KennethT

Thanks a lot for this. I'm sure it entailed hours of research and writing - I, for one, truly appreciate it.

hmmm.... thanks. That helps a little. I'm still a little embarrassed but no longer completely shamefaced.... 😁

Please tell me that that feast came from a restaurant. If you had made all of that from scratch after just home from holiday, I will hang my head in shame forever that I would not even attempt such a feat!

According to Andy Ricker, the term laap refers to the sound the cleaver makes while chopping. He also, not surprisingly, recommends chopping finely with a cleaver as opposed to a meat grinder.

What do you use for the wrap itself? Is it a flour tortilla (like you'd use for a burrito) or something else?

I remember those from my college days... One bar made it with Blue Curacao as the triple sec.... I can't imagine how many of those I had over the years there....

Thanks. I have 2 David Thompson books but don't remember much from either! Then again, I don't make much Thai food anymore....

I enjoy sticky rice - especially with anything Northern Thai or Isaan - the home of sticky rice and what would traditional be served with laap. But I agree with @C. sapidus, it requires forethought for the soaking which I rarely think far enough ahead to do. Hence why my ziplock bag of sticky rice sits in the back of my cupboard! Although Pai from hot-thai-kitchen.com provides a "fast" method for dealing with sticky rice, but she says it doesn't come out as good so I've never tried it.

No sticky rice!?! Criminal!! 😂

What is their Za'atar like? Years ago, my wife brought some home from a trip to Israel and it was wonderful - it was fresh, so the spices weren't truly dried - they were still damp and it had a great freshness to it.

Ha! In general, they group everything first by category - so there's the peppercorn section, the chilli section, the individual spice section, spice mix section, etc. and then alphabetically. Also, most of the employees are really well versed in the layout and can get you there really quickly. For a while now, they've also had a growing Modernist section!

Typically, infused oil needs to be refrigerated due to botulism concerns as the oil keeps any particles in an anaerobic environment. Especially with garlic which is known to be (from what I understand) the most susceptible to botulism concerns when submerged in oil.

That's pretty much the case for all curries and lots of SE and South Asian food in general!!!!

I'm late also, but I used to make pork tenderloin - I'd put a bunch of pureed chipotle in adobo in the bag and sv at 135 just until done, depending on thickenss. Chill a bit and then sear with high heat - I used to serve it with a sauce made from reduced apple juice, onion and green chilli.

Nice fog machine!!!! That's hilarious!

it looks just like vietnamese coriander, aka rau ram.... the markings on the leaf, the nodes on the stem, everything!

Well, I just wound up having to harvest 3 chillies by default. I was repotting and, being top heavy, the whole plant fell over and leapt from the countertop to the floor, breaking a few branches, while my back was turned for a second... One of the few disadvantages of growing hydroponically is that I don't need as much substrate to hold the roots like I would in soil since I'm basically intravenously feeding the roots with nutrient - so as the plants grow larger, they get top heavy. Maybe growing two plants in one grow bag wasn't such a good idea after all!!!

I don't know yet. Right now, they're all green and while there are lots of recipes that use them green, I haven't harvested any to try them. Yet! I'm excited for them to ripen though!

My keriting plant is laden!! So much so that the plant fell over some time overnight.... I should probably report this weekend....

Also, a bit of blush usually means more ripe.

Yes, that's it. With these, you need to go more by feel. At this point, even the ones that feel hard will be slightly ripe inside. The ones that feel a little softer are in the awkward in-between stage that isn't so great and the ones softer still are pretty ripe by now. Also, make sure the stem is still green - not dead.

Chicken kapitan curry with the last of my Homemade roti canai.

Since you're in NYC, if you can make your way to Kalustyan's - they have a selection of tons of different peppercorns - maybe 20-30 different varieties. Myself, I'm partial to the Vietnamese for most everyday usage - it's sharp, spicy, all around good. For other purposes, I love the one from Sarawak, Malaysia, which is known for it's peppercorn - that's what I use for my Singapore style bak kut teh, which is a pork soup flavored only with garlic and peppercorn. This one gives a more rounded warmth in the back of the throat which is perfect for this dish.

A common dish in Singapore is fish head curry. Scroll down to below the baggage claim photos. I can't get good fish heads (for the purpose of eating) easily here, so this is the recreation of the curry but made with mahi mahi fillets.

Singapore style head-less fish head curry.