Back in January, I posted about our 4-year bloggiversary, and asked what kind of dish you’d like to see made on this blog. As I randomly chose pad ped from the comments, my first thought was … what is pad ped?
A quick google search told me that it’s a Thai dish with various vegetables and a protein in a red curry paste-based sauce. I didn’t follow any recipe I found exactly, so I’m calling this a “red curry and ginger coconut sauce” instead. This sauce is lush and creamy and subtly spicy, with a few hits of salty, clean and sweet notes. It’s perfect for dousing over leftover vegetables and your vegan protein of choice, and finishing with another generous drizzle once plated.
I used quick-fried soy curls here, which soaked up the sauce perfectly, but you could drizzle it over pressed tofu and marinate for a few hours or even try using Gardein vegan fish filets (which I recently discovered and would be fantastic here!) Serve with rice or noodles, and you’ve got a fantastic dinner (and maybe great leftovers for the next day) in less than 45 minutes.
RED CURRY AND GINGER COCONUT SAUCE
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
for the sauce
- 1 TB toasted sesame oil
- 1 TB finely minced ginger
- 1–2 tsp red curry paste
- (I used Thai Kitchen brand—some pastes contain fish, so be sure to read the label)
- 1 stalk lemongrass, any dirty layers removed, then bruised and chopped into 2–3 pieces
- 1 can (13.66 fl. oz.) full-fat coconut milk
- 2 TB soy sauce
- 1 TB brown sugar
- 5 large basil leaves, cut chiffonade
for the protein
- Butler soy curls, tofu, tempeh, seitan or Gardein fish filets
for the vegetables
- shallots
- carrots
- green beans
- broccoli
- mushrooms
- baby corn and/or
- whatever you have on hand, etc.
to serve (optional)
- noodles or rice
- crushed peanuts
- lime wedges
Instructions
To make the sauce
- Warm the toasted sesame oil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat. Add in the minced ginger and allow to soften for 1-2 minutes, adding a little more sesame oil if it starts to stick. Add in the curry paste and stir until it liquefies. Add in the lemongrass pieces, stir again, then pour in the coconut milk. Add in the soy sauce, brown sugar and fresh basil, stir, then increase the heat to medium. Once it comes to a small simmer, turn off the heat and give it a stir, but leave it on the burner.
- Prepare whatever vegan protein you’d like in any way you choose, drizzling a little of the warm sauce over it towards the end. Stir fry the vegetables separately.
- Distribute rice or noodles into bowls if desired. Top with the vegetables, vegan protein and drizzle with extra sauce to taste.
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
Wow! This looks and sounds amazing! Thanks for the recipe! I cant wait to try it!
This looks fantastic, thanks! Love the use of lemon grass and I need to get more creative with it.
Is there any substitute for the fresh lemongrass? We have some ancient dry (probably no more flavor) in a spice container, but that's about it. Would like to make this tonight as we have all of the other ingredients!
You could try some lemon zest here (will not be quite the same flavor, but the closest thing I can think of) or just leave it out all together … you'll still have a nice fragrant sauce … I hope you enjoy!
I made it with just a little dried lemongrass (hedged my bets!) and we finished our individual bowls with a spritz of lemon juice. I used the Thai kitchen curry paste. It was delicious and we will definitely make again and again! It was the first time I have made anything Thai-style that actually tasted like Thai food. Thank you! I might try it with half a can of coconut milk and the same volume plain TJ's soymilk to see if that would taste just as good.
Thanks so much for letting me know how this worked out for you! Your subs sounds great, glad you were able to use what you had with good results!
We thoroughly enjoyed the tiny bit of leftovers tonight and I've been commissioned to make it again this weekend! It is so flavorful and amenable to extra spice and whatever veggies we have in the fridge. We ate it over rice with tamari-braised tofu and the only veggies we had left in the house (carrots, red cabbage, celery, chopped cilantro on top, & sweet potato just for me). Tastier than restaurant food.
Just looked at your beautiful photo and realize I forgot to add the crushed peanuts (next time)! Super easy to make and I love that I can add extra veggies my husband won't eat to my bowl.
Hope you will consider publishing a cookbook.
I love to hear that! Thanks for your kind words, so happy you enjoyed and will make it again! 🙂
This sauce looks very delicious. I love curry, and I'm trying this.
Thank you, I hope you enjoy!
Will have to make this with the soy curls I have!
this is super tasty with tempeh. definitely will be making again!
I just tried this. Pretty good and I've got half a pint left for the week. I generally just do the Thai Heritage and coconut milk solo but I thought this would be a good way to mix it up a bit. I'll keep playing with different combos. Thanks for the inspiration.