KennethT

I haven't seen those! I've seen frozen bags of shredded coconut at Kalustyans, but I didn't notice if they had chunks... how does the cost compare to using the frozen coconut milk?

I've had the best results using frozen coconut milk... I used to use the brown Chaokoh cans, but I haven't been able to get the thick cream that floats to the top to crack in a long time. I was having a chat with the thai owner of a thai grocery shop in Chinatown and he recommended the frozen coconut milk... I haven't turned back since... but be careful - they are not all teh same... some of the ones I've seen have stabilizers and preservatives, some are just 100% coconut milk.

I've done similar things before - it works very well. I saute the paste prior to adding liquid to make a sauce. For thai curry, if you can't get coconut cream that will crack, you can sweat the paste in a tbs or so of coconut oil, then add coconut milk... or, if you'd like to make a more western style sauce with curry flavors, you can sweat the paste in a little peanut or grapeseed oil, deglaze with an acidic white wine and then add chicken stock... I will sometimes sweat a few chopped shallots with the paste to add a bit more sweetness if necessary... BTW - like you said, I understand that fresh paste is better than the prepackaged - although some prepackaged are better than others... if you can get it in your area, I'd recommend thai curry paste from Nittaya (also available online). It needs to be refrigerated, but it tastes much better than Mae Sri.

Do you have a whipping siphon?

Daunting indeed... I know the feeling... we enjoyed one evening in Banglamphu doing a "pad thai showdown" of sorts... we first went to Thip Samai - the pad thai institution, and then went practically next door to Leung Pha pad thai and got the same thing for a comparison... if you do so, I would recommend getting all versions including what they call "shrimp fat" or "shrimp head fat" - it definitely adds a new dimension to the dish, and I can't imagine why no one is doing it here in NY!<br /><br />We did enjoy Jay Fai (also in Banglamphu - actually just a few doors down from Thip Samai) although it is pricey by shophouse food standards. By most western standards, it is still a great deal.<br /><br />I think a good investment would be to try to purchase Chawadee Nualkhair's book, which is her top 50 BKK street food places... it was expensive on the internet, but I just bought it from her directly by contacting her through her blog bangkokglutton.com (it's a good blog anyway). She ships internationally and is not expensive. You can also pick it up in a lot of bookshops in BKK, but I wanted it before I got there so I could hit the ground running.<br /><br />I know you're planning to eat most meals on the street, but I would stress that we enjoyed Nahm and would recommend it. The complexity of flavors is mind boggling... We got the set menu, which is expensive by BKK standards, but it afforded us the ability to try a huge chunk of the menu which we ordinarily would not be able to do. I did not find neither the quality of product, nor depth of flavors anywhere else in BKK (that we had tried). The only issue we had was that we found the portion sizes too large for the number of dishes that you get, and consequently, we felt like we barely made a dent in most of the dishes even though we enjoyed them immensely.<br /><br />I had heard very good things about Paa Jazz near the Victory Monument, but we didn't have a chance to get there...<br /><br />We were underwhelmed by Polo Fried Chicken near Lumphini Park. We were there around 2PM (not prime time) and our chicken was dry and tasted like it had been sitting around for a while. The skin was just starting to get a bit leathery, although the fried garlic mound on top was great, as were the two dipping sauces on the table. Som tum was spicy, but lackluster and a little off balance. Maybe it would better when they're busier, so YMMV...

hi Nick - thanks for the reply... we actually returned back home about a week ago. We enjoyed jay fai - we got the pad kee mao talay as well as the lard na talay. Our pad kee mao had tons of wok taste - you could even see char all over. The lard na (a suggestion of a bkk resident foodie on another board) was excellent as well - both had an abundance of high quality seafood, and all of the prawns we had were properly cooked. One place that was one of the highlights was a seafood restaurant about an hour outside of BKK towards hua hin called Lomtalay. http://www.lomtalay.com/eng/html/home.html is a link to their English page... I agree about the crabs - I don't know your thoughts on this, but we were able to get a late notice reservation at Jok Kitchen - and his crabs, simply steamed, were incredible, although pretty pricey - but I don't know how they compare to similar quality crabs elsewhere.

I don't want to derail this thread, but I had never heard of the Paleo diet and had to look it up.... http://thepaleodiet.com/getting-started-with-the-paleo-diet/ ..... what a great laugh!!! Sure, our ancestors between 2.6mil and 10K years ago didn't have obesity, diabetes, cancer or osteoporosis, but they also didn't live past 25 years old, and I'm sure they got plenty of exercise running around hunting and gathering! And how do these 'scientists' know that our paleolithic ancestors didn't have acne or hemorrhoids?

Dave - congratulations on this first step and on getting funded! My wife did the Lemonade cleanse years ago back when she was a Raw Vegan yoga teacher... Let's just say she didn't make it past day 3 because of horrible cramps and crazy fatigue, and to this day still can't stand the smell of maple syrup. But, with that being said, many of her co-Vegan Lemonade fasters cruised past day 10 saying they felt better than ever and had tons of energy... Personally, I think their results came from the crystal meth... or they were cheating... Good luck!

wow - that market looks AWESOME!! I wish we had something even 1/2 as good in NYC.

