Thai Yellow Curry with Minced Pork
By Lee Jackson ↣ Published on: October 18, 2019
My recipe for Thai Yellow curry with minced pork is a wonderful combination of spice, fragrance and texture. A balanced and complex melding of all the flavour and colour and personality of Thailand.
My Thai Yellow Curry with Minced Pork is a perfect combination of all that I love about Thai food - and South East Asian Curries in particular. The perfect balance of spice, sweetness, sourness and salt - this curry has it all.
Less known than its counterparts the green and red curry, yellow curry is by no means the poor cousin! It has plenty to bring to the table. The colour for one is vibrant and inviting - a sunny hue brought from the use of the new fad-favourite, turmeric. The taste in general is milder too - although I have eaten mind glowingly hot versions of yellow curry, but when I make mine, I make it mild.
I've not eaten a minced meat version of curry in any restaurant, but was inspired by eating a delicious Chicken Larb at my local Thai recently and wondered it minced meat would work as a curry - almost like a Thai bolognese sauce! I can report that it does indeed work - very well!
You can make this curry with or without coconut milk - without coconut milk, it becomes a jungle curry - just replace coconut with water. Personally I prefer the creaminess of the coconut milk - it also helps mellow the spice out too but if you forgot to buy coconut milk (i never do) you can make it without (I never do!)
Stuff you'll need
To make this delicious curry at home dos call for a fair few ingredients, but I can't sing the praises of a homemade Thai curry paste loudly enough! Making a paste from scratch gives you so much flavour, that is almost impossible to replicate using a store-bought paste. Here's the key flavours:
- Yellow Curry Paste - I blend together lemongrass, galangal, thai chillies, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, cilantro, garlic, fresh turmeric, shrimp paste, white pepper, ground coriander and cumin and a little salt.
- Pork Mince (ground pork) - You can also use ground beef, turkey or chicken too.
- Coconut milk - adds the creaminess to the curry. You could also leave this out to create a 'Thai Jungle Curry' version of this recipe.
- Fish sauce - for that unique salty umami that Thai food is known for.
- Thai Basil - also known as 'Holy Basil', brings its unique fragrance and flavour. Divine!
- Garnishes - I'll use fresh cilantro, spring onions, peanuts and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
Serving & Storage Suggestions
This curry is a great dish over jasmine rice or stirred through slippery rice noodles. Rice is MY favourite.
- Freezer - This curry is an excellent choice for freezing. Portion into single serves in old take-out containers and freeze for 3+ months. Cook from frozen in the microwave until piping hot.
- Fridge - Store this curry or leftovers in the fridge for up to a week. Keep well covered and reheat in the pan or in a microwave until piping hot.
Ready to get cooking?
If you're looking for a unique way to cook ground meat, then a Thai curry like this yellow curry is just perfect. It's a great mid-week dinner made in advance and is excellent reheated for a quick and tasty lunch. All that flavour from the yellow curry paste goes a long way, and because you make your own paste, you can dial up the spice should you feel the urge. How spicy do you like it? Hope you enjoy the recipe.
More tasty Thai recipes
If you liked this Yellow Curry with Minced Pork, I'm sure you'll love some more of my favourite Thai recipes too.
- Thai-Style Grilled Chicken (Gai Yang)
- Thai Curry Noodle Soup with Salmon
- Thai Panang Chicken Curry
- Thai Red Curry Chicken
- Pad Prik King
- Gaeng Hung Lay (Northern Thai Pork Curry)
- Thai Beef Salad (Yum Nua)
- Thai Crying Tiger Beef with Nam Jim Jaew Sauce
- Satay Chicken Curry
- Beef Massaman Curry
- Thai Satay and Thai Peanut Satay Sauce
- Thai Omelette (Kai Jeow)
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Ingredients
For the paste
- 1 lemon grass stalk (white part only, finely chopped)
- 1 tsp fresh galangal (chopped)
- 2 fresh red Thai chillies (chopped)
- 2 Kaffir lime leaves (finely sliced)
- 2 shallots (chopped)
- 1 coriander root and stalk (chopped)
- 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 2 tsp fresh turmeric (peeled & chopped) or 1 teaspoon powdered
- 1 tsp shrimp paste
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the curry
- 4 tbsp peanut oil
- 500 g pork mince
- 1 400g can coconut milk
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 lime (juice of)
- 1/2 cup Thai basil leaves (whole)
- 1/2 cup fresh coriander (for garnish)
- 2 spring onions (thinly sliced, for garnish)
- 1/3 cup unsalted peanuts
Instructions
- Using a stick blender or food processor, or a pestle & mortar blend everything together until you have a smooth paste. If you're using a pestle & mortar, add each fresh item separately in the order they're listed then stir in the powdered items.
- Heat a wok over a high heat with the oil until hot. Add the paste and fry for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Now add the pork mince and stir well for about 3-4 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk and 125ml water along with the fish sauce then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 25 minutes partially covered.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice and Thai basil.
- Just before serving, scatter over the coriander, peanuts and onion and serve alongside lots of fluffy jasmine rice and more lime wedges to squeeze over.
That was lovely- great recipe!
I sometimes throw some Thai basil over when I cook this, but it’s more difficult to find. Probably as it’s more delicious than regular basil.
WOW!!! delicious,… this would be my favourite thai recipe i have tried. i did add…1 tab.s mango pickles…1tsp belacan (shirmp paste)…1tsp palm sugar…10 fresh thai basil (shredded)