Thai green curry paste (phrik kaeng khiao wan) is the vivid, herb-green pounded base of kaeng khiao wan, Thailand's celebrated green curry, and is culinarily distinct from the country's red paste. Fresh green bird's-eye chillies are pounded with lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime peel, coriander root, shallot, garlic, shrimp paste, cumin and white pepper into a fragrant, punchy, aromatic mash that is fried in coconut cream and let down with coconut milk to build a curry. It is a cooking base, not a table sauce — bright, grassy and hotter and more herbal than its red counterpart, whose ripe-red chillies make a sweeter, earthier paste.