Green Beef Shank Curry, My Dad’s Last Visit to America, and Me
Why This Green Curry Meant More Than a Meal
Green Beef Curry
Like A Thai
A Real Thai Cooking Experience
Better Late Than Never — So I Told Myself
แกงเขียวหวานเนื้อน่องลาย
(Gangkiewwann Nuanonglie), aka
“Green beef shank curry,”
my dad’s last visit to America and me.
Before I start, I want to say this:
“Happy BELATED Heavenly Birthday, Daddy!”
Yup, I did it again. Hence the title! February 4th is my dad’s birthday. This year, I did a thing at the temple. I cooked my dad’s favorite Green beef curry and presented it to the monks. As a Buddhist, I believe in merit-making now and then for my late relatives, and in this case, my dad.
But this isn’t just any typical green beef curry. It was “the Curry,” similar to the one I cooked for my dad during his last visit to the United States — the one for which my dad gave me raving compliments. I cooked it while sending my loving thoughts to my dad. He was a true Thai who could not—and would not—enjoy any dish other than Thai, especially those my mom cooked for him.
My mom was a great cook, and my dad would be happy every time she cooked.
He had several favorites, but Beef shank curry was at the top of his list. Having eaten it everywhere, my dad would claim that only my mom knew how to cook real green curry …
Until he asked me to cook it for him.
This was when my parents visited us one last time. They looked older than I remembered, and their health had clearly declined. They both announced it would be their last trip, since the flight with layovers could be about 24 hours long, which was hard for them physically.
We were on the East Coast, so they’d fly to JFK and travel by car for almost 3 hours to our house in Pennsylvania. We picked them up, and as soon as they arrived at our home, my dad requested my Green beef curry.
I made him wait almost a week for both my parents to get over their jet lag. We had to make another trip to the nearest Asian store in New Jersey for the ingredients.
I cooked my Green curry with beef shank as I would with Mussamunn, just because once the shanks were cooked down, they would melt in your mouth. And my dad loved that creamy taste that the shanks and coconut milk created — just heavenly!
Adding “Prikkeenoosuon”, or tiny Thai chilis, has become my go-to method of cooking curry for some people who do not tolerate chili heat at all — and for those extreme few who cannot live without the heat!
My parents’ heat tolerance levels were similar, with my mom liking it with a bit more heat. She spent most of her childhood in the South of Thailand — the land of chili, herbs, and spicy heat, after all!
My mom often cooked it with tiny “Prikkeenoo,” aka tiny Thai chilis. She would drop in our homegrown Garden Prikkeenoo — aka “Prikkeenoo Suon” — with their fragrant, tiny stems.
But I couldn’t do that at my U.S. home, away from my Thailand home, where the chilis were store-bought. Still, they were fragrant enough without the stems.
I fried Roti, the Indian-style flatbread, which pairs beautifully with Green beef curry.
I watched my dad break a piece of Roti and dip it in a small bowl of curry in front of him.
Mmmm…”
He dipped his spoon in the bowl, scooped up a couple of pieces of beef and one tiny Prikkeenoo, aka tiny chili. He used his fork to add rice to the spoonful of curry and carefully brought the spoon to his mouth.
Nobody moved, and the table got quiet. Even my younger children didn’t utter a sound.
I waited in anticipation.
My heart beat a little faster as I watched him chew and finally swallow the food.
He looked up from his plate, first at me, then at my mom.
“Tookta,” he said to my mom, “your daughter outdid you. I hope you can accept that she cooks Green beef curry better than you.”
I gasped, not knowing how my mom — “the Queen of Thai cooking” — would take this comment.
But, to my relief, she smiled sweetly at my dad.
“I believe you. After all, no one knows Thai curry better than you!”
Then she turned to me, still smiling.
“Just never forget who trained you,” she said, nodding with satisfaction. “And so well, too!” she nodded again.
The whole table broke into laughter.
Yes, Mother. You taught me well, and I love you for that.
That was why I celebrated his 88th Birthday Anniversary merit-making with Beef shank curry.
Everything I remember that my dad liked — and everything I learned from my mom — plus a lot of love, went into the large pot I cooked that day.
