Pad Prik Khing Red Curry Green Beans with Shrimp

Name: Pad Prik Khing red curry green beans with shrimp
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon oil (coconut, grapeseed, avocado, vegetable, or canola).; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1-4 ounces can Prik Khing curry paste; 1 cup coconut cream (or 1.25 cup coconut milk); 1 pound raw large shrimp, tail on is fine; 5-6 kaffir lime leaves, finely julienned; 2 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar or palm sugar; 1 1/2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce; 2 cups green beans cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces; Garnishing options. Thai red chilis sliced long and thin and seeds removed or thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves.

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This easy Pad Prik Khing red curry green beans with shrimp is a popular Thai stir-fry dish. It uses fresh green beans, shrimp, and premade prik khing curry paste and is topped off with fragrant kaffir lime leaves. It can be ready in 20 minutes!

This green bean stir-fry recipe is so popular that I have created a homemade Prik Khing curry paste and another delicious variation of the Thai Pad Prik Khing recipe with pork belly. They are all TASTY recipes full of flavors!

Making your curry paste will elevate your curry even more!

Pad Pad Prik King on a plate on the table.

Make my popular and authentic Thai red curry paste using my recipe to elevate your catfish curry! For more Thai recipes with Thai red curry pastes, try Thai swimming rama with peanut sauce, authentic Thai red curry with chicken, and 5-minute satay sauce.

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Adding coconut cream to Pad Prik Khing
Why This Recipe Works
What Goes Into Pad Prik Khing Recipe?
Ingredient Notes for making Phat Phrik Khing
How To Make Red Curry Green Beans with Shrimp
Kitchen Notes for Pad Prik Khing Curry
Frequestionly Asked Questions
Related Thai Recipes You'll Love
Pad Prik Khing red curry green beans with shrimp

Adding coconut cream to Pad Prik Khing

As the saying goes, you can break the rules once you know the rules. This is the case for this mouthwatering red curry green beans with shrimp, a Thai stir-fry dish.

Some traditional Pad Prik Khing recipes don’t call for coconut milk, so it's typically a drier red curry dish, but I find that it enhances the flavors and adds a richness that helps ease the spiciness from the curry paste. The added creaminess rounds out the spicy, salty, and slightly sweet flavor of Prik King very nicely!

You can use water or stock for a drier curry, and it’ll be fine. Make sure to adjust the seasoning accordingly.

Why This Recipe Works

It's perfect for a quick lunchtime meal! It's my first choice dish when I want a dry curry.
My Pad Prik Khing Recipe uses shrimp for a quick and easy Thai meal (shrimp cooks faster than other types of protein like chicken, beef, or pork).
Chicken, beef, pork, duck, and firm fried tofu are other great protein options that pair well with the tasty Prik King.
You can also make a vegetarian version by adding semi-sweet and crunchy vegetables like zucchini, bell peppers, snow peas, carrots, and green beans.
The recipe uses pre-made Prik King curry paste, making this recipe so quick and easy to whip together in less than 30 minutes!
You'll likely not see this dish in most Thai restaurants, as it's an underrated dish. Try this at home; it will be one of your favorite Thai dishes in no time.

What Goes Into Pad Prik Khing Recipe?

This Pad Prik King with red curry and green beans recipe is incredibly fast and easy to make. Once you’ve prepped, you’ll have a delicious Thai red curry stirfry for dinner in no time! Here are the Pad Prik Khing ingredients you’ll need to make this dish. I have also included a picture of all the ingredients below.

ingredients for prik king recipe on a table.

Long green beans. They are also called snake beans. Use almost all types of green beans as substitutes for this recipe. I’ve used purple string beans, long beans, wax beans, and French green beans. Use any available green beans you have.
Prik King curry paste. My recipe calls for a pre-made curry paste. My go-to brand is Maesri Prik King Curry Paste. You can purchase the paste here. Make your own Prik Khing curry paste here.
Thai fish sauce. Squid or red boat brands are great with this recipe.
Coconut cream or coconut milk. You can use either or. The coconut cream is thicker and more rich, creamy, and sweet. You can use less sugar if choosing coconut cream for this recipe. Again, coconut cream is my twist on this classic dish, and I’ve loved it for many years.
Sugar. Substitute white, brown, coconut, or palm sugar.
Red chili. Slice the Thai chilies into thin strips and use them for added color or garnishing. Use red bell peppers for a less spicy taste.
Kaffir lime leaves. (Makrut lime leaves) I DO NOT recommend substituting or omitting this ingredient. Kaffir leaves are a specific type of lime leaves that are highly aromatic with a distinctive flavor commonly used in many dishes in Thai cuisine. Without it, the stir fry is flat and lacks the aromatic and unique flavor of the lime leaves. You can find the leaves in the frozen section of the Asian market. Or you can purchase online here. You can store unused pieces in your freezer for a very long time (up to a year) and use them for other Thai recipes. See the image below for a visual reference. Read up on Kaffir lime leaves and substitutes here.

Ingredient Notes for making Phat Phrik Khing

Prik Khing curry paste. This recipe uses store-bought Prik Khing curry paste, Maesri brand. See the image below. To make your own Prik King curry paste, use my homemade Prik King curry paste recipe here.

