seabream

Thank you all for the great replies! patrickamory: - I'm curious to know what method works for you, for preparing coconut for coconut milk. - Do you find that homemade curry pastes are superior to purchased ones, even when not using all the right ingredients? (Using coriander stems and leaves instead of coriander roots, and regular lime zest instead of Kaffir lime zest.) - Got it about the balancing of flavors. I do remember reading that on David Thompson's book, and just read the corresponding section on Kasma's site. For me, as a newby to Thai cuisine, it's a bit hard to use intuition to flavor the dishes right. I often question my own opinions of the food I'm tasting - am I adjusting the flavors to be more balanced or am I changing an authentic Thai recipe to fit my Western palate (or my recollection of a similar dish in an americanized Thai restaurant)? I think a bit of both happens (the meat to curry ratio is a good example where improving the dish to my taste reduces on the authenticity). With more experience I will learn to distinguish between the two, but it's a bit hard when I'm starting out. I definitely want to stay away from Westernizing David Thompson's recipes. I purchased this book because all the reviews said it was authentic. My main goal is to understand what Thai food is really supposed to taste. I already understand what American-Thai food tastes like, and I can get it anywhere for cheap. That's not what I'm trying to achieve. - Thanks for including your favorite recipes from the book. I will look into them, as I'm planning to cook something else from this book later this week. On a different note, I thought it was interesting that Kasma recommends a Chinese soy sauce and a Taiwanese soy sauce. I purchased a Thai soy sauce (thin soy sauce from Healthy Boy brand, easily available where I live), and I think it tastes so different from the Chinese ones. I'd be curious to know what soy sauces people are using for Thai cooking.

From my experience (and I'm not that experienced), it's more about the texture than the flavor. Fish maw has a rubbery texture, sorta like gelatin before it dissolves (I know my description doesn't sound appealing, but I find it a pleasant texture). It adds another dimension to soups. As far as taste goes, I don't remember it being that strong. Maybe someone else can correct me? (Or I can tell you after I cook my own fish maw soup...) Yeah, I've noticed that people in Chinese restaurants are often overly protective of Western clients (probably with good reasons). It's true that you may not like it, but I would insist on it next time. If you don't like it, it's not that expensive anyway, and at least you'll know. If you do like it, that's fantastic! Maybe you'll be reporting back to this thread with your own experiments cooking this soup.

I recently purchased a copy of "Thai Food" by David Thompson. I have heard that this is not the best book for beginners (it's my first Thai cookbook), and after having read it cover to cover, I agree with that. I'm not quite ready to give up on it though, and I'm hoping to supplement the information in the book with information shared here from others cooking from this book. First of all, I'd be interested in knowing how you've been replacing all the hard to find ingredients. For example, I haven't been able to find coriander root (I'm planning to grow my own and freeze), dried prik chii faa (I'm using dried Chile de Arbol), Kaffir lime (I'm using regular lime peel instead, but feel like I'm cheating everytime I do that). I'd also be interested to know if you follow all his preparation advice literally. For example, he says that homemade coconut milk is much better (it may be, but after making it at home a few times - what a pain - I have switched to canned), he also says that homemade curry paste is much better (is that really the case if I don't have access to several of the ingredients in the paste? would love to hear what you think), and that fresh curry paste should not be freezed (when I make my own, it always makes too much, and we're eating curry for a week... has anyone tried freezing it?) And last, I'd love to hear about your experience with recipes that worked or did not work from the book. I have made the following recipes from this book: * Beef panaeng, page 316 - Good, but to my taste, it was not quite enough meat for the amount of curry. I hear that traditionally, Thai curries have a lot less meat than we're used to being served in the West. * Stir fried water mimosa with minced pork and peanuts, page 508 - Also good. I couldn't find water mimosa, so I used yu choy sum. * Pomelo salad, page 514 - My favorite! Very good. 3-7 bird's eyes chilies for this salad would have been way too hot for us though... * Gai Pat Sii Uuu, page 565 - Good, but not as good as in restaurants. Would need more BTUs for that... * Cucumber and prawn salad, page 350 - Not our favorite. The sauce could be sweeter, to our taste. * Fish cakes, page 494 - Way too much fish sauce. Almost inedible - so salty! I think this would be really good with a third of the fish sauce though, and I am planning to do it again. OK, now it's your turn!

