We love the people we get to meet in our Bangkok cooking classes. We limit the class size to less than 6, so over a few hours the personalities of all of our visitors start to come out, as do ours. While we welcome many newcomers to Thailand, we also occasionally have guests who are returning visitors, or looking for a cooking class in Bangkok that will allow them to pick and choose a custom set of recipes to try. Sometimes the recipes are Thai dishes our guests love to eat, but often the requests are a special dish to challenge their cooking skills, or knowledge of Thai cuisine.
All of the food tasted surprisingly great considering the simplicity of the dishes. They were also very accommodating of our recipe requests, and in most cases, added a little bit of a twist to our request in a way that allowed us to experience a new dimension of Thai food. Highly recommend!
– Brian, Courageous Kitchen Guest
In a recent class we were joined by two spice loving guests, Brian and Min. The couple of Thai food lovers requested a spicy seafood curry, so our team quickly began to brainstorm what would be best to teach them. The day before their class we experimented with a Thai dish called ‘gaeng kua‘ in our kitchen for the first time. The name may not be very well known, but if you’ve ever had a Thai red curry with pineapple, then you’ve likely had a variation of this dish. The most popular version of this in the US, is often served with large chunks of barbecued duck.
Fortunately, the dish is much easier to make than pronounce. You need to make or buy a quality red curry paste for the best result, but beyond the typical Thai seasonings, the recipe below does not require many exotic ingredients. Try your hand at making this noticeable spicy seafood curry. We love it with squid, mussels, and shrimp, but encourage you to try it with the protein of your choice.
Pineapple and Seafood Red Curry Recipe
Pronounced Gaeng Kua Sapparot Talay in Thai or แกงคั่วสับปะรดทะเล
This recipe serves 1-2 people.
Ingredients:
- 400ml Coconut Milk
- 1 tbsp Red curry paste
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Palm Sugar
- 1 tbsp Tamarind juice
- 100g Seafood (squid, shrimp, or mussels)
- 50g-100g Pineapple (Sliced thin and about 3-5 cm long)
Garnish:
- 1 large mild chili (Serrano or similar)
- 1 small handful Thai sweet basil leaves
Directions:
1. Heat up the wok and add coconut milk over medium heat.
2. When the coconut milk bubbles, add your curry paste. Stir until it mixes well.
3. Add pineapple, cook 2-3 minutes.
4. Now taste for the sweetness/sourness of the pineapple. Add your seasoning to taste. (Note: You can leave out the tamarind if the pineapple is already very sour.)
5. After adjusting the flavor, add your seafood and additional coconut milk if needed.
6. Remove from heat after your seafood is cooked, garnish with Thai sweet basil, and slices of large mild chili.
Thanks for reading! If you found this recipe useful, download more of our Courageous Recipes!