It’s been so long since the days I couldn’t tell herbs apart, until today, that I can proudly say I’ve mastered Green curry. I’ve been taken for granted for the privilege and honor of being able to cook it — and like a true Thai.
When many Thai people I’ve met say they don’t know how to cook curry from scratch and have made do with a premixed paste, it still surprises me.
“It’s not difficult to cook a batch of green curry paste!”
Words would fly out of my mouth before I could catch them.
“All you need is to learn from someone who can show you how it is done. Then it’s a matter of honing your skill!”
Only if looks could kill!
Those people shot me a look.
“Of course it’s easy for you. I didn’t have either the privilege or the access to learn from someone from a long line of family!”
“Now you do!” I exclaimed. “I will teach you, if you are willing to learn!”
Don’t let anyone scare you away from Thai cooking for whatever reason!
Like many Thai dishes, Green curry is not hard to put together. But like the first time anyone tries anything, you may make many mistakes before you find the right rhythm of Thai cooking.
But you will find your own.
The most important thing that you cannot ignore is that you must cook like a Thai from the get-go.
Have you tried cooking Green beef curry or any Thai dish? Have you cooked it “like a Thai,” and how did it turn out? Share your experience with me in the comments, or hit the email “reply.”
That moment at the table stayed with me. And every time I cook this curry, I remember my parents sitting there.
That’s why I documented the entire process when I cooked it most recently.
I will teach a “Green Beef Curry Like A Thai” class using the photos and videos I captured during that cooking session.
It will be a small investment for a skill that will stay with you forever.
When you finish this class, you will know exactly how to cook real Thai green curry from scratch — not the shortcut version most people are used to.
Come prepared to take notes.
You will have 21 days to cook the curry on your own and submit your cooking photos for my feedback.
If this sounds good and it is what you want, hit I WANT TO JOIN NOW right away!
Oh, and to make curry “green” has nothing to do with adding basil, cilantro, or green color!
And the “sweet” — หวาน — part of the proper noun “Gang Kiew Wann” does not result in a sickeningly sweet taste in the curry, especially the authentic Gangkiewwann from the Ayutthaya Era (1351–1767).
And once more —
“Happy BELATED Heavenly Birthday” to my dad!
I hope he enjoyed the Green beef shank curry I cooked for him with all my heart.
Thai vocabs in this article
พริก = (prik) Noun: chili
ขี้ = (kee) Noun: poop, poop
dropping
หนู = (noo or nu)
Noun: mouse, rat
Pronoun: a first- or second-person singular pronoun for young children to refer to themselves, and to be referred to by adults
สวน = (suon)
Verb: to go against an object, to oppose
Noun: garden
พริกขี้หนูสวน = (Prikkeenoosuon)
Specific noun for a type of very small chili, fragrant and very spicy
Slang: Dynamite chili
แกง = (gang)
Verb: when food ingredients are put together, creating a brothy dish — in this case, curry
Noun: soup or curry
เขียว = (kiew)
Noun: the color green
หวาน = (wann)
Adjective: sweet
แกงเขียวหวาน = (gangkiewwann)
Noun: a type of Thai curry dating back to the Kingdom of Ayutthaya (1351–1767)
เนื้อ = (nua)
Noun: meat, in general — in this case, beef
In full: เนื้อวัว (nua-woie — sounds like “pour” without pronouncing the r) = ox meat
น่อง = (nong — sounds like “song”)
Noun: calf, leg
ลาย = (lie)
Noun: pattern
เนื้อน่องลาย = (nuanonglie)
Noun, specific: beef shank with tendon
แกงเขียวหวานเนื้อน่องลาย = Gangkiewwann Nuanonglie
ตุ๊กตา = (took — sounds like “book” — ka ta)
Noun: doll, baby doll
Proper noun: Pronounced: Took (like book) Ta
Tookta is a short form of tookkata.
Tookta became my mom’s nickname, given to her by someone from the Southern part of Thailand, the first time they met my mom as a baby.
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Pradichaya Poonyarit is the author of From Gaprow To Keemao And Recipes In Between, and the founder of Cook Like A Thai. Raised in Thailand and mentored by traditional home cooks, she teaches the philosophy and awareness behind authentic Thai cooking.
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