How to Make Burma Superstar’s Coconut Chicken Curry

Burma Superstar has been an SF establishment since 1992, holy crap. The modest restaurant in the Inner Richmond is one of those SF spots that people go crazy for and are willing to wait in crazy lines. The food here is just so unique, it really exposes you to whole different culture and a type of food that you just don’t see very often.

I probably chose the easiest recipe in this book to get going, but I mean I have never made a single curry from scratch so I figured this would be a good starting point! Anyways, let’s get this rolling…

Cookbook – Burma Superstar – Addictive Recipes from the Crossroads of Southeast Asia

Ingredients –

Boneless chicken – 2 lbs
Paprika – 1 tbsp
Tumeric – 1/2 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Canola oil – 1/2 cup
Yellow onion – 3 cups
Garlic – minced – 2 tbsp
Unsweetened coconut milk – 13.5oz
Fish Sauce – 1 1/2 tbsp
Water – 1 1/2 cups
Curry powder – 1/2 tsp
Cayenne – 1/2 tsp
Cilantro springs – for garnish (optional)

Step 1 – Prep the chicken

Trim and unnecessary fat, cut into 1 inch pieces and transfer to a bowl. Add the paprika, tumeric, and salt and mix with your hands. Let marinate at room temperate while you prep your other ingredients.

Step 2 – Curry time

This part goes pretty quick until you let it simmer for about an hour, so have everything prepped and read over the instructions a few times so you understand the order of the moves.

In a large pot or large pan (I used a 6qt pan), heat oil over medium high heat. Stir in the onions, decrease heat to medium low and cook gently, stirring often to prevent any scorching, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, about another 5 minutes.

Add the chicken, stir in so the spices mix with the onions. Pour in the milk, increase the heat and bring to a boil, let the coconut milk simmer briskly for about 4 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium low and add the fish sauce. Stir in the water and bring the pot back to a near boil

Lower to a gentle simmer, but more than you think. I did a very gentle simmer I guess and after an hour, the curry was still pretty watery, so I had to up the temp in order for everything to thicken. Let simmer for 50 minutes to an hour, then stir in the curry powder and cayenne and remove from the heat.

Let sit for 20 minutes, for the chicken to soak in all the flavors. I also broke apart some of the chicken so it was more of a shredded appearance because I like that in curries.

And for the ratings –

Difficulty of ingredients to find – 3/5 stars – should be a normal trip to the store
Perceived difficulty going into the recipe – 3/5 stars – not sure what to expect as I had never made a curry
Difficulty after recipe – 3/5 stars – Not too hard, just can take some time
Time taken – 4/5 stars – under 4 hours
Taste – 4/5 stars – tasted great, but could honestly go for more coconut taste, maybe try a different coconut milk next time
Make again? 3/5 stars – Maybe for a certain occasion