Thai Massaman Beef Shin Kit

The Thai curry that travels best in the freezer — coconut milk freezes well (it can split slightly on thaw, but reheats fine), and the massaman paste does most of the flavor work. The only step that doesn’t go in the bag is potatoes, which go in fresh on cook day for proper texture.

Heat: 2/5. Mae Ploy paste is gentle. Aromatic, not punishing.

Bag contents

• 1 kg músculo (beef shin), cut into 4cm cubes
• 4 tbsp Mae Ploy massaman curry paste (or middle-path: 3 tbsp red curry paste + 1 tsp ground cinnamon + 1 tsp ground cardamom + ½ tsp ground cumin + ½ tsp ground coriander + 1 star anise)
• 1 can (400ml) coconut milk, full-fat
• 2 tbsp tamarind paste (or 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate + 1 tbsp warm water)
• 2 tbsp palm sugar (or light brown sugar)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cardamom pods, lightly bruised
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 4 kaffir lime leaves, torn (optional) (or zest of 1 lime + 2 strips lime peel)

Added on cook day (NOT in bag)

• 250ml beef stock or water
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 100g roasted unsalted peanuts

Prep day (Sunday assembly — ~5 min)

1. Bag. In a 2-gallon zip bag: cubed beef + curry paste + coconut milk + tamarind + palm sugar + fish sauce + cinnamon stick + cardamom + onion + lime leaves. Squish gently to coat.
2. Press out air. Lay flat. Label.

Label

Thai Massaman Beef Shin — 2026-05-10
Serves 4
Cook: PCC20 stage 1 P14 (Carne) 35 min thawed / 45 min frozen
   Then add 3 quartered potatoes + 100g peanuts → P14 8 min more
+ 250ml stock added at start
Garnish: jasmine rice, lime, coriander

Cook day

Pressure cooker (PCC20, P14 — Carne)

Stage 1 — meat (from frozen):

1. Dump frozen kit into PCC20.
2. Add 250ml beef stock.
3. P14, adjust to 45 minutes, high pressure. Natural release.

Stage 1 — meat (from thawed):

1. Same, 35 min pressure.

Stage 2 — potatoes (both versions):

1. Open lid. Add 3 quartered potatoes + 100g roasted peanuts. Stir.
2. Lock lid, P14, 8 minutes. Quick release.

Adjust at end

Taste. Massaman should be sweet-salty-sour-mild-spicy in roughly that order. Adjust:

• More fish sauce → salt
• More palm sugar → sweet
• More tamarind → sour
• A few drops of Cepera Sriracha → heat

Tame it (drop to heat 1)

• Halve the curry paste at prep time (2 tbsp instead of 4) + add 1 tbsp paprika doce for color

Sub: bottled chiles only

Mae Ploy is the gentle one — the paste IS the flavor. If you can’t find Mae Ploy:

• Use the middle-path sub from the bag contents (red curry paste + spices)
• Cepera-only fallback: skip the paste entirely, use 2 tbsp Cepera Sriracha + 1 tbsp paprika defumada + 2 tbsp tamarind paste + the spices listed

The dish is recognizably massaman with the middle-path; less so with Cepera-only.

Serving

Jasmine rice. Lime wedges. Fresh coriander. Sliced red chile if anyone wants table heat.

Notes

• Coconut milk freezing. It may split on thaw — looks granular. Don’t worry; it re-emulsifies during the pressure cook. Water-thinned coconut milk freezes worse, so always use full-fat.
• Potatoes go in fresh on cook day. Frozen potatoes go mealy after thaw. Five extra minutes on cook day for far better texture.
• Peanuts also fresh on cook day. They get rubbery in the freezer. Cheap to keep a small bag in the pantry.
• Cross-reference: musculo_massaman-curry.md for from-scratch single-session recipe.