All great ideas! I'm wishing I had picked up two or three fish maws so I could try them all... Will pick up the recommended books from the library. Thank you all for the replies!

Got it! I'm glad that's the case. I appreciate all the knowledge shared here!

I picked up a dried fish maw from a Chinese store, with the goal of making Chinese fish maw soup. Does anyone have a good recipe or good ideas/advice on how to make soup with fish maw? I searched my Chinese cookbook collection and couldn't find one single mention of this soup. I found a few recipes on the internet, but I'm not thrilled with any of them. Thank you for any replies!

I made ciabatta for the first time, and I think the holes in the baked loaf are a bit too big (see photo attached). What did I do wrong? I searched the internet quite a bit, and I found lots of people striving for ciabatta with big irregular holes, and not quite able to achieve it, but I found no one with the same problem as me. I followed Jeffrey Hamelman's recipe of Ciabatta with Poolish, which has 73% hydration, and calls for two folds during bulk fermentation. I followed the recipe as described in the book, to the best of my ability. The ciabatta tasted so good that I am eager to make it again. However, I'd like to know what I should do different to achieve a better texture. Thank you in advance for any replies!

Thank you for more great information. It seems like there's agreement that Fresnos, Jalapenos and Serranos are good replacements for fresh red and green Prik Chii Faa. Good. I did a bit of research online and read that red Fresnos don't really air-dry well at home - they're too meaty for that (would love to hear it if someone has been able to dry them successfuly). Based on this new information, I've given up on the idea of drying them myself, and decided to use purchased dry chilies instead. So thanks for the recommendations on dry chilies - I will try to find dried Serranos, Chiles de Arbol and Puya. I am planning to make a trip to the Southeast Asian supermarkets tomorrow again to see what I can find. I think the ones I bought and used (with not so good results) in my panang curry were dried Japones chiles (the package just says "dried red chilies" but they look like the "Japones" photos I see online). Even though I soaked them in hot water and chopped them small, they were so thin and papery that they didn't mix well into the rest of the paste ingredients, resulting in world's first ever white panang curry I don't have an Indian mixie, but I do have a spice grinder, which I will try using next. I'm wondering if dried Serranos, Chiles de Arbol or Puya are more meaty than Japones (or maybe I just got a particularly bad batch of Japones?) I'm also wondering what Thai people do to turn dried chilies into a paste - I haven't heard of a Thai version of an Indian Mixie. Maybe a real granite Thai mortar and pestle would gring them better than my smallish mortar and pestle...

Thank you everyone for all the tips! I will try using red Fresnos on my next curry then, as a replacement for red prik chii faa. I'm thinking that green Jalapenos or Serranos would be a good replacement for green prik chii faa, which seem to be much less common (or at least not many recipes call for them). As far as the common "Thai chilis" (or "Prik Kii Nuu"), it is also my experience that they're much hotter than Fresnos, and not the best replacement in a recipe that calls for Prik Chii Faa. They're great for many other uses in Thai cooking though. I have a few red Fresnos hanging in my kitchen to dry. Does anyone know how long it will take for them to dry? I'm thinking 3-4 weeks?

