Why It's Confusing
Curry paste is made from chilies, lemongrass, garlic, and galangal. These ingredients are plant-based.
Shrimp paste is added in small amounts. It's dark and fermented, so it blends invisibly into the paste. Menus don't list it. The same pattern shows up with fish sauce and oyster sauce elsewhere on Thai menus.
Store-bought curry paste contains shrimp paste unless labeled vegetarian or vegan [[2]](#source-2). Restaurants use these same pastes.
Where It Commonly Appears
- Green curry
- Red curry
- Panang curry
- Massaman curry
- Jungle curry
- Tom yum soup
- Pad prik khing
- Larb (even with vegetables or tofu)
What To Watch For
- Any Thai curry dish
- Tom yum or tom kha soup
- Stir-fries with curry paste
- Pre-packaged curry paste at stores
Vegan Alternatives
- Curry paste labeled "vegetarian" or "vegan", such as Thai Taste's vegan-marked range [[3]](#source-3)
- Restaurant-made paste without shrimp paste (ask kitchen to confirm)
- Japanese curry roux blocks labeled vegan
Sources
1. The Vegan Society, Definition of veganism. https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism 2. Maesri, Thai curry paste ingredient information. https://www.maesri.com/products/ 3. Thai Taste, Vegan Thai curry paste range. https://www.thaitaste.co.uk/products/curry-pastes/