Do you love authentic Green Curry Fried Rice from your favorite Thai restaurant, and wish you could make it for your family, but feel intimidated to try making it at home?
I’ve been there too, but not anymore!
Over a decade ago I fell in love with Thai food, my Thai Hubby, and cooking Thai food, and after learning from my Thai grandma-n-law, and Thai Hubby, and cooking for years, I now teach Thai cooking classes at my home every week!
But since you can’t make it to my cooking class right this second, I’m happy to teach you right now through this post how to make Green Curry Fried Rice and answer your questions, just like if you were at my Thai cooking class in my kitchen!
Sherri’s Thai Green Curry Fried Rice Story
“What’s your favorite Thai dish?” I’ll ask my American friends.
“Green curry!” “Massaman curry!” “Red curry!” is usually what I hear. Would you say that too?
I totally get why!
Especially for American tongues, the thick, coconut milk Thai curry sauce takes us back to cozy, creamy American comfort food that with every bite feels like getting a hug from sweet, cuddly grandma.
But as I’ve said before in my Thai green curry recipe, my Thai Hubby doesn’t have the same fondness for Thai curries like I or most Americans do because he got burnt out on them in childhood.
Isn’t that soooooo sad???
But Green Curry Fried Rice is a different story! Yay!!!!
Thai Hubby devoured my version, and then the next afternoon said, “Wow! That Green Curry Fried Rice last night was really good! Can you make that again, like tomorrow?”
I think Thai Hubby loves Thai Green Curry Fried Rice because instead of slurping up the Thai green curry flavor in the sauce, it is super intensified in the rice and protein.
So compared to regular Thai Green Curry, you get even more of the spicy, savory, sweet green curry flavor in every bite of fried rice.
Ingredients
- Thai green curry paste : I love Maesri or Mae Ploy
- Coconut Milk (Chao Koh is my favorite!): You can also leave it out if you want it more spicy, and less chance of mushy rice.
- Thai eggplants (aren’t they adorable? Look just like mini round watermelons): If you can’t find Thai eggplants, it’s fine to use whatever eggplant you can find at the store.
- Protein of choice: We love chicken breast, pork or shrimp.
- Peas: We just use a bag of frozen peas.
- Jasmine rice (or any rice you have in the fridge), at least a day old, and cold: If you don’t have old rice, you can cook some with less water than you would normally to help it be more dry, and put it on a baking sheet in a thin layer for about an hour before cooking to help it dry out some.
- Fish sauce: Always and forever one of my favorite Thai sauces, remember, it’s magical, don’t let the stinky smell scare you away from its umami power.
- Sugar: White, brown or palm sugar, to balance out the flavors.
- Oyster Sauce: Another salty sweet umami Thai sauce I adore, my fav is the MaeKrua brand.
- Kaffir lime leaves: Such a hidden gem if you can find them, their bright and happy citrus notes take your green curry fried rice to the next level.
- Thai basil to sprinkle on top, that’s extra awesome, but no worries if ya don’t.
Why is green curry hotter than red curry?
The reason that green curry is hotter than red curry is that fresh Thai green chili peppers are used in the traditional Thai green curry, and the dried Thai red chilies used in red curry, which aren’t as spicy as the fresh Thai green chilies since they are dried.
Fried Rice Tips
Green Curry Fried rice can be trickier than it looks to make, so make sure you look over my 5 tips for cooking fried rice before you get started to avoid goopy fried rice.
I’ll summarize them here, but just jump over to my tips for cooking fried rice post to get more deets:
- Start with a day old, or few days old rice.
- Keep the rice grains separated while stir-frying.
- Don’t add too much sauce.
- Chop your ingredients into uniform, bite-sized pieces.
- Figure out beforehand what ratio of rice to other ingredients you’d like.
What to serve with Green Curry Fried Rice
Green Curry Fried Rice is great on its on or served alongside Thai dishes like:
After you cook it up, I’m dying to see what it looks like! Share it with me @thaifoodie on Instagram!
Print
Green Curry Fried Rice
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Thai green curry fans and fried rice fans unite! You’ll love how the spicy, savory Thai green curry flavors are even more intensified in this fried rice version that had my Thai Hubby talking about its wonders for days!
Ingredients
- 4 cups day old, cold rice
- 3 tbsp Thai green curry paste, divided (add 1 tbsp more if you want it really spicy)
- 1.5 cups Thai eggplants, chopped into bite-sized pieces, or purple egg plant
- 1.5 cups protein of choice, chopped into bite-sized pieces (chicken, pork, or tofu)
- 1/2 cup coconut milk, divided
- 1 cup frozen peas, warmed up
- 1 cup fresh Thai basil leaves (optional)
- 2 kaffir lime leaves, thinly slivered, stems removed (optional)
- 1–2 tbsp fish sauce, or to taste
- 1–2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1–2 tbsp brown sugar, or to taste
Instructions
- Warm your wok or large frying pan, and add a few tablespoons of cooking oil of choice to it.
- Add 1 tbsp of Thai green curry paste, and stir-fry until it starts to smell amazing. Then add 3 tbsp of coconut milk, and stir it up.
- Add your protein of choice, and stir-fry until almost cooked through.
- Add the eggplant and stir-fry until the chicken is cooked, and the eggplant is softened, just a few minutes.
- Take out the chicken and eggplant, and put it on a dish.
- Break up the day old rice as much as you can.
- Add in another few tablespoons of cooking oil, and 2 tbsp Thai green curry paste.
- Stir-fry until it starts to smell amazing, and add in the the rest of the coconut milk, and stir it up.
- Then add in the rice to the wok, and stir-fry until the Thai green curry sauce is completely mixed in.
- Add in the green peas, the chicken, eggplant, fish sauce, oyster sauce and sugar to taste, and mix until combined.
- Turn off the heat, and if using, add in the Thai basil, and sprinkle the kaffir lime leaves on top.
- Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: Thai
- Method: Stir-Fry
- Cuisine: Thai
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