by Tanakorn Sangiam

BANGKOK (NNT) - Thai dishes continue to be desired delicacies among food enthusiasts around the world. A global food website TasteAtlas has ranked Phanaeng curry the best stew in the world, ahead of Japanese curry and Sichuan hot pot.

 

TasteAtlas has placed Phanaeng curry at the top of the Best Stews in the World ranking, with a 4.8 score out of 5.

 

The website describes Phanaeng curry as a variety of Thai curry that is characterized by its thick texture and a salty-sweet peanut flavor, consisting of meat that is stewed with dried chilis, kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, cilantro, cumin, garlic, lemongrass, shallots, and peanuts. The dish is traditionally made without any vegetables.

 

Another Thai dish making the top-ten ranking is Massaman curry, coming at number eight with a score of 4.6. The website says Massaman stands out from other

 

Thai curries as it is the mildest and sweetest kind. TasteAtlas describes Massaman curry as a combination of creamy coconut milk, meat, potatoes, and a curry paste made with roasted spices, while highlighting the use of coconut milk in this dish as an authentic Thai element, providing a rich base for the rest of the ingredients.

 

Thicker cuts of meat such as beef, bone-in chicken, lamb, and mutton are typically used for this dish, which is cooked along with spices such as cumin, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, and peppercorns, mixed with fresh garlic, chili, galangal, lemongrass, tamarind paste, and palm sugar.

 

Source: https://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news/detail/TCATG230321094005148

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2023-03-21

 

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Stew???  ????

A curry is not a stew; in my book.

Number 1 and number 8 in the world. That will throw the many posters here who can only complain about all things Thai. Be interesting to see how they try to negatively spin this around.

 

Thailand is the best country in the world to live in and the delicious cheap food is a big plus.

 

Personally I would rate the Malay Coconut Curry Laksa as my favorite and considering the close proximity it surprises me that you rarely see it here.

21 minutes ago, connda said:

Stew???  ????

Correct, it is a stew

Naa! Not in the same ball park as my Mums home made stews.

The westernised version in the photo looks great.  The more authentic version contains those horrible, hard 'pea-shaped' things and is invariably over-spiced.

 

Due to its spice (even in the western version) it should be called a curry not a stew.

13 minutes ago, Goat said:

Number 1 and number 8 in the world. That will throw the many posters here who can only complain about all things Thai. Be interesting to see how they try to negatively spin this around.

 

Thailand is the best country in the world to live in and the delicious cheap food is a big plus.

 

Personally I would rate the Malay Coconut Curry Laksa as my favorite and considering the close proximity it surprises me that you rarely see it here.

Tourist food, usually not on sale in restaurants that cater to Thais.

don't know how they are defining stew. In my world a stew is slow cooked so not a curry like  panang

Another one of those subjective " best / most beautiful in the world " .

No proof , just personal opinion.

 

 

14 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

The westernised version in the photo looks great.  The more authentic version contains those horrible, hard 'pea-shaped' things and is invariably over-spiced.

 

Due to its spice (even in the western version) it should be called a curry not a stew.

That would be baby eggplant

 

Thailand got a total of 6 out of the top 50. Go Thailand.

 

https://www.tasteatlas.com/50-best-rated-stews-in-the-world

33 minutes ago, rbkk said:

A curry is not a stew; in my book.

Mine neither.   In my book a stew is what my mum made 60 years ago , my grandad would say ' Very nice , very tasty , very 'holesome '.

I don't think my mum had any idea how to make curry , foreign food to her. Saturday lunch was a stew for gosh sakes not curry. Ah but The Golden Egg 200yds from the Market pub , chicken Madras , pillaw rice , mushroom bhaji and a pair of popadums........Them were the days around 1970 .

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Phanaeng curry the best stew in the world,

..And the Universe.

Don't know about best, but makes my top 5 ish Thai dishes, as do the other curries/massaman dishes.   With few exceptions, the only Thai food I eat.   Partial to Yum Kung w/glass noodles, and somtam Thai also

 

But that's about it, and rarely order much else, unless one of those aren't available.  May get a sweet & sour, or Ginger chicken ... or western fare.

 

Rest of Thai food doesn't do much for me.  Kha moo or Pad Thai are last options if nothing else available.

 

Almost forgot Khao Soi, good for once or twice  a month.

