Instant Pot Prik King Pork Curry. A quick weeknight pressure cooker curry with Prik King curry paste.
I came across a new Thai curry paste at my local Asian market - Prik King curry paste. In Thai, “Prik" means chili pepper and "king" means ginger, so expect this to be a hot curry.
The can of curry paste spelled it Prik Khing, but most internet references (and my local Thai restaurants) call it Prik King. (Except for one outlier that calls it Pik King). That’s the fun of transcribing from different alphabets. In Thai, it’s spelled ผัดพริกขิง, so all the English versions are attempts to spell it phonetically. But, enough translation talk, back to the recipe.
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After some quick research, I found out that Prik King is a Thai curry, but one that doesn’t use coconut milk. (They do occasionally use coconut cream as the fat, but I’m going with straight vegetable oil in this one - coconut oil would be more authentic, though.) Also, even though the King in the name means ginger, there is no ginger in the paste. Why? I don’t know. (If you do, let me know in the comments below.)
Whatever the name, this is another fantastic Thai curry paste based recipe, easy to make in an Instant Pot. (Like my pressure cooker Panang beef curry and my green chicken curry).
🥫Ingredients
- Prik King curry paste
- Boneless pork shoulder
- Chicken broth (preferably homemade)
- Soy sauce
- Fish sauce
- Brown Sugar
- Green Beans
See recipe card for quantities.
🥘 Substitutions
Can't find Prik King curry paste? Substitute another thai curry paste. My local grocery store always has red and green curry pastes. Either will work, but the red paste is the right color for this recipe.
I use a 50/50 mix of soy sauce and fish sauce. If you have picky eaters who don’t like the smell of fish sauce, replace the fish sauce with soy sauce. (Not that I’ve ever had to deal with picky eaters. Oh, no, not me. Never.)
If you want to be more authentic, replace the vegetable oil with coconut oil. (Or even unsweetened coconut cream). Replace the soy sauce with more fish sauce. And, if you can find Chinese long beans, cut them into 1-inch lengths and use them in place of the green beans.
Prik King paste is spicy - if you want to cut back the heat, cut the amount of curry paste in half, to 2 tablespoons.
🛠 Equipment
A 6-quart pressure cooker. Pressure cooked Thai curries are a delight, and one of my Instant Pot specialties on busy weeknights.
📏Scaling
The only issue with scaling this recipe is the amount of liquid in the pot. If you want to cook this in a 3-quart pressure cooker (or halve the recipe), halve all the ingredients except for the 1 cup of chicken broth or water. You need at least that much liquid to bring the cooker up to pressure.
Doubling the recipe is easy - double all the ingredients. It will still fit in a 6-quart Instant Pot.
💡Tips and Tricks
- Find your local Asian market for the special ingredients! If you’re lucky and live in a big city, you’ll be able to find Thai markets. I live in a mid-sized city, and most of the local Asian markets specialize in their home cuisine (Chinese, Thai, Nepali), but carry a selection of popular ingredients - like Thai curry pastes and fish sauce - from other cuisines.
- If you can’t find your local Asian market, check out the International aisle of your local grocery store. You’ll be surprised what you can find - my local stores carry all the curry ingredients I need for this recipe, as long as I’m willing to substitute another Thai curry paste if needed.
Instant Pot Prik King Pork Curry
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot Prik King Pork Curry. A quick weeknight pressure cooker curry with Prik King curry paste.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ cup (4 ounces) Prik King Curry Paste (aka Prik Khing)
- 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3-inch by 1-inch by ½-inch strips
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup chicken broth (preferably homemade, or low sodium) or water
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 12 ounces green beans, cut into 2-inch lengths
Garnish and Sides
- Minced basil (Thai basil if you can find it)
- Sliced hot peppers (Red Thai “bird’s eye” peppers, or substitute Serrano peppers)
- Jasmine rice
Instructions
- Fry the curry paste: Heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat in the pressure cooker pot until shimmering. (Use Sauté mode adjusted to high in an Instant Pot.) Stir in the curry paste and cook, stirring often, until the curry paste melts into the oil and starts to turn a darker red, about 3 minutes.
- Everything in the pot: Sprinkle the sliced pork shoulder with the fine sea salt. Stir the pork into the pot, coating it with curry paste. Stir in the chicken stock, fish sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar, then add the green beans.
- Pressure cook for 12 minutes with a Natural Release: Lock the lid on the cooker. Pressure cook at high pressure for 12 minutes (“Manual” or “Pressure cook” mode in an Instant Pot), then the pressure come down naturally, about 15 more minutes. (You can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes if you’re in a hurry).
- Serve: Unlock the lid on the pressure cooker, tilting it away from you to avoid the scalding hot steam. Ladle the curry into bowls, sprinkle with minced basil, top with a hot pepper slice or two, and serve with Jasmine rice. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minuts
- Category: Weeknight Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Thai
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☃️ Storage
Curry makes fantastic leftovers. I put together make-ahead lunches in individual 2-cup containers, with a little rice covered by the curry and sauce. They last for a couple of days in the refrigerator, or for months in the freezer. (Be sure to reheat refrigerated rice thoroughly.)
🤝 Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Thai Red Beef Curry
Pressure Cooker Thai Yellow Curry with Chicken
Instant Pot Massaman Chicken Curry
Instant Pot Filipino Pork Adobo
Instant Pot Coconut Curry Chicken
My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Charlie DeSando says
I love this Instant Pot recipe, looks so good!
Mike Vrobel says
Thank you!