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.
Degsy
I've tried lots of Thai curry pastes going back years. Then, I discovered Maesri, and it's my favourite, so I don't bother with the others. Masaman, Penang and Prik Khing are special. Prik Khing is different, not needing coconut milk to be added.
fatty farang
is "dragonfly" not a major brand? i see it everywhere on the east coast, despite the importers being in CA. comes in glass jars like thai kitchen, albeit twice as large i think. and a lot more "legit" looking (thai labeling; "product of thailand" etc) -- i'd always assumed thai kitchen was in the "taste of thai" / "la choy" family of yank wannabes.
never seen mae anong. the other 5 i've seen/bought here and there at various times -- mostly in asian markets -- but dragonfly is far and away the main brand in the *non* asian markets around here (aside from thai kitchen, which, again, i avoid....).
once upon a time i recall thinking "mae ploy vs maesri" as the big choice but after several years here, this has unconsciously shifted to "mae ploy vs dragonfly". it wasn't until i saw your page that i even REALIZED i'd changed this!
anyway, here's the detes:
dragonfly instant (green/red) curry paste
8oz glass jar
around 3 bucks i think
distributed by:
US trading co
hayward, CA 94545
1-800-453-5502
label bilingual (plus dab of chinese on the "dragonfly" logo), but clearly printed stateside. i.e. "distributed by" right on the label -- not a sticker -- and no thai address anywhere. but, again, it does say "product of thailand".
TASTES GREAT, btw! i guess -- haven't gotten around to trying it in tight succession to its 6 TOP RIVALS, so what do i know?! 😉
Rachel
I haven't tried Hand Brand curry paste - I'll definitely keep my eye out for it! Your kids have good taste 🙂
William
Enjoyed your test kitchen information on curry paste so very much. Thank you for sharing! Have you ever tried Hand Brand curry paste? We really like it when we can find it. We use Mae Ploy and Maseri all of the time. Golden Boy Fish sauce and Shark Brand Sriracha sauce have become beloved fixtures in our kitchen, probably used more than their american cousins like Tabasco. The kids prefer Sriracha over Tabasco!
Thanks again.
William
Diane Murphy
When you say faffir lime, do you mean fresh? Can you use dried?
Tristan
Hello,
Nice experiment, I was wondering this myself.
When I go to the asian store you can also buy green curry paste in the fridge section in small quantities or a bigger pot in the the normal section. I was wondering if there is a difference there? according to to owner the one of the fridge is better.
Does someone have experiences with this difference?
greets,
Tristan (Belgium)
Lib M.
I stumbled on your blog accidentally, but I'm so glad. We have recently moved from Phoenix to a small town in Mississippi, and the Asian food market is sorely lacking. Mae Ploy was recommended to me by a Vietnamese friend who heard about it from a Thai friend of hers. I have been forever grateful, as Thai Kitchen from the regular grocery was just not cutting it, and I was overwhelmed by the selection at the Asian market. I am a fan of Mae Ploy green and panang curries, and I know what to expect from the brand. Next time I have the opportunity to go to an Asian market, I might have to check out some of the other brands.
Josh
I've always used Mae Sri, since back when most of the pastes included shrimp paste (which they removed in the late 90's to appeal to more vegetarian/allergic customers). Mae Ploy is decent, but it's drier (less fresh aromatics, more dried spice) and saltier, so I don't like it as much. Nittaya is good if you can find it; I used to buy from their shop in Banglamphu near Tang Hua Seng department store.
Coconut milk, I find, can make just as big a difference: Chaokoh used to be the brand to buy, then they changed. Then Aroy-D UHT boxes became easier to find and separated really nicely. Then about a year ago I discovered Savoy brand, and now I won't buy anything else. I would suggest you do a Test Kitchen: kathi.
Or a fish sauce tasting.
Rachel
Thanks for your insights, Josh! I actually have a taste kitchen post in the works about coconut milk 🙂
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 !
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.
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?
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.