Pretty meh dish IMO. Plus it is a curry.

Give me an Irish stew any day.

1 hour ago, youngexpat said:

don't know how they are defining stew. In my world a stew is slow cooked so not a curry like  panang

Depends what kind of  phanaeng, if beef, it better be slow cooked, a stew.   Same with pork.

 

If having potato and or carrots in it, then it's also slow cooked.

1 hour ago, Goat said:

Number 1 and number 8 in the world. That will throw the many posters here who can only complain about all things Thai. Be interesting to see how they try to negatively spin this around.

Don't worry, someone will be a long shortly to say that:

 

• It's not a patch on Italian food / Mexican / French etc.
• It's not even a Thai dish.
• MSG
• Dirty oil
• etc etc

 

My wife does a good job of making it, she always makes a big pan then can put in the freezer, 

1 hour ago, JoePai said:

Correct, it is a stew

Not the proper way of cooking it, nor is my variation a stew a stew either, just because I add potatoes, fish sauce, garlic Tabasco sauce and Worcester sauce to the 2 kg of chopped pork, 500 ml of coconut milk, 250 ml of water and  2 packets of Lobo Panang curry sauce.

 

Cook it for a couple of hours on a low gas, adjusting the flavour every taste test. Turn it off and either eat it at lunch time, that evening and the next day.

 

Yummy.

 

It works well for me and my 18 years old son loves it.

If I never have to smell that damned cabbage soup again . . .

 

 

Penang curry has a unique flavour, it is good for once in a while.

 

Indian curries are far better and the stew 'Boeuf Bourguignon' should easily be at no 1.

17 minutes ago, billd766 said:

Not the proper way of cooking it, nor is my variation a stew a stew either, just because I add potatoes, fish sauce, garlic Tabasco sauce and Worcester sauce to the 2 kg of chopped pork, 500 ml of coconut milk, 250 ml of water and  2 packets of Lobo Panang curry sauce.

 

Cook it for a couple of hours on a low gas, adjusting the flavour every taste test. Turn it off and either eat it at lunch time, that evening and the next day.

 

Yummy.

 

It works well for me and my 18 years old son loves it.

Quote :

A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy.

i.e. you cook in (s) liquids

31 minutes ago, JoePai said:

Quote :

A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy.

i.e. you cook in (s) liquids

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry

 

A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine.[1][2] In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included.[3][4][5]

There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in traditional cuisine depends on regional cultural tradition and personal preferences. Such dishes have names that refer to their ingredients, spicing, and cooking methods.[6] Outside the Indian subcontinent, a curry is a dish from Southeast Asia which uses coconut milk or spice pastes, commonly eaten over rice.[7] Curries may contain fish, meat, poultry, or shellfish, either alone or in combination with vegetables. Others are vegetarian.

 

Dry curries are cooked using small amounts of liquid, which is allowed to evaporate, leaving the other ingredients coated with the spice mixture. Wet curries contain significant amounts of sauce or gravy based on broth, coconut cream or coconut milk, dairy cream or yogurt, or legume purée, sautéed crushed onion, or tomato purée.

 

I made part of the text bold and underlined it.

 

There is more information in the link.

 

Both wet and dry curries are cooked in a liquid and neither are called stew.

2 hours ago, rbkk said:

A curry is not a stew; in my book.

Thank you, my exact comment as well, curry is curry, stew does not contain curry.

Phanaeng rocks, but the one in the photo has runny sauce, and looks more like gaeng. Thick sauce is a must.

I have a slight preference for Massaman curry but it is a good choice....

4 hours ago, rbkk said:

A curry is not a stew; in my book.

Saw this being discussed by Indians....most of their meals are not 'curries' in their minds, but a form of stew or gravy. I think life is confusing enough.

I checked the Taste Atlas website. According to them, the five best rated dishes of all kind worldwide are, by order, pizza, pastel de Belen and nasi parang, butter garlic Nan and yakiniku!

 

Obviously a gourmet only website! ????

5 hours ago, connda said:

Stew???  ????

More like a curry, a lady near me makes the most tasty one ever.

 

5 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

The westernised version in the photo looks great.  The more authentic version contains those horrible, hard 'pea-shaped' things and is invariably over-spiced.

 

Due to its spice (even in the western version) it should be called a curry not a stew.

And probably also contains small egg plans