A Massaman curry will always be one of my favourite dishes. Rich and creamy and ideal for a feast. My problem is that when I feel like a Massaman curry I often find myself unable to decide between Lamb Shank Massaman, Chicken Massaman or this Beef Massaman. Sometimes my decision might be influenced by the time available to me because a Beef Massaman should never be made with a lean quick cooking cut of steak. Instead, it benefits greatly by being cooked with a far tougher cut of beef that will require long slow cooking in the sauce to the point where it is just about to fall apart. For this reason, I use a cut such as beef shin or at least braising steak to make this dish. I’m often asked about using a slow cooker for Thai curries, any recipe using coconut milk in a slow cooker has to be adapted so please read this article here first. Slow cooker curry. Make sure you’re using the “right” type of coconut milk as it will make or break this or any other coconut based curry. Quick guide here, Coconut Milk Summaryor if you would like to see the difference between different brands of coconut milk the full article is here,Cooking Thai Curry with Coconut Milk. I’m using around 500 g of beef and about 200 g of small potatoes, a can of coconut milk and one pouch of Massaman paste. If you want to garnish it as in the photo above then you will also need an onion and some peanuts. The pastes are complete but it is always a good idea to have a little lime juice to hand to adjust sweetness, if needed, to your personal taste at the end of cooking. You also adjust saltiness by adding a little more fish sauce or salt if required.
Halve the potatoes and sauté in a little oil until quite brown. Don't peel the potatoes but cook them in their skins to stop them breaking down later in the sauce.
Sauté some thinly sliced onion (if using) until crisp and brown and leave to dry on kitchen paper.
Remove the potatoes from the pan and add the beef. Sauté until nicely browned.
Remove beef from pan and reserve.
Add the Massaman curry paste to the pan and heat for a couple of minutes. Add the can of coconut milk.
Bring coconut milk to the boil and then reduce heat.
Add meat to pan and stir through.
Add potatoes to pan and then cover. Cook on a very low heat until meat is tender stirring from time to time topping up liquid level with water if needed. You can also cook in the oven at 170C. Cooking time can take 2-3 hours depending on the cut of meat. When meat is tender enough turn off the heat and allow to sit for five minutes. Some oil will probably have separated from the coconut, if so you can use a spoon to skim off the excess, however you should leave some oil behind for an authentic Massaman.
Serve and enjoy!
Enjoy!
If you like this recipe please click the star rating or add a comment below! Kop Khun Kha, Nitsa.x
Rich and creamy and fragrantly spiced, a Beef Massaman curry is best cooked with a tough cut of beef until it’s ready to fall apart in the sauce. If you want to use a slow cooker then check the notes at the end of the recipe. Otherwise this can be cooked on the hob or in the oven.
Sauté some thinly sliced onion (if using) in vegetable oil until it is brown and crisp and leave to dry on kitchen paper.
Halve the potatoes and sauté in a little oil until quite brown. Don’t peel the potatoes but cook them in their skins to stop them breaking down later in the sauce.
Remove the potatoes and set aside and add the beef. Fry at quite a high heat until nicely browned.
Remove the beef from the pan and set aside.
Add the Massaman curry paste to the pan and heat until it starts to bubble. Add the can of coconut milk, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat.
Add the beef to the pan and stir through.
Add the potatoes to the pan and then cover. Cook on a very low heat until the meat is tender, stirring from time to time to prevent burning. Top up the liquid level with water if needed.
You can also cook in the oven at 170C/Gas Mark 4. The time taken to cook will depend on the cut of beef, this could be up to 3 hours for a cut like shin beef so check the tenderness from time to time.
When the meat has reached the desired stage of tenderness, turn off the heat and allow to stand for five minutes. Some oil may have separated from the coconut and if you wish you can skim off the excess with a spoon. However, an authentic Massaman should always be left with some oil.
Adjust seasoning if required.
Garnish with the onions and peanuts if using and serve with Jasmine rice.
Recipe Note
As always using the “right” type of coconut milk is a
game-changer. See here.
If you want to
use a slow cooker for this recipe then please check out this link.
You certainly can prepare this the day before, refrigerate, and reheat the next day. Actually, as is the case with most curry’s they taste even better the day after. Hope that helps😊
Nitsa
Nicola Phillips
February 24, 2023
Please can I ask if this curry is ok to be made the day before and reheated?
Matthew
October 15, 2022
Delicious sauce.
It does however need a fair amount of lime juice and fish sauce to finish it off.
Chris
April 25, 2020
What a fantastic paste! We often cook beef Massaman, using a tried and tested recipe but with a supermarket paste.
After ordering a few other pastes from this website (I can vouch for red, yellow and southern green as amazing!) we added this Massaman paste to our recipe and it’s transformed the curry to another level. I am now a repeat mythaicurry offender and am recommending to all my pals
Andy
September 04, 2019
Cooked this recently, it was very tasty, my wife really enjoyed it as it was very mild. I shall have to order more of them.
simone w
November 26, 2018
I cooked this curry for a group of friends (along with the hot thai green and the red thai) and they all went down a storm! This one is milder than the other 2 and a wonderful creamy flavour and so easy to do thanks to the recipe! I trebled the ingredients and it worked so well. I had so many comments on all 3 curries that after a few glasses of wine I admitted I used this site for the pastes and now all my friends are going to order! I don’t usually leave reviews but had to say how lovely and varied all 3 pastes are and excellent communication via email too to advise. Thanks!
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Always get one of these for our daughters, they're not quite up to the Bangkok or Southern spice levels yet but absolutely love the flavour so everyone's happy. The same quality as all of these pastes, excellent 👌
I was recommended to try your paste by a friend. I have been making my own paste for years from various recipes but yours was exceptional and took all the hard work away. It made dinner so easy i will definitely be ordering more. Excellent!
I ordered the jungle curry paste, yellow Thai, green Thai and red Thai. The jungle curry was very tasty but absolutely blew my socks off! Not for the faint hearted for sure! The pastes are absolutely amazing I can’t wait to be able to afford to order more! Thankyou :)
Anyone who likes Thai cooking at home then this is your easy way to do it and so tasty. Would highly recommend. So far have had the green curry and enjoyed every mouthful. Thank you
Always get one of these for our daughters, they're not quite up to the Bangkok or Southern spice levels yet but absolutely love the flavour so everyone's happy. The same quality as all of these pastes, excellent 👌
I was recommended to try your paste by a friend. I have been making my own paste for years from various recipes but yours was exceptional and took all the hard work away. It made dinner so easy i will definitely be ordering more. Excellent!
I ordered the jungle curry paste, yellow Thai, green Thai and red Thai. The jungle curry was very tasty but absolutely blew my socks off! Not for the faint hearted for sure! The pastes are absolutely amazing I can’t wait to be able to afford to order more! Thankyou :)
Anyone who likes Thai cooking at home then this is your easy way to do it and so tasty. Would highly recommend. So far have had the green curry and enjoyed every mouthful. Thank you
Nitsa Takhiansok
February 24, 2023
You certainly can prepare this the day before, refrigerate, and reheat the next day. Actually, as is the case with most curry’s they taste even better the day after. Hope that helps😊Nitsa