Pantry guide
Best Red curry paste for home cooking
What Red curry paste is for, which kitchens use it, and where to find a jar worth cooking with.
Why cooks start here
Dried red chile paste — the workhorse of a Thai weeknight.
In the International Cuisines books, Red curry paste is not decoration. Add it where the recipe puts it: early if it needs fat and time, late if it is perfume.
Taste Red curry paste before you empty the spoon. Fresh jars smell like themselves; tired ones smell like dust. Buy the smallest amount you will finish.