Although chicken and pork are two of the most popular and common ways that Mae Ploy Green Curry is melded into curry dishes, there are some other less popular variations that bear close examination by anyone with a hankering for authentic Thai green curry (geng kiew-wan). Find a standard recipe for Thai green curry, either pork or chicken, then consider these simple variants along the way.

Try adding a sliced green or red bell pepper, for both flavor and visual zing. A yellow bell pepper, sliced vertically on the up-down axis, also makes a tasty trip out. In addition to bell peppers, you can consider adding a carrot, diced into tiny bits, and this will sweeten and round the lemongrass flavor in a way that defies description.

Another fairly standard curry Mae Ploy can enhance is a green curry thickened with coconut cream and fit out with sweet basil (holy basil) then poured over thick wheat noodles, Chinese style, in a patt-Thai type of meal. This makes a pleasant break from green curry with rice, and is just as filling.

Speaking of rice, don’t forget to use Mae Ploy when cooking up a green curry with vegetables and tofu or gluten-duck, thinly sliced and fried with a few drops of sesame oil, then poured over a bowl of five-grain brown rice, cooked to tenderness and with a sliced, hard-boiled egg added for variety.

It’s easy to see why non-Thai aficionados think Mae Ploy is some kind of major magic, fixing fine foods in a way that is both easy and economical, but the truth is Mae Ploy is just another humble, creative Thai food in a long line of Thai and Siamese cuisine. There’s nothing quite like it.

Manufacturer: Theppadungporn Coconut Co. Ltd.

Product of Thailand.