Fresh green peppercorns

[Dejah]

This was the first time I have ever seen fresh green peppercorns.

I seem to remember someone had posted a dish with this ingredient, but I can't rmember who...Prawncracker? C.sapidus?

I have found some recipes for sauces and Thai dishes, but I would appreciate any suggestions - tried and true recipes, etc.

[C. sapidus]

This was the first time I have ever seen fresh green peppercorns.

I seem to remember someone had posted a dish with this ingredient, but I can't rmember who...Prawncracker? C.sapidus?

I have found some recipes for sauces and Thai dishes, but I would appreciate any suggestions - tried and true recipes, etc.

I have never found fresh green peppercorns, so I use pickled. Lucky you! That said, my two favorite recipes with green peppercorns are:

Stir-fried wild pork with beans and green peppercorns (pat prik king muu bpaa - click and scroll down), from David Thompson’s Thai Food (page 297).

Spicy chicken with basil (gai pad bai ga-prow - clicky), from Thailand the Beautiful. This is suitable for weeknights and we made it frequently this summer, picking chiles and basil from the garden. I know that holy basil is proper for this dish, but I prefer it with Thai basil (which makes it bai horapa rather than bai ga-prow, as I recall).

I would love to hear about what you make.

[Chris Amirault]

Count me among the greenly envious. I have only seen fresh green peppercorns in Thailand.

The two dishes Bruce references are great, but I also think that, if you're comfortable working with rice noodles, you can do a simple noodle dish using the green peppercorns with some protein (chicken, shrimp, pork), some greens, some allium (onion, garlic, scallion), and some basil. Oil, sugar, fish sauce... taste and adjust.

[prasantrin]

I've had sizzling stir-fried squid http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/recipes/padchah.html before but without the green peppercorns. Would probably be even better with!

Where'd you get them? Lucky? Sun Wah?

[Dejah]

Got the peppercorns at Lucky - 6.00 for a lb. That was the only size available. I didn't know at the time how to use them, so I didn't realiz that's one heck of a lot of peppercorns!

However, I will persevere...

We had ptime rib tonight, so I made a green peppercorn cream sauce with white wine instead of gravy. It was delicious - a lighter version than the one I made last Xmas with green peppercorns in brine, morels, etc. I liked the way the peppercorns sneak up in the mouth - the aroma of fresh cracked pepper rather than the heat.

C. sapidus gave acouple of Thai suggestions so that'll happen in the next few days.

I also have a package of ho fun and Thai basil, so maybe I'll try that for lunch tomorrow.

I love these peppercorns. Tried acouple fresh and they just "popped" with aroma.

[jsager01]

Got the peppercorns at Lucky - 6.00 for a lb. ...

I love these peppercorns. Tried acouple fresh and they just "popped" with aroma.

I have never seen them for sale in that quantity outside S E Asia. The ones i have bought in chinese/thai grocery stores in Europe and sometime ago in Toronto, have been in packages of about 10 to 20 sprigs, ie 10-20 green vines/stalks with peppercorns still attached - weighing at most a few grams or oz, as they are very light in weight. I usually do not use any more than 10 sprigs in each recipe for 2-4 servings.

Fresh green sprigs of peppercons dont keep well, and they turn mushy if frozen. That's why its difficult to find them outside S E Asia? Your best bet maybe to keep them in the fridge (and even then they turn black in about 2 weeks or so), or maybe (as i have never tried) make sauces or other recipes that call for pickled/brined/dried green peppercorns. Or make a gigantic batch of Thai curry and freeze it :-)).

My experience is that sprigs of fresh green peppercorns are used mostly in Thai cooking. I use fresh green peppercorn sprigs in Thai curries, especially green curries as it adds to the green color among its other contributions. I also use it for stir fries that are spicy and have meat in them. In any case, my preference is to add the sprigs only towards the end of the cooking, to get that 'just "popped" with aroma' that you experienced.

