460 replies to this topic

[Pan]

djyee100,

That Jungle Curry looks great. Did you get the recipe from Kasama's book or web site? Sorry I havn't read this whole thread.

Yeah, that really does look amazing. And I love a spicy jungle curry, myself.

[djyee100]

Do you have the recipe handy?

The ingredients for Kasma's Spicy Northern Thai Sausage (Sai Oa):

Make a spice paste of:

15 dried red chiles, seeded, soaked to soften, then minced (japonais or similar chiles are fine here)
1 tsp sea salt
2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed, cut into thin rounds, then chopped
1 TB minced Thai galanga
1 TB minced kaffir lime peel (if using dried peel, soak to soften before using)
2 TB minced cilantro roots or bottom stems
10-12 large cloves garlic, chopped
4 shallots, chopped
1 TB gkabpi shrimp paste

Combine the spice paste with:

2 lbs ground pork (see above, Post #824, for cut of meat and grind)
1 TB finely slivered kaffir lime leaves
1/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
2 tsp black soy sauce
3-4 TB fish sauce (nahm bplah), or to taste

Stuff the meat mixture into hog casings, about 6 feet will do it. If you have the time, let the sausages sit in the fridge for a few days to develop the best flavor.

I check the meat mixture for seasoning before stuffing sausages. I fry up a little bit in a skillet, or zap a mouthful in the microwave. In this recipe, the mixture was too spicy for me, so I added another 1/2 lb of ground pork to bring down the heat. Alternatively, you can gradually add spice paste and seasonings, tasting as you go, until you find a blend you like.

have fun making sausages.

[djyee100]

Another experiment in Thai sausage-making, Northeastern-Style Soured Pork Sausage (Saigkrawk Naem). A classic sausage, very simple, consisting of pork, garlic, salt, fish sauce, cooked sticky rice, and white pepper. The raw sausages cure at room temp over a period of days. In hot and humid Thailand, the cure may take only a couple days. In the more temperate climate where I live, the cure is usually more like 5-6 days.

My sausages basking, drying, and fermenting in front of a sunny window.



The trick is to let the sausages ferment until the sourness balances the saltiness in the sausages. I taste-tested a sausage on the fourth day, first steaming it, and it tasted...not so good. It was very salty and also pungent from the raw garlic. I was disenchanted with the sausage, so I pushed the pan onto the top of a tall cabinet, still in a warm room, and decided to leave the sausages alone for a couple more days.

Except that I forgot about them for four days. When I looked in on the sausages again, they had somewhat mummified.



But they smelled OK, so I ate a sausage. It tasted pretty good. The fermentation had definitely decreased the perception of saltiness, the garlic had mellowed, and the texture had turned smooth. I thought the sausage was still a little too salty, and it didn't taste that sour to me. But after 8 days, it was time to move on, so I put the sausages in the fridge.

To serve the sausages, I first steamed them to plump and moisten them, then I grilled them. Served on an appetizer platter with tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, lightly steamed eggplants, blanched okra, sweet peppers, lime pieces, and peanuts.

[dmreed]

I am curious about the safety of eating raw pork which has only been fermented...any comments?

[Ader1]

I watched this Thai lady make some Wantons. I was familiar with all of the indredients except for something which she called 'Maggy' or 'Maggi' Soya. According to here it wasn't dark Soya or light Soya but I can't be sure of this although her English was reasonable. Have you heard of Cai daw (not sure of the spelling) but the fried egg on top of rice. She said that the 'Maggi' Soya sauce was good with that. Any ideas?

[dmreed]

Maggi is readily available...usually next to soy sauce in supermarkets and Asian stores.

[Ader1]

Maggi is readily available...usually next to soy sauce in supermarkets and Asian stores.

Thanks. But what is it though? Is it dark Soy sauce? It can't be light because I saw the bottle and the recipe specified light as an additional ingredient.





Edit:
I see that it isn't a Soy Sauce from the following link. I understood her correctly then that it wasn't a Light or Dark Soya Sauce.

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/seasonings/ingredient-spotlight-maggi-seasoning-091316

Edited by Ader1, 21 September 2009 - 05:41 AM.

[djyee100]

I am curious about the safety of eating raw pork which has only been fermented...any comments?

It's like salami. There's quite a bit of salt in the sausage also.

[Catherine Iino]

When I have a Thai rice noodle dish at a restaurant, the noodles are long. Whenever I prepare Pad Thai or some other rice noodle dish at home, the noodles break up into short little pieces when I am stir frying them. I've tried presoaking the rice noodles in hot water, in boiling water, and actually boiling them a bit, but they still break up. Any advice on keeping them long? Or is it the brands or age of the rice noodles I'm using?

[heidih]

I would not be that aggressive with the dried noodles. Pre soak in lukewarm water just to get pliable enough to cram into the dish.

