Smoked Mackerel Thai Jungle Curry

A Bold, Fiery Fish Curry Without Coconut Milk

If you love a spicy fish curry, this one’s for you. Jungle curry is usually made with meat, but smoked mackerel works brilliantly. Its savoury, smoky flavour holds its own against the heat of the paste, and because it’s already cooked, it only needs warming through in the broth while the vegetables finish cooking. That makes it one of the quickest Thai curries you can make on a weeknight.

At a glance

• Heat: very hot

• Base: water, with no coconut milk

• Cooking time: about 15 minutes once the paste is in the wok

• Keeps: up to 2 days in the fridge, and the flavour deepens overnight

What Makes Thai Jungle Curry Different

Most Thai curries share one thing: coconut milk. It’s the creamy backbone of green curry, red curry and Massaman. Jungle curry, known in Thailand as kaeng pa (“forest curry”), leaves it out completely.

The result is lean, fierce and boldly aromatic. There’s no coconut milk to soften the heat, just a light, herb-driven broth carrying the full force of chilli, galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime. The sauce is thinner and more soup-like than other Thai curries, so it soaks into the rice rather than sitting on top, and every ingredient comes through clearly.

Where Does Jungle Curry Come From?

Jungle curry is traditionally linked to Thailand’s forested inland regions, where coconut palms don’t grow the way they do along the coast. Cooks there built their curries on water instead of coconut milk, with heat and fragrance from fresh chilli, roots and herbs. It was traditionally made with whatever meat was available, such as pork or wild game.

Today, jungle curry is cooked all over Thailand and beyond, with chicken, pork, vegetables and, as here, fish. The smokiness of mackerel adds a depth that sits naturally in the fiery broth.

Key Ingredients

• Mae Jum Thai Jungle Curry Paste: made with green and red chillies, lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, kaffir lime rind and black pepper, stone-ground the traditional way. It’s intensely aromatic and carries real heat.

• Smoked mackerel: savoury and rich, and already cooked, so it only needs warming. Keep the pieces generous so they hold their shape.

• Kaffir lime leaves: essential here. Tear them to release their citrusy, floral fragrance. Fresh or frozen both work. Dried will do in a pinch, but the aroma is milder.

• Vegetables: green beans, baby corn, bamboo shoots, carrot and mixed chillies all cook quickly and keep their crunch in a thin broth.

• Fish sauce and palm sugar: season the broth. Jungle curry isn’t sweet, but a touch of palm sugar rounds off the heat and salt.

How to Make It

The full recipe is in the recipe card below. Here’s how it comes together:

1. Fry the paste. Heat coconut oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the paste and stir-fry for a full 2 minutes, until fragrant and the oil starts to separate.

2. Make the broth. Add 200 ml of water with the fish sauce and palm sugar, and bring to a light boil.

3. Cook the vegetables. Add the remaining 200 ml of water, the green beans, baby corn, bamboo shoots and carrot. Simmer briskly for about 5 minutes, until just tender with some bite.

4. Add the mackerel. Simmer for 3–4 minutes, until heated through. Taste and adjust with fish sauce or palm sugar.

5. Finish and serve. Tear in the kaffir lime leaves, add the mixed chillies and serve straight away over steamed jasmine rice.

Tips for the Best Jungle Curry

• Don’t rush the paste. Two full minutes of frying wakes up the aromatics and builds the flavour of the broth.

• Keep the heat up. Jungle curry is cooked fast, which keeps the vegetables crisp and the broth bright.

• Balance before serving. Aim for hot, salty and barely sweet. Add fish sauce for depth, palm sugar for balance, or a squeeze of lime for a lift.

• Go easy on the extra chillies if you’re cooking for anyone who prefers milder food. The paste alone brings plenty of heat.

More Jungle Curry Recipes

• Chicken Thai Jungle Curry

• Pork Jungle Curry with Green Beans

• Vegan Thai Jungle Curry

• Pork Ribs Thai Jungle Curry

FAQs

Can you put smoked mackerel in a curry?

Yes. Its smoky, savoury flavour stands up well to bold spices, and because it’s already cooked, it only needs 3–4 minutes to warm through.

Does Thai jungle curry have coconut milk?

No. Jungle curry is made with a water-based broth, which makes it lighter and spicier than coconut curries like green or red.

How spicy is jungle curry?

Very. It’s one of the hottest Thai curries, because there’s no coconut milk to soften the chilli. Add less paste for a milder curry.

Can I use fresh fish instead of smoked mackerel?

Yes. Firm white fish like cod or hake works well. Add bite-sized pieces raw and simmer for 4–5 minutes until just cooked through. Read our recipe on cod thai jungle curry.

Smoked Mackerel Thai Jungle Curry

Course

Main

Cuisine

Thai

Season / Occasion

Entertaining / Dinner Party

Quick Weeknight

Calories

256.3

A recipe by Jatuporn (Jum) ★★★★★ 5.0· 1gluten-freedairy-free

Serves − 4 +

Metric Imperial

Prep

15 min

Cook

15 min

Total

30 min

Difficulty

Easy

Cooking times shown are for the base recipe — allow extra time when making larger quantities

Lean, fierce, and unapologetically bold—jungle curry strips back the coconut milk and lets the heat shine. Smoked mackerel brings unexpected depth to this Northern Thai classic, ready in 30 minutes.

Ingredients

• 250 g Smoked Mackerel
• 35 g Mae Jum Thai Jungle Curry paste
• 110 g Green Beans
• 100 g Baby Corn
• 120 g Bamboo Shoots
• 40 g Mixed Chillies
• 1 Large Carrot
• 6 kaffir Lime Leaves
• 600 ml Water
• 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
• 1 tsp Palm Sugar

Method

1

Trim the ends of the green beans and chop into shorter pieces of roughly equal length so they cook evenly.

2

Peel the carrot using a julienne peeler to create fine strips, then chop into shorter lengths. This gives the carrot a lighter texture that sits well in the broth rather than a heavy chunk.

3

Chop the baby corn in half lengthways so each piece has a flat side that absorbs the curry broth as it simmers.

4

Gently peel away the skin from the smoked mackerel fillets and break the flesh into large pieces. Try to keep the pieces fairly generous so they hold their shape in the curry rather than breaking down completely during cooking.

5

Heat the coconut oil in a wok or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the jungle curry paste and stir fry for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until fragrant and the oil begins to separate from the paste.

6

Add 200 ml of the water along with the fish sauce and palm sugar. Bring to a light boil and stir well, blending the paste thoroughly into the water to form the curry broth. Simmer for 2 minutes to allow the seasoning to develop.

7

Add the remaining 200 ml of water along with the green beans, baby corn, bamboo shoots, and carrot. Stir to combine and simmer for around 5 minutes until the vegetables are beginning to soften but still have some bite.

8

Add the smoked mackerel pieces and continue to simmer for a further 3 to 4 minutes until all the vegetables are cooked through and the mackerel is heated through. Taste the broth and adjust with a little more fish sauce if it needs more depth.

9

Tear the kaffir lime leaves roughly to release their fragrance and add to the wok along with the mixed chillies. Stir well and simmer for 1 minute before serving in generous bowls alongside steamed jasmine rice.

Nutrition per serving

256.3kcal

Calories

14.5g

Fat

12.8g

Carbs

23.5g

Protein

2.8g

Fibre

487.5mg

Sodium

Used in this recipe

Thai Jungle Curry PasteAdd to basket