lets the beans soften and the coconut milk reduce so the sauce thickens and clings.
Simmering Keep the liquid at a gentle bubble, not a rolling boil, so the sauce reduces evenly without scorching. Stir occasionally and watch for the sauce to coat the back of a spoon.
-
Add the prawns to the pan and simmer for 4 minutes, turning once, until they turn pink and opaque all the way through.
~4 min
Prawns turn pink and opaque as their proteins set; cooking just to that point keeps them tender, not rubbery.
If the sauce looks thin after adding the prawns, simmer it uncovered for another minute or two before resting; coconut milk thickens as it cools.
Prawns overcook in seconds, so pull the pan off the heat the moment they are opaque and let the residual warmth finish them.
Simmering Keep the liquid at a gentle bubble, not a rolling boil, so the sauce reduces evenly without scorching. Stir occasionally and watch for the sauce to coat the back of a spoon.
-
Take the pan off the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes so the sauce clings to the prawns. Fluff the rice with a fork and spoon the prawn curry over it.
~5 min
Resting off the heat lets the sauce cool and thicken slightly so it coats the prawns instead of running off.