Panang Curry Paste: My Mother Never Bought It In a Tin

NOTE FROM SUSIE

Sawasdee Kha, and Hello.

My mother never bought curry paste. Not once. I didn’t understand that as a child. I understand it now.

There is a mortar in my kitchen that came across the ocean with her. The stone is worn in the middle, a small hollow made by decades of the same motion. Pound. Turn. Pound again. She would start in the morning, before anything else. The dried chilies first. Then the lemongrass. Then the galangal. The smell would build slowly, like something waking up.

She didn’t rush it. You cannot rush it. The paste has to become something, not just ingredients ground together, but a single thing that didn’t exist before. That takes time. It takes attention. It takes a mortar that has done this before.

The first time I made Panang curry paste from scratch in Florida, I called her. She didn’t give me measurements. She said: you will know when it smells right. Pound it until it smells right.

She was correct. I always am when I listen to her.

WHAT IS PANANG CURRY PASTE?

Panang curry paste, พะแนง, is the aromatic base of one of Thailand’s most beloved curries. It belongs to the red curry family but it is its own thing entirely. Where red curry paste is sharp and fiery, Panang paste is rounder, richer, and more complex. The dried chilies are there but they sit beneath layers of lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime zest, coriander root, and the ingredient that makes Panang distinct from every other Thai curry paste: roasted peanuts, ground directly into the paste itself.

The name Panang is thought to derive from Penang, the Malaysian island, which speaks to the southern Thai and Malay influences that shaped this curry. It traveled north and became something distinctly Thai, slower cooking, coconut-forward, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Most people buy it in a tin. That is fine for a weeknight. But the from-scratch version, made with a mortar and pestle, dried chilies soaked overnight, lemongrass pounded until it disappears, is a different thing entirely. According to the Oxford Companion to Food, the layered spice pastes of Thai cooking represent some of the most complex and regionally specific preparations in Southeast Asian cuisine, with each paste reflecting both its ingredient tradition and the technique of the hands that made it.

The smell when you open the mortar. That is the whole point.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Dried red chilies, ten, soaked overnight in cold water and deseeded. Long dried chilies, not bird’s eye. You want heat with body. Soak overnight. They will soften and the color will deepen into something almost burgundy. Remove the seeds if you want less fire.

Coriander seeds, two tablespoons. Cumin seeds, one tablespoon. White peppercorns, one teaspoon. Toast these dry before grinding. They go from toasted to burnt faster than you expect. Watch them.

Salt, one teaspoon.

Garlic, five cloves, peeled. Shallots, five, peeled. Lemongrass, two stalks, finely chopped, the lower third only. Galangal, one-inch piece, peeled and sliced thin. This is not ginger. Do not substitute ginger.

Kaffir lime zest, one teaspoon, just the zest scraped fine. Not the juice. A little goes far.

Roasted peanuts, three tablespoons, ground. This is what separates Panang paste from red curry paste. Use unsalted. They go in with the shrimp paste toward the end and give the paste its characteristic richness and body.

Shrimp paste, one teaspoon. Wrap in foil and toast in a dry pan for two minutes before adding. Do not skip this step.

VISUAL WALK THROUGH

LET’S GET THIS RIGHT

Can I use a food processor instead of a mortar and pestle?

Yes, but it is a different paste. The food processor chops where the mortar pounds, and the result is wetter and slightly less fragrant. If you use one, add ingredients in the same order, hardest first, and pulse rather than run it continuously. The paste will work. It just will not be the same thing.

Why is my paste grainy and not smooth?

The chilies were not soaked long enough, or the lemongrass was not sliced thin enough before pounding. Both need to be broken down before they will yield to the mortar. Soak overnight. Slice everything as thin as you can. Pound each ingredient until it is fully incorporated before adding the next.

Can I substitute ginger for galangal?

No. They are related but they are not the same. Ginger is warmer and more familiar. Galangal is sharper, more piney, more medicinal. It is the flavor that makes this taste specifically Thai rather than generically Asian. Find it. Most Asian grocery stores carry it fresh.

How long does homemade Panang curry paste keep?

Two weeks in the refrigerator in a sealed jar with a thin layer of oil over the surface. Up to three months in the freezer portioned into tablespoon amounts. It does not need to thaw before use. It goes straight from frozen into the pan.

My paste smells sharp and almost overwhelming. Is that right?

Yes. Raw curry paste is intense. It is built to be diluted into coconut milk and cooked. What smells sharp in the jar becomes rounded and deep in the pan. Trust the process.

FLAVOR PROFILE

The smell comes first. Before you taste it, before you even open the pan, the paste announces itself. Lemongrass bright and citrusy at the top. Galangal underneath, medicinal, resinous, ancient. The dried chilies a low, dark heat that builds slowly rather than arriving all at once.

Then the peanuts. Not sweet. Dry and roasted and earthy, giving the paste a weight that red curry paste doesn’t have. They round the edges of everything sharp.

The shrimp paste is invisible in the finished thing but you would know immediately if it wasn’t there. It is the salt that goes deeper than salt. The umami that connects everything.

Panang curry paste doesn’t hit hard. It builds. Layer by layer, each ingredient arriving after the last, until the whole thing is present and you understand why your mother spent a morning making it.

Some things cannot be rushed. This is one of them.

SUSIE’S KITCHEN NOTES

Work in order. Hardest ingredients first, softest last. Lemongrass and galangal before the chilies. Chilies before the shallots and garlic. Shallots and garlic before the peanuts. Each ingredient needs to be broken down fully before the next goes in. If you add soft ingredients on top of hard ones that haven’t yielded yet, nothing grinds properly and the paste stays coarse.

The kaffir lime zest is easy to over-add. It is powerful. A little gives the paste lift and brightness. Too much and it dominates. Zest one lime and use half first. Taste. Add the rest only if you feel it needs more.

My mother toasted the shrimp paste wrapped in a banana leaf over the flame. In Florida I wrap it in foil and put it directly on the gas burner for two minutes per side. Both methods drive off the raw fermented smell and leave something deeper and more complex. Do not skip this step. Raw shrimp paste in curry paste is a different and lesser thing.

If your mortar is small, make the paste in two batches and combine them at the end. Overcrowding the mortar means nothing grinds efficiently. Give each ingredient room. The work goes faster than you think when the mortar is not fighting you.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

Panang curry paste exists for one primary purpose, Panang Curry with Beef or Chicken, that dish deserves your full attention the first time you use a fresh batch. Beyond the classic curry, this paste works as a base for Thai Peanut Sauce, stirred into coconut milk with a little palm sugar for a dipping sauce that goes with everything. A small spoonful cooked in oil before adding vegetables transforms a simple stir fry into something that has no business being that good. If you want to understand how this paste sits within the wider family of Thai curry pastes, start with Red Curry Paste and Massaman Curry Paste, three pastes, three different directions, all from the same tradition.

FAQ