Long green beans. My recipe uses long green beans found at the Asian market. (See the image below of long green beans.)Use any green beans found at your regular grocery stores. I also love using them for my Thai papaya salad and Basil and green beans stir fry (Pad Kra Pao).

Thai long green beans on a cutting board

Kaffir lime leaves. Don't skip out on the kaffir lime leaves. (see the image below of what they look like.)They make this recipe with added unique flavors and textures. Find some at local Asian grocery stores in the produce or frozen section. Read more about Kaffir lime leaves here.

How To Make Red Curry Green Beans with Shrimp

Below are the step-by-step photos showing how to make my recipe. There are eight simple steps, and you will have dinner on the table in no time. Let’s get started!

Step 1. Fry garlic with oil in a large skillet, a wok, or a frying pan on medium-high heat until the garlic is lightly golden brown (30 seconds or so).

frying garlic in a pan for prik king curry.

Step 2. Add the curry paste to the skillet, break up the curry paste chunks, and mix well with the garlic. Fry for 1 minute until the paste is fragrant. Turn the heat down to medium if your stove top gets hot quickly.

Frying garlic and prik king curry paste in a pan.

Step 3. Add the coconut cream and mix it well with the paste.

Frying prik king curry paste and coconut milk in a pan.

Step 4. Let the sauce cook until thickens, occasionally stirring, for about 2-3 minutes.

Prik king curry paste and coconut milk in a pan.

Step 5. Add the shrimp into the sauce and stir until well coated with the sauce.

Prik king curry paste and shrimp cooking in a pan.

Step 6. Add the rest of the ingredients (kaffir lime leaves, sugar, and fish sauce), mix in really well, and stir often. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Taste the sauce here and adjust it with more fish sauce or sugar.

Adding sauce to Prik king curry paste in a pan.

Step 7. Add the green beans, stir well, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook the green beans. You want to leave a little crunch for taste. Add a little bit of water if the curry gets too dry.

Prik king curry paste and green beans cooking in a pan.

Step 8. Taste it last time, and add more fish sauce or sugar as needed. Serve warm with jasmine rice. ENJOY!

Prik king curry with shrimp cooking in a pan.

Kitchen Notes for Pad Prik Khing Curry

Prik King curry paste. My recipe calls for a pre-made curry paste. My go-to brand is Maesri Prik King Curry Paste. It is delicious, quick, and easy, and I can usually put together a lunch or dinner with this dish within 15-20 minutes. Make your Prik Khing curry paste using this recipe. We will be using a curry paste from Maesri. Purchase the prik khing curry paste here. It comes in a pack of 4.
For curry paste substitutes, use a red Thai curry paste like Maesri and Mae Ploy brands. You'll need to add extra sugar, like a tablespoon of brown sugar and minced kaffir lime leaves or zest, for the extra flavors.
Prik Khing Curry with Coconut Milk. For my Pad Prik King Shrimp Recipe, I use coconut cream to add extra creaminess to the curry. You can use coconut milk or water if you’d like to have fewer calories. When I use water, I find it tends to dilute the flavor of the curry paste, and the dish tends to get too runny at the end.
I recommend this coconut cream brand and coconut milk for Thai food cooking. You can purchase the coconut cream here or the coconut milk here.
Notes on the Shrimp. Here’s something new you might want to try. I’ve used shrimp with shells on it to cook this recipe. The shells fold in the creamy curry paste into the meat of the shrimp, making the shrimp even more juicy and tender. I’ve been known to suck the curry sauce from the shell of the shrimp for that extra messy but oh-so-very street-like and scrumptious sauce before peeling the shells off to get to the meat of the well-seasoned crustaceans. I’d put the New Orleans crawfish-eating game to shame, especially when eating it with my Thai friends and family! Try it! You will need lots of napkins for your fingers. (:

Frequestionly Asked Questions

What does Prik Khing Mean in Thai?

Let’s first break down these Thai words that have been translated into English sounds. Pad = Stir fry, Prik = Chili peppers, King = Ginger. So then we have stirfry chilis peppers with ginger. But here’s a mysterious twist.

What Does Prik Khing Taste Like?

Pad Prik King is a stir fry recipe using red curry paste, so the dish has all the famous Thai flavors of spicy, salty, and sweet. This recipe is also creamy from the coconut cream, adding nice well-rounded flavors to balance the other robust flavors. Adding the kaffir lime leaves adds a unique herbaceous flavor that sets this stir-fry apart from other recipes.

What are Yardlong Beans?

Yardlong beans are green beans used in several recipes in Thai cooking. They are long, light green color beans, about 1-2 feet long green beans. They are a bit sweeter and crispier than the regular green beans in American grocery stores. They are also called pole beans or Chinese long beans.

Is there ginger in the Pad Prik King recipe?

Not a trace of ginger is in this classic Thai dish! The origin of the name is unknown, but the dish is legendary. Pad Prik King is then a red curry dish made with Prik King curry paste that’s made with dried chilis, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, galangal, cilantro root, kaffir lime peel, and shrimp paste, pound together to form a red paste.

Pri k Khing Curry Paste. Homemade from scratch!
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Kaffir lime leaves and substitute

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