I recently purchased a copy of the excellent "Thai Food" cookbook by David Thompson and have started cooking from it. Many recipes in the book call for "prik chii faa" or "long chilies", both fresh and dried. I live in Seattle, which has a number of Asian supermarkets, but was unable to find these chilies (for those of you living in the area, I tried VietWa, Lam's and Hao Hao, and of course Uwajimaya). I thought about ordering the seeds online and growing them myself, and then dry them. But as I mentioned, I live in Seattle, and I think the weather over here may not be suitable to grow them. So I have two questions: * I'm wondering if any of you has had luck finding these chilies, in the fresh or dried form, in the United States. * And if not, what do you use as a replacement? I was thinking of using Red Fresnos (which I can find easily and can dry them myself), following the advice of the following site: http://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/cp_thaiz.html. I tried using the non-descript "dried red chilies" that can be found in most Asian stores with very bad results. They're very dry and keep a paper-like texture even after soaked, making them difficult to pound into curry paste. Also, the batch I got has almost no heat (or flavor). Thanks in advance for any replies!

Thank you everyone for the excellent replies! So many options! For the record: I also tried a box grater and a small zester, and they're not practical for grating large amounts of coconut. Since I already own a food processor, I am tempted to use it next to grate coconut. But I am intrigued by the bench grater and may get one if the food processor isn't quite as practical as it sounds. And for making coconut milk, I am thinking of peeling the coconut and just using the blender. The Indian-style grater also seems effective. Thank you again for the fantastic ideas!

I just finished grating 3 fresh coconuts, for the first time. I tried using a zester but it didn't work for me, so I used the melon baller. What a royal pain! There has to be a better, easier way to do this. I've seen a couple of tools that may make the job easier: * A hand coconut grater (like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Coconut-Grater-Shredder-Table-Top/dp/B00546VFJ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1329883428&sr=8-2) * A bench coconut grater (like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Cocgrater-TL7151-Coconut-Grater-Wood/dp/B005MEGJWW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1329883428&sr=8-3) I would love to hear your opinions on these and other tools that make this easier. Thanks!

runwestierun, That does seem like a simpler recipe. I really like Andrea Nguyen's recipes. However, I don't understand why she says to mix the instant yeast and water. Usually, active dry yeast is added to water, but I thought the whole point of using instant yeast is to skip that step. Still, the recipe is useful, and does seem a lot easier - thanks!

Thanks, Andy. Per yours and Chris' suggestion, next time I will try skipping the first step and adding instant yeast to the dry ingredients. That makes this recipe more in line with other bread recipes I've seen. I have a bit of a fascination for old cookbooks with unprecise instructions, no images, and weird methods... that makes cooking harder than it needs to be

Thanks Andy - that was a very clear explanation. I'd rather use instant yeast because I have a large package of saf instant yeast in the fridge. If I manage to use most of it in a year or two, that ends up being a lot cheaper than buying the individuals packets. I've actually made this recipe twice already with individual packets of active dry yeast, for fear of changing the instructions and getting it wrong. But if I continue making it often (we love char siu bau) I'd much rather figure out a way to use the instant yeast I have in the fridge. In general, I find instant yeast more convenient because I can mix it with the dry ingredients and add all the ingredients all in the same bowl.

Chris - The recipe does specify the amount of rise (I over-simplified my instructions) - it says the dough is ready when it has tripled in size. However, after 4 hours I estimate that my dough has maybe doubled, not tripled. The author explains that we should follow the shorter rising time in the summer, and the longer one in winter. Thanks for your advice - I am planning to try the usual yeast replacement next time then. Andy - Good to know about the warmer water and shorter rising time for instant yeast. How can I tell if dough is over-proofed? Also, I should mention that I am using a book written by a Chinese author in 1982, so I would imagine bread science has evolved quite a bit since then. Thanks!

