Instant Curries Chow Down

Microwavable kaeng kaew wan go head to head in a blind test.

DeliThai

(B40, ready in 3-4 minutes)

In both price and taste, DeliThai was the best. While the green curry is a bit sweet, it’s still spicy and very rich. It reminds us of baan baan green curry found at good khaokaeng stalls—oily, but tasty. It goes well with the high quality jasmine rice, which is soft, moist but not soggy and fluffy. Also the package is quite chic—they offer a black wrapper with a separate box for the curry. DeliThai can be a life-saver when you are just too busy to go down for a meal on the street.

Smart Meal

(B69, ready in 3-4 minutes)

We like the healthy concept here, with the brown rice and no MSG, preservatives or sugar added. Too bad the rice came out soggy (although it tasted good) and the soup looked like klong water—probably because for a low fat dish, the oil in coconut milk is a no-no. They’re the only ones in the roundup who use pea eggplant, though. For health freaks only.

Prantalay

(B49, ready in 4-6 minutes)

It’s quite an exercise trying to unseal Prantalay. Inside, the curry seemed thick and tempting and there was plenty of rice. Unfortunately, the fish balls didn’t taste much like fish. And the generous heap of jasmine rice tasted cheap and flavorless. The soup saved the day, though, as it is well seasoned thanks to fingerroots: not too sweet, nor salty. So make your own rice, poor this curry in a bowl, and impress your guests.

S&P

(B49, ready in 3-5 minutes)

This green curry looks appealing. Quite salty, a bit too thin and slightly sweet, the soup was pleasant but not exceptional. The highlight was the chicken, which is tender and doesn’t taste like it was frozen. The rice was sticky—which we liked—but a bit unorthodox for this dish. Apart from that, we could hardly tell the difference with what you’d get at an S&P restaurant.

(B59, ready in 3-3.5 minutes)

Keep Surapon’s Tupperware-like container for later use; what’s inside, you can throw out. The curry and rice are lumped together, unlike all the other microwavable curries here that have separate sections for the rice and the soup. We could barely taste or smell the green curry paste and the chicken tasted oxygenated and looked like your grandma’s skin. The included salted egg is a nice thought but soon disappointed with its dryness and yucky taste. Maybe you can enjoy Surapon after a hard night’s drinking, as plaster for your injured bowels. 

CP

(B49, ready in  3-3.5 minutes)

CP’s soup is watery and bland, the jasmine rice is too soggy and the chicken tasted like flour with a weird salty aftertaste which was quite awful. Everything tastes like you are eating “fake” food. Unlike others, CP doesn’t have the usual “No MSG, no preservatives” logos so you’re eating at your own risk­­­—serve it to unwanted guests.

EasyGo

(B30, ready in 4-5 minutes)

The curry section is tiny compared to the giant portion of rice. Too bad, the soup looked and smelled very nice, although it was excessively sweet. The chicken was quite tender and there’s no complaint about the eggplants, while the rice was fluffy enough and tasted OK. But the best point of EasyGo is that it’s cheap and really easy to find. You can also have the 7-Eleven staff microwave it for you while you’re there.