In this Thai Test Kitchen article, we'll be tasting and comparing six different Thai green curry pastes to determine which brand produces the best green curry. Read on to discover our choice for the best Thai curry paste.
Ever since the boyfriend's parents introduced me to Mae Anong curry pastes, I haven't had the urge to try any other brand. Mae Anong has many different varieties of pastes available, they all taste great, and I can find them easily at my local Thai market. However, one of the most frequent questions that comes up on this blog is which brand of curry paste is the best. And since I hadn't tried all of the curry paste brands out there, I never felt like I could answer in confidence.... that is, until now!
Read on for our next Thai Test Kitchen challenge: a side-by-side comparison of six Thai curry paste brands.
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Curry Paste Brands
For this curry paste showdown, I chose to compare the brands that are the most widely available in the U.S., but still maintain some sense of being Thai, such as being a product of Thailand or having a respectable ingredient list. I also went with only green curry pastes and followed the same basic curry-making steps to make sure that the playing field was even. The brands compared were: 1) Thai Kitchen, 2) Lobo, 3) Aroy-D, 4) Maesri, 5) Mae Ploy, and 6) Mae Anong.
Color, Texture, Aroma
Immediately upon opening the packages, differences in color and texture of the various brands were apparent. Thai Kitchen (1), Aroy-D (3), and Maesri (4) had a more yellow tint than the other brands, whereas Mae Ploy (5) and Mae Anong (6) had a crumblier texture than the others. And perhaps as a signal of what was to come, I also felt that the Thai Kitchen paste had a somewhat unpleasant aroma as compared to the others.
Making the Curries
After our initial inspection, it was time to start making curries! I followed this basic green curry recipe, but with pork, eggplant, and green beans instead of chicken and eggplants. This ended up being quite the production, using all four burners on the stove for the initial four curries, then hurrying to make the last two before the first set got cold...
You'll notice in the photos below that the Thai Kitchen (1) curry separated more than the others. It also required more water to maintain a decent consistency, as did the Lobo (2) curry. I think this was mostly a reflection of the different pots I was using, and not because of an inherent difference in how the curry paste cooked. Despite this, you can see that the first three curries ended up being more green in color than the last three, with the Mae Anong (6) curry looking almost gray.
Taste Test Results
Next came the taste test. The boyfriend and I recruited friends to be our guinea pigs and sample these curries, side by side, with plenty of water and rice in between to cleanse our palates.
The results were as follows:
1. Somewhat surprisingly to me, all of the curries were ranked as being decent. There were definitely favorites, but overall, our friends decided that any of these curries would be passable as a Thai green curry.
2. The top three brands were Mae Anong, Mae Ploy, and Maesri. Mae Anong and Maesri were described as having smooth, round flavors with Mae Anong being slightly more flavorful than Maesri. Mae Ploy ended up being too salty for the boyfriend and me after the addition of fish sauce as called for in my recipe, but it did have a nice heat and depth of green curry flavor.
3. The bottom three brands were Thai Kitchen, Lobo, and Aroy-D. Thai Kitchen was described as having a somewhat unpleasant, slightly bitter taste, but still tasting like green curry. Lobo had a distinctive lime (but not kaffir lime) flavor and Aroy-D tasted more like an Indian curry with a prominent turmeric taste. These three were also less flavorful than the top three brands.
Regardless of Brand
I have to say that my favorite brand of curry paste is still Mae Anong, even though it doesn't make for as pretty pictures given its grayish hue. But, I'll definitely be more willing to substitute Mae Ploy or Maesri in the future should the need arise.
This little experiment also reconfirmed for me that the amount of fish sauce needed for your curry depends upon the paste you're using, and the amount of water necessary to achieve a nice consistency is dependent upon many factors, including your pan and how quickly it heats. Also, you simply can't skip out on Thai basil and kaffir lime leaves, as they make all of the difference in creating a fantastic Thai green curry, regardless of the paste used.
So now the question of which Thai curry paste is best has been resolved, and we have enough green curry to last us for a long while! Luckily it freezes well... Do these results coincide with your experiences? Which brand of Thai curry paste is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.
Susan
Thai Kitchen Green Curry paste and their Red Curry paste used to be better. They have changed their recipe to make it milder. It's terrible. I used to use just a little and now I can use the whole bottle and not get a good curry taste!
Susan
Thai Kitchen Green Curry paste and their Red Curry paste used to be better. They have changed their recipe to make it milder. It's terrible. I used to use just a little and now I can use the whole bottle and not get a good curry taste!
Fatima
Great article. I use Shemin's Thai paste. It is all fresh ingredients. Its a real contender !
Fatima
Great article. I use Shemin's Thai paste. It is all fresh ingredients. Its a real contender !
Sarah
Thank you for the testing and posting. Here in Italy is hard to find and with a friend offering to get it from UK where Asian ingredient widely available, I need to make the right choice of ready made paste, and your post helped a lot. For me the worst I ever tried is the Blue Elephant green curry paste (or should I call it jellified liquid), it was the only brand available in this supermarket in Malta.
Sarah
Thank you for the testing and posting. Here in Italy is hard to find and with a friend offering to get it from UK where Asian ingredient widely available, I need to make the right choice of ready made paste, and your post helped a lot. For me the worst I ever tried is the Blue Elephant green curry paste (or should I call it jellified liquid), it was the only brand available in this supermarket in Malta.