I have a recipe (for Chinese char siu bau) that calls for roughly the following sequence of tasks: 1. Mix hot water, sugar and active dry yeast in a bowl. Let it rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour. 2. Add flour, egg, oil and knead for 15 minutes. Let it rest for 2-4 hours. 3. Shape buns. Let them rest for 1 hour. 4. Bake. I have two questions about this method: * I am wondering how this recipe can be modified to use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast. Typically I modify recipes by adding the (instant) yeast with the dry ingredients instead of adding it to the water. However, in this case this eliminates the first step and a whole hour of happy feeding for the yeast. I am wondering if the rest of the recipe needs to be adjusted if I skip the first step and mix all ingredients together. * I don't understand why the first step requires half hour to a whole hour of waiting. Other recipes that call for active dry yeast simply instruct us to add the yeast to the water and then to the rest of the ingredients. I understand that if we're not quite sure if the yeast is still alive, we can wait a few minutes until it starts to bubble in the water. But why a whole hour? Thank you in advance for any replies!

A few days ago I collected the squid ink out of 3 lbs of small squid. I am wondering how long it will last in the fridge before it goes bad. Thanks in advance for any replies!

Thank you for more excellent suggestions. I just spent the last hour watiching Ciril Hitz on youtube - he's fantastic! I've been experimenting with making bread lately, so this was a very timely recommendation. I do have a half price books store nearby, that I don't use nearly enough. Will make a point of making a trip there with the list of book suggestions I have compiled from this thread. Love all the book suggestions! Thank you!

Thank you SO MUCH for all the EXCELLENT answers! I have already added a few of the recommended books on my library waiting list, and I can't wait. Some comments and answers to questions: * I am absolutely willing to cook a lot. In fact, I already do that, but I feel like I am not optimizing that time well. Following recipes is a great way to start, but I want to make sure I have the basics well covered so that I can start being more adventurous. Without having to quit my day job * Agree about Modernist Cuisine. I just finished reading the whole thing (I borrowed the books from a friend), and I hoped it would give me the fundamentals I am looking for. However, although an amazingly fascinating read, I feel like I have quite a ways to go before I can apply that knowledge in my everyday cooking. * I am particularly interested in European cuisines for desserts and Asian cuisines for everything else. But I have an interest in all cuisines really, and like to remain open-minded and to be challenged with new ingredients and techniques. * I would consider an online cooking school, if it really was worth it and recommended. I would also consider classes (I live in the Seattle area), although I am not at a point in my life where I can enroll in a full time program (maybe some day in the future...) Your recommendations are very appreciated, so please keep them coming!

For those of us that are not able to (but would like to) attend cooking school, what cookbook gets us closest to that? I am looking for a book that covers the cooking fundamentals chefs learn at cooking school: techniques, tools, basic preparations... Thank you in advance!

When making tapas for guests, I always like to make ensaladilla russa (potatoes, carrots, peas, homemade mayo) because it can be made a few hours in advance and can sit at room temperature - in fact, it's supposed to be served at room temperature. This gives me time to prepare other more time-sensitive tapas when guests arrive. Also, it's gluten free and it's a starch (which is nice, since starch in tapas frequently comes from bread). I also like to make swiss chard with pine nuts and bacon, shrimp with garlic, potato tortilla, small stuffed squids, octopus with paprika, green beans with garlic.

Cuttlefish and squid are different animals. I'm most familiar with the varites of cuttlefish and squid available in southwestern Europe, and there squid tends to be small (around 2-3 inches) and cuttlefish is quite big (around 7-8 inches, similar in size to the big squid sometimes found in Asian markets). The taste of the squid/cuttlefish and of the ink is different too. However, if you can't find cuttlefish by all means use squid.

I have tried both simmering it for over an hour, and pressure cooking it for 30-45 minutes. Both work well and the octopus comes out tender. If you're looking for a recipe, my favorite is from Ethan Stowell's "New Italian Kitchen". It's essentially simmered octopus with beans, marinated on an acidic dressing. I also really filleting chunks of octopus, dipping it in egg and bread crumbs and pan frying - this is the way my mom cooks it most frequently, and my childhood favorite. My mom always pressure cooks it. I have heard that cooking the octopus for a short period of time also works, but that has never worked for me, it always comes out rubbery.

Thank you for the replies! I will try lowering the sous vide temperature, and I will experiment with new starters.