Homemade Thai Red Chili Paste (that happens to be Vegan)

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Ever since our trip to Thailand last year, we have been on a Thai food high! While we were in Bangkok, we were on a mission to taste some authentic Thai cuisine. Well, we found something even better! We did some research and found May Kaidee. A 100% vegetarian restaurant that also offers cooking classes and demos, so it was a no-brainer that we HAD to check them out!

Taste-testing the red chili paste we made, with cucumber, to cut down the heat from the paste

Luckily for us, this research was made easier by the fact that Sri’s sister and her husband had actually checked out May Kaidee earlier in the year and highly recommended we go there too. Woohoo!

Typically, we resort to using readymade Thai curry pastes and sauces when we make Thai dishes at home. So, we were determined to learn the basics from the experts at May Kaidee cooking school.

  • Sauté
  • Grind
  • Cook

We learnt over 7 recipes through the cooking class and have been trying to recreate them at home. The very first thing we learnt was how to make Thai Red Chili Paste, since this is used as an ingredient in a lot of other dishes.

The key to creating this red chili paste in under 10 minutes lies in the mise en place. Ensure that you keep all the ingredients ready before you start cooking, and this red chili paste then becomes a total cakewalk.

Mise en place for the Thai Red Chili Paste
Homemade Thai Red Chili Paste (that happens to be Vegan)
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Homemade Thai Red Chili Paste (that happens to be Vegan)

Recipe by That Vegetarian Couple; learnt from May Kaidee cooking schoolCourse: Recipes, Spices and SaucesCuisine: ThaiDifficulty: Easy
Servings

10

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

10

minutes

Red Thai Chili Paste is used in various dishes such as Tom Yum soup, Tom Kha soup, Panang curry, and Massaman curry.

Ingredients

  • 6 tbls neutral tasting vegetable oil

  • 3 tbls chopped carrot

  • 3 tbls chopped white onion

  • 2 tbls garlic

  • 3 tbls dried red Thai chili

  • 2 tbls soy sauce (equal mix of light soy sauce and dark soy sauce)

  • 2 tsp brown sugar

  • 2 tsp lime juice

  • Cooking equipments:

  • Wok

  • Wok Spatula

  • High speed blender

Directions

  • Heat the wok to a medium-high heat. Add 6 tablespoons of neutral tasting oil. We used vegetable oil.
  • Once the oil gets heated, add carrots, onion, and garlic and cook until lightly browned.
  • Add the dried red chillies and cook for 30 seconds.
  • Turn off the heat. Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, and lime juice. Let it cool down a little. If you add the lime juice before turning off the heat, the red chili paste will have a bitter tinge.
  • Blend it all together in a high-speed blender to a smooth paste.
  • Heat the wok in low-medium heat, and add the ground paste to it.
  • Cook until it turns dark red and starts oozing out the oil. Turn off flame and remove the wok from heat. Let it cool down completely and store it in an air-tight container.

Notes

  • You can store this paste for 7-10 days.
  • If you have an induction or glass top cooking range, we recommend the Sur La Table Professional Carbon Steel Wok. Thoroughly season the wok as per package instructions before using it for the first time.
  • Use a wok spatula to easily sauté and scoop out the food easily. The one we have is from Sur La Table.

Hope you enjoy making this red chili paste. We can’t wait to share what we have made using the red chili paste in the upcoming weeks!