Thai green curry pork recipe makes a versatile and easy dinner that can be customized to suit your taste, you can even adapt it into a vegetarian meal. It features a flavorful coconut milk-based sauce infused with a blend of spicy, sweet, salty, and creamy flavors. This delicious one-pot meal is as fragrant as it is delicious, and it’s best enjoyed with steamed white rice or rice vermicelli noodles.

Gaeng keow wan

Gaeng keow wan or Thai green curry is an absolute icon of Thai cuisine. Whether you’ve traveled to Thailand and personally experienced its unique taste or simply heard of it before, this dish has stolen the heart of people worldwide.

As a former owner of a Thai restaurant, I witnessed the popularity of this meal firsthand. Everyone loves the fragrant creamy sauce, the blend of spices and herbs, and the tenderly cooked vegetables and meat.

And it gets even better when you enjoy it on a hot summer day, the fiery heat of the curry with a refreshing drink by your side is simply a unique experience.

Recipe substitutions and adjustments

The key to the best Thai pork green curry lies in a perfect balance of spicy, salty, sweet, and savory. In this recipe all flavors are well-balanced, but feel free to customize the flavors to your taste preference, or choose your favorite protein.

Vegetarian green curry

Vegetarians can enjoy a wide array of healthy and nutritious Thai vegetables. Simply omit the meat, and add your favorite veggies such as bell peppers, snow peas, carrots, or zucchini to transform this recipe into a veggie lover’s favorite.

When it comes to whipping up a vegetarian version, I always make sure to add green beans and bamboo shoots for an extra healthy meal. An extra touch of fresh basil makes the curry even more fragrant, just an extra sprinkle will take it to the next level. All these ingredients can be found in your nearest Asian supermarket or market.

Whatever you decide to throw into the sauce will come out absolutely amazing, trust me, it’s that good! You can even upgrade your sauce with protein-rich tofu, which adds extra texture as well.

Meat substitutions

You can substitute the pork for your preferred source of protein. Personally, I enjoy pork the best for its flavorful taste, and there’s quite often some fat to it, which many Thai people love.

In addition to pork, you can experiment with chicken, beef, shrimp, seafood, or even a combination of various meats

Adjust the spiciness

As I mentioned earlier, this dish carries heat and a spicy punch, just like Thai red curry, but sometimes even spicier! The level of spiciness can easily be adjusted to your spice level by controlling the number of chilies used.

For a fiery flavor, feel free to add more chilies. For a milder curry, remove the seeds, use a mild type of chili peppers, or omit the chilies altogether.

Homemade green curry paste

When you make homemade curry paste, you can customize the flavors and choose a healthier, preservative-free alternative to the store-bought versions. Making it yourself has many advantages.

The most important advantage is that you can alter the taste exactly how you like it the best. Whether you like a mild spice or a fiery explosion of heat, you have complete control.

You can choose fresh ingredients, and fresh ingredients only. Homemade versions are a lot healthier and free from additives, so you can enjoy a guilt-free meal.

With my recipe you can go both ways, if you wish to save time you can opt for a store-bought paste, but if you’d like to go the traditional route you can use my green curry paste recipe and make it yourself.

Ingredients

• Pork – In addition to pork, this meal can be prepared with other proteins as well, such as beef, chicken, tofu, duck, turkey, shrimp, and other seafood. Cut your meat in thin slices to speed up the cooking time.

• Green curry paste – For an authentic meal, I suggest using my Thai green curry paste recipe and make your paste from scratch with a mortar and pestle. For store-bought versions, I suggest using Mae ploy or Maesri.

• Thai eggplant – Thai eggplants can be substituted for zucchini. Cut the eggplants in 2 or 4 pieces, depending on their size.

• Pea eggplant – Pea eggplants are not a key ingredient, so if you’re having trouble finding them, you can omit them.

• Sweet basil – Sweet basil, not to be mistaken for holy basil, adds a fresh flavor to the sauce. Thai sweet basil should be added towards the end of the cooking process. This ensures that the herb retains its structure when served. By adding sweet basil at the very end, after turning off the heat, the flavors are also better preserved.

• Chilies – For more spiciness, you can add additional chilies. For a milder curry or a kid-friendly version, I suggest using a mild type of chili peppers and/or removing the seeds, or omitting the chilies altogether. For a kids’ meal, serve with bell peppers instead of chilies.

• Coconut milk – Coconut milk is the backbone of most Thai curries. It’s crucial to use full-fat coconut milk for a rich, creamy, and flavorful curry sauce. One of my trusted brands, which I used in my former Thai restaurant, is Aroy-D.

• Flavor seasoning (RosDee) – Elevate the curry by adding flavor seasoning, this will make it richer in flavor and aroma.

• Palm sugar – The sweetness can be adjusted by adding more sugar, but it’s important not to make it too sweet. I highly recommend using palm sugar instead of regular white sugar or brown sugar because it adds a delightful caramel-like flavor.

• Fish sauce – Fish sauce is a staple in Thai cuisine for adding a distinctive salty flavor with umami that enhances the overall taste of food. Taste-test along the way if you decide to add more fish sauce for a saltier flavor.

• Salt

Step-by-step instructions

Recipe notes

• For store-bought green curry paste, I recommend using Maesri or Mae Ploy, for the best results, use my homemade paste.
• This is a spicy curry, you can’t go around it! But you can make it a bit more kid-friendly by removing the chili seeds, using fewer chilies, or omitting them altogether. You can also substitute the fresh chilies for bell peppers.
• Use full-fat coconut milk for a rich, tasty and creamy curry sauce.
• Feel free to experiment with different vegetables and protein.

How to serve

This authentic Thai meal is best served as a main-dish with a portion of steamed white rice or rice vermicelli noodles. You can choose to serve the curry in a separate bowl, or on top of jasmine rice or rice vermicelli noodles.

How to store

Allow your leftovers to cool down before transferring them to an airtight container. Store in your refrigerator to keep it fresh and delicious for up to 3 days.

Leftover coconut milk can be frozen for up to 6 months in an airtight container. If possible, use a container that’s microwave safe. That way you can choose to microwave it, or you can reheat it in a pot or wok pan.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ’s)

More Thai curries you’ll love

• Panang – Panang is a thick, rich, and creamy dish that’s usually made without vegetables.
• Massaman chicken – Massaman is unique in every way, it has potatoes and roasted peanuts as key ingredients.
• Khua kling – Dry roasted minced meat with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and more traditional ingredients.

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