BTW, as you may already know, dont strip the peppercorns from the vine, as otherwise, the peppercorns will sink to the bottom of the curry or stir fry, and you may then have to hunt for them. The vines or stalk do not have much flavor other than being very stringy, and you may wish to strip the peppercorns from the vines just before eating.

If you can find fresh green peppercorns, you are most likely to find fresh pea-sized Thai aubergines or egg plants, and they go well together for that 'popped with aroma experience.

[Dejah]

Good idea about making a big batch of Thai curry and freezing it.

I saw the pea-size aubergine at the store and thought about picking them up (but regret not doing so now). I used them in a vegetarian curry for an Indonesian student far away from home acouple of years ago. Might have to get my hands on some to try again.

The cream sauce I made last night called for adding 2/3 of the peppercorns as the sauce simmered, then the final 1/3 just before serving. I really enjoyed biting into them.

Onto more dishes probably tomorrow.

[Dejah]

I love the green peppercorns so much that I've been using them in just about everything and anything: roast beef sandwich with horseradish then sprinkled with peppercorns (they stick onto the horseradish ) topped with Thai basil and lettuce (two lunches!); BBQ pork and ho fun (rice noodles) topped with black bean garlic bitter melon with peppercorns; now planning to make the pork and green bean green curry.

Rona: I had a spicy stir-fried squid dish in one of the local restaurants on Monday. It was quite good, but like you said, it would have been even better with the peppercorns! I should have taken some down with me...never thought

[Nasi_Campur]

I'd toss those in all kinds of things if I could find them! Mac and cheese would be good.

Tried the ones in a jar once.... terrible. Only a faint resemblance of the real deal.

[Dejah]

Made a Thai style green curry pork with eggplant this evening - a recipe I found at Suite 101.com (googled). It called for 1/4 cup of green peppercorns and eggplant. It was delicious, especially topped with Thai basi and over rice. I made a double batch and will have some for the freezer. Took a picture and will try this weekend to post on here - again.

Tomorrow, I'll be doing the stir-fried pork with beans that Bruce recommended.

I gave about 20 sprigs to a foodie collegue, have used about 20 sprigs myself, and I still have about half a pound left!

[jsager01]

It looks like your having bought a whole lb of fresh green peppercorns is turning out to be more of a blessing than a 'waste'? in the sense that you are now motivated to try it on more recipes than if you had just bought 10 sprigs

yes, its a very versatile spice/condiment. As Nasi_campur says, dont bother with the pickled/salted ones.

Something i have wanted to try but never got around to, is to use it in pepper steak/steak au poivre. I guess I would crush half and use it together with salt as the seasoning, and the other half added whole just before end of the sauce to retain the 'pop with aroma'. It would be something like the prime rib that you had cooked earlier, but with a crust of green peppercorns.

[Zacky]

What about pepper-crusting some fish fillets to be grilled?

And an idea from outside the box: green pepper ice cream?! Go on! It could be amazing!

[Chris Amirault]

Inspired by this topic and by memories of fresh green peppercorns in Thailand, I cracked open a jar of brined green peppercorns. And promptly threw them all away.

[Dejah]

Hopefully, with Chris's patience, this picture will be successfully uploaded.

This was the Thai-style green curry with pork and fresh green peppercorns that I made last week.

Yea!!! Thanks Chris!

[OnoTours]

I recently made a wonderful pasta dish, using lots of minced garlic and green peppercorns sautéd in extra virgin olive oil, followed by oyster mushrooms and some broth. It was tossed with linguini, fresh chopped Italian parsley and parmesan cheese. Absolutely delicious.

[oneidaone]

I just got some beautiful fresh green peppercorns. They are easy to work with and amazingly flavorful. Tonight I am roasting a chicken with 2 lemons and will put crushed

peppercorns along with ground black pepper and sea salt all over the skin and inside the cavity with the lemons. This is an old Marcella Hazan recipe that I love. There is a farmer Frankie Sekiya that grew them and sold them at the Kapiolani Community College farmer's market on Saturday.