Plate up

Tip for first-time players: this curry is not from, and also has nothing to do with, the Malaysian island of Penang. Note the slightly different spelling, and also the fact this is a deeply cherished Thai dish that the locals will not be sharing with Malaysia anytime soon. Now that we have that out of the way, we can talk about what must be one of the most fragrant, spicy and delicious curries out there (big call, it’s true).

A panang curry – also occasionally spelled phanaeng, or phanang – is based on a curry paste made with dried chillies, galangal, lemongrass, makrut,lime zest, coriander root and seeds, cumin seeds, garlic, eschalots, shrimp paste, peanuts and salt. That paste is fried until fragrant and then mixed with cubed meat – typically pork, beef or chicken – as well as coconut milk, makrut leaves, palm sugar and fish sauce, and cooked down until it’s quite dry. The curry is then served over rice, and it hits all of those notes you want from a great Thai dish: spicy, sweet, salty and sour.

First serve

As we said: not from Penang. In fact, panang curry is thought to have originated from central Thailand, a long way from that Malaysian island. The history of this dish stretches back centuries, though it’s not one that’s well-defined. All we know is that the first mention of panang curry is in Tamra Kap Khao, a legendary Thai cookbook first published in 1890. This curry has some similarities to a few other favourite curries from Thailand, namely red curry and massaman, though the makrut lime leaves here give it a distinctive, zesty flavour.

Order there

Bangkok, the Michelin-recommended Krua Apsorn does a very good panang curry. (facebook.com/kruaapsorn).

Order here

In Sydney, tuck into a classic panang curry at Spice I Am (spiceiam.com). In Melbourne, try the beef cheek panang curry at BKK (her.melbourne/bkk). And in Adelaide, opt for Angel Thai (itsangelthai.com).

Cook it

Make a beef panang curry at home following this recipe on Good Food.

One more thing

Panang curry isn’t the only dish that can be geographically confusing. There’s the saltena, a Bolivian empanada named after a city in Argentina; and French fries, which are probably Belgian, or maybe even Chilean.