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thai red curry with rice on a white plate
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5 from 2 votes

Thai Red Curry with Tofu

This Thai red curry recipe with tofu is super flavorful and packs a spicy kick! Thai curry is a coconut-based curry that is perfectly creamy and incorporates lots of fresh vegetables, tofu, and aromatics.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Thai
Keyword: Thai red curry
Servings: 4 people
Author: Globally Flavored

Ingredients

  • 1 can coconut milk* don't shake!
  • 2 tablespoon Maesri red curry paste**
  • 4 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 small can of bamboo shoots
  • 1 big handful of pea pods
  • 2 tablespoon fish sauce omit if vegetarian
  • 2 tablespoon palm sugar chopped (or brown sugar)
  • 1 cup of chicken stock
  • 1 package of extra-firm tofu cut into cubes (or chicken, pork, or shrimp)
  • ¼ cup of cornstarch
  • 1 handful of Thai basil or Italian basil

Instructions

  • Prepare the tofu by wrapping a block of it in a clean dish towel and set something heavy on it, like a cast iron pan. This is to get rid of excess water in the tofu and is commonly done whenever tofu is used in a recipe.
  • Heat a wok to medium heat and scoop out the thick cream on top of the coconut milk into the wok until it starts to bubble. Then, mix in the red curry paste. Continue to sauté until fragrant. What you are doing here is boiling off the water in the cream so that fat breaks down further and develops more flavor.
  • Reduce the heat to a low simmer. Add the bamboo shoots, the remainder of coconut milk, 3 cloves of garlic, fish sauce, peapods, and palm sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes. If you would like your curry to be more of a soup, add 1 cup of chicken stock.
  • While the curry is simmering, unwrap the tofu and cut it into cubes. Add in the cornstarch until it is fully coating the cubes. In a medium frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Add in the garlic and tofu, and cook until golden brown and crispy. Add the tofu to the curry.
  • Serve over rice or noodles.

Notes

*Make sure to get coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk, not light coconut milk.
**I use Maesri red curry paste, I find this to have the best flavor. It's vegan too!**