Curries, especially red and green ones, are as common to Thai cuisine as burgers are to American eating. These vibrant dishes have a fresh taste due to coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, fresh lime juice and lime peel. While taking classes at the Thai Kitchen cooking school in Bangkok, food editor Janice Cole learned some tips for using curry past and coconut milk that are crucial to creating the best-tasting, most colorful curries.

Understanding curry paste
The basic seasoning in a Thai curry is curry paste, not dry spices. Curry pastes have 10 or more wet and dry ingredients, such as fresh or dried chiles, shallots, shrimp paste, lemongrass, garlic, ginger, lime leaves, cilantro and cumin. Don’t worry about making your own; most Thai cooks purchase prepared curry paste.

Curry pastes vary in heat, and Thai curries are not always spicy-hot. Adjust the amount of curry paste to your own taste, starting with a small amount and adding more if you like.

When making a curry, the paste is fried in oil to bring out more of its flavors.

Two parts to coconut milk
Canned coconut milk, with its unusual qualities, adds important flavor to a curry, but it also helps the curry paste retain its color. When you open a can of coconut milk, the top portion is very thick. (If it’s cold, it will be firm.) The bottom portion is watery and milky. Resist the urge to stir the separated milk to combine it. The two portions are actually used separately.

After frying the curry paste in the oil, spoon the thick coconut milk into the pan and bring it to a boil. Boil gently for 10 minutes or until the oils in the mixture start to separate. Oil droplets will appear on top and the color will be varied. Don’t rush and boil the mixture briskly; the oils won’t separate and the color will be muddy.

Once the oils separate, add the remaining thin portion of the coconut milk and the rest of the ingredients. Boil gently another 10 minutes or until the oil separates again. A rich color and tiny droplets of oil in a curry means it was made correctly.

Where to buy
You can find curry pastes and coconut milk in the Asian section of your grocery store. Always use high-quality coconut milk. Look for one that lists only coconut milk in the ingredients, not water.