Simple quick Thai Style Salmon Curry with, aromatic creamy red curry sauce. This dish is so easy to make but brings the best flavour. All you need is 30 minutes to cook everything and the taste is extremely good! Don't forget to cook extra rice to serve together!
If you are bored of regular pan-fried and baked salmon dishes, it's time to try out this creamy salmon curry cooked in delicious Thai red curry sauce. Thai red curry is one of the most popular Thai curry dishes and you can add, chicken, prawns, fish, or vegetables in it. Thai Red Prawn Curry and Thai Red Curry Chicken recipes are also family and reader's favourite recipes you might also like. Basic ingredients used in these recipes are similar in general and you might find it so easy to make.
I used store-bought Thai red curry paste in all of these recipes because some of the fresh herbs are impossible to get in the UK. Traditional Thai red curry paste is made of dried chillies, fresh chillies, lemongrass, galangal, white peppercorns, onion, garlic, shrimp paste, coriander seeds, kaffier lime zest, etc. All these ingredients are pounded into smooth paste. Theres is not exact same recipe to make the red curry paste. Every family and restaurants have their own version of it.
I am sure you will love this Thai salmon curry because it's super fast and simple to cook under 30 minutes. You don't need to cook everything from scratch as we are using store-bought curry paste. It's saves lots of time if you are cooking it for busy weeknight dinners. You can add extra vegetables and customize the flavour to your own preference.
What do we need
- Salmon - We usually use skinless salmon fillets for this recipe. Cut the salmon fillet into 4-5 large pieces.
- Coconut milk - Use rich and creamy coconut milk which has more coconut extract. Aroy-D and Chaokoh coconut milk brands are our favourite brands that we love to add in our curries.
- Red curry paste - Use your favourite red curry paste. Red curry paste is comes in jars and plastic containers. We usually add Mae Ploy or Maesri red curry paste in our red curry recipes. They both are so flavourful and easy to buy at local supermarkets and Asian grocery stores.
- Plam sugar - has a unique sweet caramel taste, and is ideal for this Thai red curry dish. You can get it at Chinese or Oriental Asian supermarkets.
Substitute for palm sugar - You can simply swap with brown sugar or regular white sugar. - Vegetables you can add - I used bamboo shoots and red chilli slices. Feel free to add your favourite vegetables like bell peppers, onion, snow peas,etc.
- Lemongrass - Bruise bottom part of lemongrass and add in the curry sauce brings more fragrant to the dish.
- Lime zest - Add a dash of lime zest or kaffir lime zest for a fresh zesty flavour. If you can get kaffir lime leaves, add 3-4 leaves.
- Fish sauce - highly recommend to add fish sauce which has a unique umami, salty, savoury taste. A must keep seasoning sauce if you love Thai and Southeast Asian cuisines.
Fish sauce substitute - Simply add salt to taste, if you don't add fish sauce.
How to make it
- Cut the salmon fillets into 4-5 pieces and season it with salt and pepper to taste.
- Sear the salmon fillets in the pan/skillets over medium-high heat for 2 minutes on each sides. Then remove from pan and set it aside. Remove excess oil from the pan with kitchen towel.
- In the remaining pan, add half of coconut milk and bring it to simmer, stir in red curry paste.
- Cook with medium heat for until the oil separate and coconut milk reduced.
- Next, add the rest of coconut milk, water, lemongrass, fish sauce, and palm sugar.
- Follow with bamboo shoot, lime zest and bring it to simmer.
- Now, add the cooked salmon fillets in the curry sauce and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until is salmon is cooked to your desire stage.
- Make a taste test and adjust salt to taste. Finish with roughly chopped coriander and red chilli slices.
Cooking Tips
- You don't need any oil to cook the red curry paste. Cooking the red curry paste in the coconut milk brings the best flavour of the curry paste. Make sure to wait until the oil starts to separate from the coconut milk before adding the rest of the coconut milk and water.
- If you want extra rich umami curry sauce, add chicken stock or vegetables stock/broth instead of water in the curry sauce.
- Do not overcook the salmon, it takes only 5-6 minutes to be cooked through.
Frequently asked questions
Plam sugar is used in authentic Thai and Asian curries, soups and stir fries. Sweetness of sugar or palm sugar balance out the flavour of salty, savoury dishes.
It goes really well with plain jasmine rice, or thin rice noodles. You and also pair it with Thai Spring Rolls, Thai Wings, Thai Vegetable Stir Fry or Tom Yum Soup and make it a wholesome family dinner.
You can simply swap the salmon with tofu, cauliflower, aubergine, or choice of vegetables. Regular fish sauce can be substituted with vegetarian fish sauce or soy sauce.
If you love to have the crispy skin-on salmon. Pan fry the skin side until crispy then add in the red curry sauce and let it cook for a few minutes. Do not pour any sauce over the salmon to stays crispy.