I can't tell you where to get them, but they look like green pods that the cross section looks like an X-wing fighter from Star Wars, about 1/2-3/4" across.

I don't know if the pandan leaves are a major component - I'd say, obviously, that chicken was a major component... as is sesame oil, ginger and garlic in the chili sauce. The pandan leaves add a little something for sure, but I think you can make a perfectly acceptable chicken rice without it.

I've never seen them in a store, but I did see them in a Thai restaurant in NY last summer...

What about a form of kueh? I know it's not typical in the US, but they're great in hot, sticky areas like Singapore and Malaysia... I don't know if it goes with your flavor profile, but sticky rice soaked in sweetened and slightly salty coconut cream is awesome! Pair it with some good fruit in season, ot toasted coconut/peanuts... Yum!

Topping up... Are there any BKK locals (or those who frequent it) on this board? I've read a lot about Jay Fai - all over the internet, and also in Chawadee Nualkhair's book - she consistently raves about the place both on her blog and in interviews she has done. Is this place as good as all this hype (and expense - it's supposedly one of the most expensive shophouse restaurants)? I'd love to get some other people's perspectives. She also seems to wax on and on about Isaan food... is Isaan food that popular in BKK or is it just her penchant for it? Are there any recommendations of other standout places? Not looking for trendy or modern restaurants - we're booked for Nahm for one night based on many recommendations, and will be stopping by Supanniga as well so I feel like we have that covered... Looking for advice for good curry, grilled items, stew, and of course noodles! (not all at once... we'll be there for about a week and have no problems travelling to different neighborhoods for a worthwhile cause!) Thank you!

IIRC, there was a lot of info about ribs in the original SV forum... http://forums.egullet.org/topic/136274-sous-vide-index/?p=1777784 ETA link

Has anyone had one? I've read all about them (how can you not, the hype is incredible!) but have no interest in getting a scalped one on Craigslist or time right now to waiti on a ridiculous line... but I'm curious if they're really as good as the hype insists...

nice... their soft shells are awesome...

Once the bag has been opened, then the standard "leftover" rules (not only to SV) apply - once the bag is opened, you're typically more concerned with spoilage bacteria than pathogenic ones - so even in a very cold refrigerator, I wouldn't want to keep anything longer than about a week. But with this situation, the nose knows best...

I've never had a problem with zip locks and freeze-thaw... and have had no issues with freezer burn either - I've had stuff in my chest freezer for over a year.

I agree - the salamander, or careful torch use is much better for crisping confit duck... I find that the pan is problematic not just because of the skin sticking (but that does happen), but also of uneven browning - the part that contacts the pan is very brown, but other parts get almost no browning at all.

If you have kuzu in chunks, just grind it in a spice or coffee grinder (or morter/pestle if you want to do it old school). I've found it powders very easily.

I took a cooking demo with David Bouley many years ago, and he was extolling the virtues of kuzu. At the time, he used it as a thickener for sauces - used in a similar way as cornstarch, but it was more stable. He made a slurry with some liquid, then added to the sauce, and brought to a boil. A little goes a long way... he didn't give measurements, but you can start with a small amount and see how it does - you can always add more if you want a thicker result.

Is it possible that your block is out of temper because of time spent at higher temp before your a/c turned on? If that's out of temper, then using it for seeding will not result in tempered final product. Can you try tempering it without seeding? It takes a little longer, but not a big deal in small quantities....

First - I agree with e_monster.. if you have a rotisserie that goes down that low, why play with SV at all? It's a lot of trouble to bag a big roast, SV, then chill, then retherm... If you are dead-set on SV, and like my ideas before - I would like to add that it seems that I'm not coming through clear. I would retherm completely in the rotisserie - not retherm at all SV - but, since the roast is already cooked, you only need to rotisserie so that the inside is warm, proper eating temperature... say 125degF. I'd assume that if you're starting from refrigerator temp, by the time the inside gets to 125F, you should have a decent crust on the outside. Of course, you will get some gradient this way, which is not always a bad thing.

I like the idea of cooking a few days earlier to 130F then quickly chilling in an ice water bath. But would i retherm it back in the sous vide to 125F? or retherm directly in the rottiserie to the target temp of 135F? It seems in that case why not just sous vide to 130F and let it drop 10 degrees before putting it into the rottiserie to climb up to 135F and build a crust.I was originally thinking to retherm it completely in the rotisserie to a target internal temp of 120-125. I would actually get the rotisserie going on the hot side, rather than keeping it cool, which will help get a nice crust, but remember, you just need to warm up the center, as it's already been cooked to 130. Also, according to MC, the showtime rotisserie is more like an oven than a true rotisserie - because the door keeps in heat... maybe you could keep the door open to keep it cooler around the meat while the one side (rotating) gets continually blasted with the infrared?