GG
Thank you for confirming that Thai Kitchen curry paste is pretty meh. I guess it's a matter of taste but I tried Thai Kitchen red curry paste for the first time today and was really disappointed in the flavor - or lack thereof. I then went online (which I should have done first) to see if anyone had any recommendations on curry paste. Although you tested green curry paste, I'm guessing your taste test might have also yielded a low rating for Thai Kitchen's red curry paste. I'll try one of your other tested brands in my next curry dish.
GG
Thank you for confirming that Thai Kitchen curry paste is pretty meh. I guess it's a matter of taste but I tried Thai Kitchen red curry paste for the first time today and was really disappointed in the flavor - or lack thereof. I then went online (which I should have done first) to see if anyone had any recommendations on curry paste. Although you tested green curry paste, I'm guessing your taste test might have also yielded a low rating for Thai Kitchen's red curry paste. I'll try one of your other tested brands in my next curry dish.
Brian
I like Mae Anong, find the Mae Ploy far too salty, it's just not balanced IMHO. Having lived quite a few years in Thailand I'm used to salty curries but with a greater depth of flavour. Earlier this year I discovered the curry paste from mythaicurry.com at a festival , the Southern curry caused beads of sweat to break out on peoples foreheads but they kept eating:-) I'm returning to work in Qatar next week with a nice assortment to see me through the next six months, different class! At least I can also buy fresh lime leaves there as well, only frozen in the UK.
Brian
I like Mae Anong, find the Mae Ploy far too salty, it's just not balanced IMHO. Having lived quite a few years in Thailand I'm used to salty curries but with a greater depth of flavour. Earlier this year I discovered the curry paste from mythaicurry.com at a festival , the Southern curry caused beads of sweat to break out on peoples foreheads but they kept eating:-) I'm returning to work in Qatar next week with a nice assortment to see me through the next six months, different class! At least I can also buy fresh lime leaves there as well, only frozen in the UK.
Phil
I have been using the various types of Maesri curry pastes for quite a few years now and love the flavours. Here in south eastern Australia I find that the larger supermarkets stock the 3 staples being Red, Green and Massaman pastes. To find the more exotic or less common pastes I generally grab my supplies when I travel to Melbourne where there are many Asian Grocers with a fantastic variety including Yellow, Panang, Kua and Prik Khing. One of the hardest things for me to find locally is Roti to eat with our curries. I now grow my own Kaffir Lime and Lemongrass and the fresh flavours are wonderful.
Laura
Hi Phil, I live in Melbourne and have been having a difficult time trying to find Prik Khing curry paste in the Asian grocers I have been to. Whereabouts have you found a wider variety of Thai curry pastes in Melbourne than just the standard Red, Gree and Massaman?
Phil
I have been using the various types of Maesri curry pastes for quite a few years now and love the flavours. Here in south eastern Australia I find that the larger supermarkets stock the 3 staples being Red, Green and Massaman pastes. To find the more exotic or less common pastes I generally grab my supplies when I travel to Melbourne where there are many Asian Grocers with a fantastic variety including Yellow, Panang, Kua and Prik Khing. One of the hardest things for me to find locally is Roti to eat with our curries. I now grow my own Kaffir Lime and Lemongrass and the fresh flavours are wonderful.
Laura
Hi Phil, I live in Melbourne and have been having a difficult time trying to find Prik Khing curry paste in the Asian grocers I have been to. Whereabouts have you found a wider variety of Thai curry pastes in Melbourne than just the standard Red, Gree and Massaman?
Laura
This is exactly what I was looking for when I googled, thanks for doing this comparison! Would love love to see the same thing done with coconut milk, as you mentioned above... 🙂
Phil
Hi Laura
Whoops - this is an extremely late response!
I found the best range of Maesri curry pastes at Forest Hill Chase shopping centre at Forest Hill.
Laura
This is exactly what I was looking for when I googled, thanks for doing this comparison! Would love love to see the same thing done with coconut milk, as you mentioned above... 🙂
Phil
Hi Laura
Whoops - this is an extremely late response!
I found the best range of Maesri curry pastes at Forest Hill Chase shopping centre at Forest Hill.
Ian
I always used Namjai but have been unable to get hold of it in the UK for a couple of years now. Maesri has been my 2nd choice ever since but I'm going to try sourcing Mae Anong now.
Ian
I always used Namjai but have been unable to get hold of it in the UK for a couple of years now. Maesri has been my 2nd choice ever since but I'm going to try sourcing Mae Anong now.
Melvin
I find nittaya brand to be my favourite, I would definitely agree that mae ploy is too salty! I will have to try mae anong! Thanks for the great review
Melvin
I find nittaya brand to be my favourite, I would definitely agree that mae ploy is too salty! I will have to try mae anong! Thanks for the great review
Tiana
Okay, WOW. After submitting my first comment, I took a look around your site and realized WE'RE IN THE SAME CITY. Weirdest coincidence ever. Thank YOU for letting me know where to shop for Thai groceries!!!
Tiana
Okay, WOW. After submitting my first comment, I took a look around your site and realized WE'RE IN THE SAME CITY. Weirdest coincidence ever. Thank YOU for letting me know where to shop for Thai groceries!!!