A New Favorite Slow-Cooker Meal: Thai Swimming Rama
We love our slow-cooker for about a million reasons, but the fact that we can make one of our very favorite Thai meals in it now brings a whole new wonder to that “set it and forget it” Crock-Pot lifestyle. While we’ve basically never met a Thai dish that we didn’t love—somewhere along the line, swimming rama became our go-to takeout order. And, as you might have noticed, we love to try our hand at recreating our restaurant favorites at home, to save time and money, too. Using a slow-cooker means that this swimming rama recipe is ready with just a tiny bit more effort than it takes to place a takeout order.
What Is Swimming Rama?
If you love Thai satay sauce, you’re sure to love swimming rama, which has a somewhat similar flavor profile—a little bit of a play between salty and sweet, a bit creamy, and a little nutty, the dish is a powerhouse of flavor and texture. As to the origin of the dish, we’re grateful to our fellow food blogger Pailin Chongchitnant of “Hot Thai Kitchen” for filling in the gaps there! We always assumed that the “rama” of “swimming rama” referred to the Hindu god Rama, and it sounds like we were on the right track. Chongchitnant explains that in Thailand, Rama is depicted as having green skin and so the greens that are always served with this dish—we use spinach, either raw or cooked—are why it’s called “rama”. In Thailand, this dish has fallen out of favor, but in U.S. Thai restaurants it’s still quite popular. We certainly love it, and we think you will, too!
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make Swimming Rama
In Thailand, this is most often made with pork, but in the U.S. you'll often find it made with chicken. Since our first introduction to it was a version made with chicken, that's what we're doing but if you're a pork lover, feel free to mix it up! Here’s everything you’ll need to make swimming rama at home.
- Chicken breasts
- Peanut butter
- Coconut cream
- Red curry paste
- Soy sauce
- Brown sugar
- Fish sauce
- Apple cider vinegar
- Spinach
- Rice
- Basil
- Peanuts
- Chili flakes
How To Make Swimming Rama in a Slow-Cooker
After three hours of cooking, be sure to check the chicken for doneness. Because the chicken breast is cut into small pieces, four hours might be too long.
- Make the creamy, red curry-peanut sauce: whisk the peanut butter, coconut cream, red curry paste, soy sauce, brown sugar, fish sauce and apple cider vinegar.
- Pour the swimming rama sauce into a slow-cooker along with the chicken breast.
- Cook on low until it’s done!
- Add the spinach. You can either stir it directly into the chicken and sauce until it’s wilted, or you can simply serve the cooked chicken over a bed or raw spinach. Up to you!
- Sprinkle with fresh basil, crushed peanuts and chili flakes if using and serve simply with cooked white rice.
Tools You’ll Need:
More Thai Recipes To Try At Home
Can You Recycle Those Takeout Menus Now?
Just kidding! We’d never get rid of our beloved takeout menus. But it is fun to make our faves at home sometimes, right? Try this swimming rama recipe, and let us know how you like it, OK? Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