[djyee100]

I agree with Heidih. Only soak the noodles until they are firm but pliable, like rubber bands. Are you tossing the noodles with a spatula? Try tossing them a little less. As I've learned from sad experience, overhandling will cause the noodles to break. Also, remember that stirfrying isn't really about stirring. The best technique is to scrape the bottom of the wok with your spatula, lifting the mass of noodles, then flipping the mass over so that the bottom noodles are on top. Let the food cook some more on the bottom, then flip over again.

[Catherine Iino]

Thanks. I'll try soaking the noodles for a shorter time and tossing more gently. As I think about it, the problem might actually be skimping on the amount of oil. More oil would let the noodles slide around more and perhaps tear less. I'll try to report back.

[mgaretz]

I had the same problem (noodles breaking) - less soaking time did the trick too. For the wide noodles (about 1/2 inch) I pour boiling water on them and soak 15 minutes, with an initial stir and then every 5 minutes. Drain but don't rinse. I put them back in the bowl and toss with some peanut oil to get them coated before stir-frying. Makes them less likely to stick together and requires less tossing while cooking.

I use a 10 minute soak for the thinner noodles (about 1/4 inch).

[snowangel]

I was out of town on a girls' weekend for the recent long weekend, and for the first time in years, I made Tort Man Pla from Thai Food by David Thompson (page 494). Drop dead easy (I used my food processor instead of a mortal and pestal) and I'd forgotten how wonderful this is.

My only deviation was to pan fry them instead of deep frying them. I used catfish instead of whiting or orange roughy because that's what I had.

If you use a food processor, this dish can be on the table in about 10 minutes, excepting cutting the stuff for the Cuke Relish.

I can see making this dish with almost any fish excepting tuna, swordfish or salmon. Shrimp would be great.

Edited by snowangel, 01 December 2009 - 09:02 AM.

[C. sapidus]

Now that holiday meals are done, let's see some Thai food! A month without a new post here is way too long.

Tonight we fried red curry paste and yellow curry powder in butter, added chicken thighs, and then simmered in a gravy of milk, water, fish sauce, chopped tomatoes, and a little sugar. Served with jasmine rice and a topping of shallots fried in butter. Another good weeknight recipe from Thailand the Beautiful Cookbook.

Burmese chicken curry

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[C. sapidus]

We welcomed Mrs. C back with a simple meal (believe it or not) mostly from David Thompson’s Thai Food.

Soup of minced pork and scallions: Super-simple and quite good. Chicken stock, soy sauce, a pinch of sugar, minced pork, oyster mushrooms, and sliced scallions, finished with cilantro and white pepper.

Stir-fried beef with spices: Strips of sirloin marinated with fish sauce, cumin, and coriander, and then stir-fried with roasted chile paste, fried shallots, chile powder, white pepper.

Cucumber salad (from Cracking the Coconut): Cukes and minced scallions tossed with a dressing of lime juice, fish sauce, and palm sugar.

Edited to eliminate redundancy eliminate redundancy.

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Edited by C. sapidus, 15 February 2010 - 06:34 PM.

[Chris Amirault]

Bruce, for how long did you marinate the beef?

[C. sapidus]

Bruce, for how long did you marinate the beef?

Beef was supposed to marinate for "a few hours", but after delays picking up Mrs. C at the airport, I probably marinated the beef for a little over an hour.

[mgaretz]

Finally took a picture of my Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao).

[C. sapidus]

Pad ped moo paa (spicy pork), served with jasmine rice and jicama. Another weeknight gem from Thailand the Beautiful Cookbook. Fry red curry paste in oil, mix in thinly-sliced pork loin, canned green peppercorns, fish sauce, palm sugar, and lots of sliced chiles (I used a mix of jalapeno and ancho chiles). Cook everything gently until the pork is just done, adjust seasoning, top with coconut cream, serve and enjoy.

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[DietStartsTomorrow]

Hi there - novice at Thai cookery here. I have planned to make Rick Stein's version of massaman curry after coming across a couple of recipes on the web. As I'm attempting it for the first time, so decided to buy the ready made massaman paste. However, just looked at the recipe again and it doesn't state just how much of the paste to put in!! (the measurement is 'a quantity' - really helpful, eh?)

Anyway, I've got friends coming over tomorrow on the promise of this and am asking all you kind foodies out there to guide me on just how much ready made paste i should put in.... recipe is for 1.5 kilograms of blade/chuck steak and 600 ml of coconut milk....is it the sort of thing i can do to taste or does the flavour develop over cooking? thanks in advance

[C. sapidus]

For homemade curry pastes, typical ratios seem to be about 1 cup of massaman curry paste to 3 cups of coconut milk. Commercial curry paste may be saltier (go easy on the fish sauce at first) and more concentrated (so you may want to use a bit less paste). Commercial curry paste cans or (better) tubs should include a suggested ratio that you can use.