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Easy Thai Salmon Curry
Equipment
- Large pan or skillet
Ingredients
- 480 gram Salmon fillet About 17oz ( skinless salmon, cut into 4-5 pieces )
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Black pepper
- 1-2 tbsp Vegetable oil sunflower, canola, or peanut oil
- 400 ml Coconut milk See details in note
- 3-4 tbsp Red curry paste Thai red curry paste, see details in note
- 1 stalk Lemon grass Bruised
- 2 tbsp Fish sauce
- 2 tbsp Palm sugar Or brown sugar
- 100 gram Bamboo shoots Tin or strips
- 1-2 Red chilli Bird eye or choice of fresh chillies cut thin slices
- 1 tsp Lime zest or kaffir lime zest, see details in note
- handful Coriander
- 1 cup Water
Instructions
- First, season the salmon fillets with salt and black pepper on both sides. Heat the pan or skillet over medium-high heat, drizzle oil, and sear the salmon fillets for 2 minutes on both sides. Remove from the oil and set them aside. Remove excess oil from the pan with a paper towel.
- Heat the pan to medium heat. Pour half of coconut milk ( about 200 mil ) in the pan, add red curry paste, stir it well and cook for 1-2 minutes until the coconut milk is reduced and oil starts to separate.
- Then add the remaining coconut milk, pour the water in and bring it to simmer. Season the sauce with lemongrass, fish sauce, and palm sugar.
- Add bamboo shoots, lime zest, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Place the salmon fillets back in the pan and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the salmon just cooked through.
- Finish with coriander and fresh chilli slices.
- Serve with plain jasmine rice, basmati rice, or choice of flatbread.
Video
Notes
- What type of coconut milk to use? Use full-fat creamy coconut milk which has more coconut extract. Thai brands like Aroy-D and Chaokoh coconut milk are our favourite. You can use any of your favourite creamy coconut milk.
- Red curry paste - Mae Ploy or Maesri red curry pastes are famous good quality red curry brands that we never disappoint. Mae Ploy is easy to buy at local supermarkets and in groceries.
- Palm sugar - If you cannot get palm sugar, use regular white sugar or brown sugar to your taste.
- Customize the vegetables - Feel free to add extra vegetables of your choice.
- Can you freeze or reheat it? Do not recommend freezing this curry, but you can keep it in the fridge in an air-tight container for a couple of days. Reheat with a microwave or over the stovetop with a splash of water.
Unco Daybid says
Just made this and it was very good! I love Thai food and this hit the spot. I added a bit more lemongrass and kaffir like leaves. I also added shallots and mushrooms. At the end I threw in a lot of spinach. 10/10!
Khin says
Sounds so delicious with extra herbs, shallots and mushrooms. So glad that you enjoyed it, Unco.
Karla says
Really good and forgiving of substitutions. I followed the recipe except (1) I didn't have Thai chili paste so I used Chinese chili paste, (2) I didn't use bean sprouts because they don't have them in Greece where I'm living, (3) I didn't use a fresh chili because our tolerance for heat is limited, (4) I didn't have coriander so didn't use it, (5) I threw in a handful of already cooked fresh green beans for some veggie action. Despite all this, it was SCRUMPTIOUS. Husband adored it. I'm going to pop for a jar of Thai chili paste and I'll bet it will even be better. Served with egg noodles tossed with olive oil, a tiny bit of chili paste and plenty of chopped chives. Yum. (Recommend a non-stick pan because of salmon sauteing.)
Khin says
So glad that you enjoyed, Karla. I love your ingredients combinations. Thanks for taking the time and sharing your feedback.
Julie A says
This was so yummy, I couldn't stop eating it! I followed the recipe fairly closely, I just left out the extra chilli and added carrots and green beans, and had it with brown rice. Delicious!
This recipe is definitely going on my regular dinner rotation 🙂 I'm also going to try it with chicken, and with puffed tofu.
Mary says
Can oyster sauce be used instead of fish sauce
Khin says
Hi Mary, do not recommend oyster sauce as a substitute for this recipe. If you don't like fish sauce, you can add salt to taste.
R.Aldis says
This is the best authentic Thai curry recipe I have ever followed. Absolutely delicious! Thank you!
JOZmahal says
Delicious! I omitted the red chilis as the red curry sauce is spicy enough for my family. If it were just me eating I’d for sure include at least one since I like it hot! I also added baby bokchoy, eggplant, and string beans with mine for more veggie options. Overall, the flavor is umami good! Thank you for sharing!
Khin says
Sounds so good with eggplant, bok choy, and string beans. I am very happy that you enjoyed it Joz. Thanks for sharing feedback with us.
Saul says
I love this Thai curry idea. I cooked this salmon curry for my family. They all enjoyed it so much. I need to double the portion size next time.
Khin says
Thanks for sharing feeback Saul, so glad that you enjoyed this salmon recipe.