Thai Coconut Curry
One pot. Canned coconut milk. Twenty-five minutes. The transition meal.
A one-pot curry that comes together in 25 minutes on a propane stove. Canned coconut milk, Thai curry paste, and pre-cut vegetables over rice. By night 4, the cooler is thinning out and the pantry starts pulling weight — canned coconut milk and curry paste do all the heavy lifting here. The vegetables just need to be crisp-tender. This is the meal that proves one-pot cooking doesn't have to taste like compromise.
Prep at home: Cut carrots, snap peas, and bell peppers at home and bag them together. Saves 15 minutes of knife work in camp.
Ingredients
- 3 cans (13.5 oz each) canned coconut milk Full-fat, not lite. You need the richness.
- 4 tbsp Thai red curry paste Mae Ploy or Thai Kitchen. Taste as you go — heat varies by brand.
- 4 large carrots — peeled and sliced into coins at home Cut at home, bagged. Carrots are nearly indestructible in a cooler.
- 1 lb snap peas — strings removed Hold up well for 4-5 days if kept cold
- 3 large bell peppers — sliced into strips at home Use whatever colors you have left
- 4 cups dry jasmine rice Rinse if you have water to spare
- 3 tbsp fish sauce This is the secret. Don't skip it.
- 2 tbsp brown sugar Balances the heat and fish sauce
- 3 lime — juiced at serving
- 4 cloves garlic — minced
- 2-inch knob fresh ginger (optional) — minced or grated Keeps well in cooler for a week. Adds brightness.
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp dried basil (optional) Fresh Thai basil is better but dried works fine on a river
Method
- Start the rice first. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a pot on the propane stove. Add rice, stir once, cover, and reduce to low. Set a timer for 15 minutes. Do not touch it.
- In a large pot or deep skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high on the second burner (or wait for the rice). Fry the curry paste and garlic for 60 seconds until fragrant — it should sizzle and darken slightly.
- Add coconut milk and stir to combine with the paste. Bring to a gentle simmer. Add fish sauce and brown sugar. Taste and adjust.
- Add carrots first — they take the longest. Simmer 5 minutes. Then add bell peppers and snap peas. Cook 5-7 more minutes until vegetables are crisp-tender. Don't overcook them.
- Kill the heat. Squeeze in the lime juice and stir. Taste once more — it should be rich, slightly sweet, salty, sour, and hot. Adjust any element that's missing.
- Serve over rice in bowls. Finish with a pinch of dried basil if you have it.
Gear
Required
- large pot
- propane stove
- pot for rice
Optional
- ladle
- cutting board
Field Notes
This recipe is almost wind-proof because it's all in a pot with a lid. The propane stove handles it better than charcoal. The key mistake people make is adding all the vegetables at once — carrots need a head start or they'll be raw while the snap peas turn to mush. If you only have one burner, cook the rice first, set it aside covered (it holds heat for 20 minutes), then make the curry. In cold weather (below 50F), the coconut milk may have solidified in the can — it melts fast once heated, but give it an extra minute.
Variations
Green Curry with Chicken
Use green curry paste instead of red. Add sliced chicken thighs (from the cooler) at the same time as the carrots. Simmer until cooked through.
- green curry paste for red
- sliced chicken thighs added
Peanut Curry
Stir in 1/2 cup peanut butter with the coconut milk. Slightly richer, more savory. Top with crushed peanuts.
- 1/2 cup peanut butter added
- crushed peanuts as garnish
Packing
Pre-cut vegetables go in one large zip-lock bag in the cooler. Everything else is shelf-stable and packs in dry boxes. This recipe has the best shelf-stable-to-cooler ratio of any dinner.
Dietary
Vegan by swapping fish sauce for soy sauce (or use vegan fish sauce). Add tofu or chickpeas for more protein.