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Vegan Kua Kling Recipe
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Vegan kua kling

You will end up with more curry paste than you need, but it will keep for a few weeks in the fridge. You should eat gaeng kua kling with plenty of jasmine rice and heaps of fresh vegetables, which will help to temper the heat.

Ingredients

Kua Kling Curry Paste Ingredients

  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 10 dried bird’s eye chillies
  • 75 grams thinly sliced lemongrass bottom half only of stems only
  • 6 grams finely diced galangal 2 teaspoons
  • 5 grams teaspoons turmeric, sliced thinly 2 generous
  • 25 grams minced garlic 3 tablespoons
  • 25 grams sliced shallots ¼ cup
  • 1 teaspoon minced makrut lime zest
  • 20 fresh red bird’s eye chillies
  • 4 grams black peppercorns 1 teaspoon
  • 1 teaspoon vegan shrimp paste or Korean doenjang

Kua Kling Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 175 grams firm tofu crumbled or mashed
  • 115 grams chestnut mushrooms finely diced
  • 80 grams kua kling curry paste above
  • 1 tablespoon thin soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons white sugar
  • 4 teaspoons thinly sliced shredded makrut lime leaf
  • 1 tablespoon fresh green peppercorns optional
  • 1 long red chilli thinly sliced lengthways (optional)
  • Extra soy/vegan fish sauce to taste

Instructions

  • First make the curry paste. Beginning with the salt and bird's eye chilies, use a pestle and mortar to work the chillies into a powder. Then add the lemongrass and repeat until you're left with a smooth paste. Move down the ingredients list, pounding each ingredient until smooth before adding the next.
  • Heat a pan to medium and add the oil. Fry the tofu and mushroom for a few minutes before adding the curry paste. Stir fry slowly, incorporating the curry paste with the tofu and mushrooms. Cook, stirring often, for about ten minutes.
  • Season with soy sauce and sugar, stirring until mixed through. Add the makrut lime leaves, fresh green peppercorns, and sliced long red pepper. Cook for a couple more minutes. Taste and season as you go – you may need more salt and/or soy sauce, depending on whether or not you used vegan shrimp paste in your curry paste (and on the various degrees of salt that ingredient could have if you did).
  • Serve warm or at room temperature with jasmine rice and fresh vegetables like sator bean (stink bean), cucumber, lettuce, cabbage, and pennywort leaf. While unusual in Thailand, carrot is also a great accompaniment.