Red curry sauce and chicken red curry with store-bought paste

Weigh out all ingredients.

Saute the curry paste in neutral oil for exactly two minutes (instead of the usual reduced coconut milk, to keep samples consistent). If a drier paste sticks, deglaze the pot so it does not burn.

Add coconut milk, water and a little sugar to balance the salt; no fish sauce at this stage, since most pastes are already salty. Simmer exactly five minutes so the paste flavours integrate into the liquid.

To control for evaporation, weigh each finished sauce and add water to match the heaviest; reheat to roughly the same temperature to taste.

Full curry: bring the curry sauce to a boil, add a little palm sugar and bamboo shoots.

Once back to a boil, add chicken breast marinated in a little fish sauce; cook a couple more minutes until the chicken is done.

Taste and season with fish sauce to the optimal level; off the heat, stir in Thai basil. Serve with rice.

Variation: for a weak paste, double the paste in the two-minute saute and add considerably more fish sauce.