The problem with adding curry paste to taste is that frying the curry paste in cracked coconut cream is typically one of the first steps. Frying the paste mellows and improves the flavor, so simply adding more curry paste later would not be ideal. What you can do, however, is add coconut milk towards the end to modify intensity (especially that of the chile heat).

Remember that the final adjustment of salty, sweet, and sour (typically with fish sauce, palm sugar, and tamarind juice) is a key step in Thai curries.

Good luck!

[Chris Amirault]

I agree with Bruce: start with too much paste and keep some extra coconut milk on hand. When you're done tasting and adjusting, all you'll have is too much sauce. And there can never be too much sauce.

[Shalmanese]

Another tip is that, initially, the sauce will taste slightly harsh and one dimensional. As the beef cooks and the flavors marry, the sauce will become more rounded & nuanced. Experienced curry cookers can easily extrapolate what the finished product will taste like from the initial test but, if this is your first time, don't be alarmed that it's not as flavoured as you imagined and try and doctor it at the beginning.

[DietStartsTomorrow]

hello there - just wanted to say a big thank you for all your tips....Shalmanese when I first tasted the paste I panicked as it tasted SO strong and quite unpleasant. And very salty, too. But I took the tips from chris and C.sapidus to fry the paste into the cream and, after adding the tamarind water, meat, etc and cooking for about 40-50 mins (i probably overcooked but hey) all i have to say it that it was delicious! what a boost to my confidence. Bet, though, it would taste so much better with home-made paste! thanks again guys!

[C. sapidus]

Laotian Chicken and potato curry (khoua kai), from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. Yes, I know that Laos is not Thailand, but this thread seemed like the closest fit. Served with jasmine rice and raw vegetables.

To make the curry, chop chicken legs through the bone and toss with salt and pepper. Parboil Yukon Gold potatoes and reserve the potato water. Fry a paste of shallots, garlic, and soaked chiles, and then brown the chicken in the paste with fish sauce. Deglaze with potato water and coconut milk, add the potatoes, and simmer until tender. Add coconut cream, lime leaves, chopped scallions, and chopped cilantro, adjust seasoning, and finish with a grinding of black pepper.

I am looking forward to leftovers at lunch tomorrow.

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[Solomon]

Thank you so much for posting your Sai Oa recipe. I look forward to making them.

Edited by Solomon, 30 March 2010 - 08:27 PM.

[C. sapidus]

Cashew shrimp (gkong pad med mamauang himapahn), from Dancing Shrimp: Marinate shrimp with tapioca starch, fish sauce, black soy, and peanut oil. Slowly fry raw cashews and remove. Fry dried chiles and remove. Stir-fry two minced heads of garlic(!) and sliced shallots, and then add the shrimp and marinade. When the shrimp is nearly done, add oyster sauce, white pepper, and the cashews and fried chiles.

Satay beef (nuea satay), from Thailand the Beautiful: Slice flank steak thinly and marinate with coconut milk, sugar, curry powder, fish sauce, and oil. The grill was uncooperative, so Mrs. C cooked the satay under the broiler.

Peanut sauce (nam jim satay): Very simple and very good – coconut milk, red curry paste, fish sauce, sugar, and ground roasted peanuts, combined and simmered. I could make a satisfying meal of peanut sauce and jasmine rice.

Edamame with sesame oil: Made by Mrs. C.

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[C. sapidus]

OK, this thread has been dead for nearly a year, but let's try to revive it. patrickamory, I'm talking to you (among others) - anyone who makes his own coconut milk should be posting here.

Tom kha gai (coconut chicken soup): Coconut milk and chicken stock, simmered with galangal, lime leaves, cilantro stems (no roots available), and bruised lemongrass, shallots, and bird chiles. Add sliced chicken breasts and mushrooms, simmer until done, and season with cilantro, roasted chile paste, palm sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice.



Yam pla gap makreua (fish salad with apple eggplants): Mash garlic cloves, fry until golden, add chicken stock and sliced fish (we used tilapia), and simmer until done. Toss with thinly-sliced apple eggplants and lemongrass, torn mint, shredded flat-leaf coriander, chile powder, sugar, lime juice, and fish sauce.

Cucumber salad: with chopped scallions and a simple dressing of fish sauce, palm sugar, and lime juice.

Edited by C. sapidus, 09 April 2011 - 05:54 PM.

[suzilightning]

a chicken vegetable curry for dinner last night - carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, the eggplants and a lonely chicken breast. for me some peppadew peppers cut up and tossed in. i used a commercial mild curry brick i have now found two places and it is one john will actually eat since it isn't too HOT.

unfortunately johnnybird emailed me that the curry paste, though mild, gave him a lot of intestinal distress this morning. guess i'll have to just go to my local thai place for their killer curry puffs and tom yam gai.