The Difference Between Curries: Red, Yellow, and Green Curry Explained

Thai curries are an integral part of Thai cuisine and enjoy great popularity worldwide. They are characterized by their intense flavors and the use of fresh ingredients. In this article, we at Yak Thai take a closer look at the three most popular varieties: red, green, and yellow Thai curries.

We'll highlight the differences and similarities in terms of ingredients, regional origin, and preparation. This overview will help you better understand the diversity and uniqueness of each curry and find the right curry for your taste.

Red Thai curry

Regions:

• Red curry is popular throughout Thailand, especially in central and southern Thailand.

Preparation:

• Red curry paste is cooked with coconut milk, meat (often chicken or beef), vegetables, and sometimes seafood. It is known for its intense spiciness and deep red color.

Special feature:

• Red curry paste is prepared with roasted red chilies, which give the paste a somewhat “firmer” consistency.

Green Thai curry

Regions:

• Green curry is particularly popular in central and southern Thailand.

Preparation:

• Green curry paste is also prepared with coconut milk, meat (often chicken or fish), vegetables, and fresh herbs. It is the hottest of the three curries and has a bright green color. Green curry has the highest liquid content of all the curries, tending towards a soup-like consistency.

Special feature:

• The green curry paste is prepared with fresh green chilies, which make the finished paste look a bit more liquid, similar to pesto.

Yellow Thai curry

Regions:

• Yellow curry is particularly popular in southern Thailand and in Muslim communities.

Preparation:

• Yellow curry paste is cooked with coconut milk, meat (often chicken), potatoes, and sometimes vegetables. It is the mildest of the three curries and has a yellow color, primarily due to turmeric.

Special feature:

• Opinions differ when it comes to yellow curry. What is yellow curry? There are various variations of yellow curry paste, so it's difficult to pinpoint the yellow curry . Panaeng , Khao Soi , Jungle Curry, Gaeng Liang, or Pak Dai . All of these pastes are yellow or somewhat yellow-orange.

Similarities of curry pastes:

Aside from the differences, the red, yellow and green curry pastes also have similarities, which we will now show you.

• Basic ingredients: All three curries contain similar base ingredients such as garlic, shallots (or red onions), lemongrass, galangal and shrimp paste.
• Coconut milk: They are usually prepared with coconut milk, which gives the curries their creamy consistency. The only exception is Khua Kling Curry , which is prepared without coconut milk.
• Diversity: They can be prepared with various types of meat, seafood, fish or tofu.
• Flavors: All three curries offer a complex blend of hot, sweet and spicy flavors typical of Thai cuisine