Thai Red Curry with Tofu

This is the easiest Thai red curry ever with only simple 6 ingredients to make a delicious sauce. We also used ingredients that are common in Thai cuisine like tofu, wood ear mushrooms also known as black fungus, bamboo shoots, spring onions and red chilis. It is a delicious, rich and creamy red curry dish which is done in 30 minutes!

Do you need more flavorful tofu dishes? One of the most flavorful tofu dish we have ever made are these Copycat Chipotle Sofritas. Oh, and you must try these Grilled Buffalo Tofu Skewers, or this Crispy Sticky Teriyaki Tofu or our Chinese BBQ Tofu Burger. Check out all of our Vegan Tofu Recipes.

What to expect from this curry recipe?

When we visited Bali/Indonesia we tried many local recipes and ended up bringing home Vicki Liley’s The Complete Book of Hot & Spicy Asian Cooking*. (Wow, it is still available on Amazon despite that it is from 2007!). It has more than 200 pages of delicious recipes which we have been trying and loving.

The inspiration behind this recipe is a combination of dishes we saw in this book. She makes everything from scratch among others curry paste. You can make homemade Thai red curry paste using ingredients including dried red chili peppers, garlic, lemongrass stalks, shallots, coriander root, and kaffir lime peel. Some of which are not easy to come by everywhere.

So we tried to make Thai red curry easier by simplifying the ingredients, but not compromising on taste. What did we get at the end?

• 6 ingredients
• Rich curry sauce
• Spicy but not too hot
• Thick and creamy
• Quick and easy to make

Curry paste or spice blend?

If you want to try Thai red curry, you have 3 options to choose from.

1. You can make a homemade red curry paste from scratch from ingredients which are usually only available in specialty stores like lemongrass stalks, coriander root, or kaffir lime peel.
2. Or you can also buy curry paste in stores of course. Pay attention if you want it to be vegan. For example this Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste* is vegan, but others may contain fish sauce or shrimp paste.
3. Or you can try this super easy recipe which uses a Thai Red Curry Spice Blend.

All the above options have different advantages and disadvantages. I would say that making the paste at home can be quite challenging. Especially to get it into a fine paste consistency. Store-bought paste can be a good option, although I feel that I can control how spicy it is better with a spice blend.

Ingredients

So what do you need to make the easiest Thai Red Curry with a spice mix?

• Thai Red Curry Spice Mix (We used a spice blend of lemon grass, paprika powder, coriander, cumin, Thai basil, lime leaf, garlic, pepper, red chillies, which seems closest to Spiceology’s Red Curry Spice Blend*.)
• Tomato Paste
• Full-fat Canned Coconut Milk
• Lime Juice
• Vegetable Oil
• Maple Syrup

What else did we add? Firm tofu, mushrooms (we used wood ear mushrooms), bamboo shoots, spring onion and red chillies.

How to make the Easiest Thai Red Curry with Tofu?

Marinating tofu

1. To make the marinade, take a glass mixing bowl and add Thai red curry spice mix, tomato paste, vegetable oil, lime juice and water. Mix it thoroughly.
2. After you pressed the tofu cut them into cubes.
3. Take a shallow glass bowl and add the tofu cubes.
4. Pour the marinade and mix it with a silicone spatula or spoon to make sure it is throughly covered.
5. Let the tofu to marinate for at least 15 minutes.

Preparing the veggies

Besides tofu, we also added a couple of veggies. You can mix and match and pair tofu with other ones depending on what you like and what you have at home.

• Slice red chillies.
• Cut spring onion in julienne style or if you have small fresh ones, just cut off the green leaves and add it like that.
• Pre-cook wood ear mushrooms according to package instructions.
• We used canned bamboo shoots, so nothing to prepare there.

Making the curry with tofu

1. Heat the frying pan or wok over medium heat and add the marinated tofu. Scrape leftover marinade from the bowl to the pan. Add salt and black pepper and mix well. Fry it for 5-8 minutes.
2. Add red chillies, bamboo shoots, spring onions and pre-cooked wood ear mushrooms. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add full-fat coconut milk (canned, shaken). Stir well.
4. Add maple syrup. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. Voila! You are ready!

What goes well with curry and tofu?

We added red chillies, bamboo shoots, spring onions and pre-cooked wood ear mushrooms. However, you can change it as per your taste and add other vegetables like: eggplant, asparagus, shiitake or oyster mushroom, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas or snap peas. Think of adding legumes like beans, lentils, or chickpeas. This Thai chickpea curry is so flavorful.

What to serve with Thai curry?

We served it with white rice. But there are lots of options. Here is our recommendation if you want to mix and match.

• Grains like: Steamed, cooked or fried white rice, brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, millet or the combination of them. If you need to eat gluten-free, please make sure you use gluten-free grains. (Please note: Couscous is not gluten-free)
• Riced veggies like cauliflower rice or sweet potato “rice“
• Noodles like soba aka buckwheat noodles. If you need to eat gluten-free, please choose gluten-free noodles as soba noodles may contain wheat flour which is not gluten-free.
• Toppings: sliced green onion or scallions or sprouts or fresh cilantro.

This Red Curry Tofu recipe is vegan so meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free. It is suitable for a vegetarian and nut-free diet. This recipe is WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) if you skip the oil.

More vegan tofu recipes

• Chinese BBQ Tofu Burger
• Grilled Buffalo Tofu Skewers
• Spicy Tofu Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
• Copycat Chipotle Sofritas (aka Braised Tofu)
• Crispy Sticky Teriyaki Fried Tofu