thai food

(and really really loved the food there)

don't know how authentic this is but the "lamb mince with broccoli" dish on this page is like one of my favourite simple dinners...so amazing. eating it right now :)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/19/recipe-foodanddrink

I remember sugar being a condiment at most restaurants and private homes we dined at (especially those in Bangkok JS), similar to salt and pepper. Actually instead of salt they had ajinomoto...

yeah they did that a lot in vietnam as well (the msg)

oh weird, i always think of thai food as having only minimal amounts of sugar and being more about the chillies and lime leaves and galanga and stuff. i've never been to thailand, all i know is from cooking at home and nearby restaurants (fwiw tho my neighborhood is home to a pretty mondo hmong population)

i looked up a thing:

Today many view Frogtown as a new enclave for Vietnamese and now Hmong immigrants, who, in Saint Paul, comprise the largest urban contingent in the United States

(also turns out i'm not technically in frogtown, just one neighborhood over, but anyway rah rah thai food etc)

What is the best way to fry curry paste when making a curry? I've tried numerous times to heat the coconut milk until the oils and solids separate and then to fry the paste in that, but it just gets really thick and starts browning/burning. What am I doing wrong?

I've never tried frying it in the coconut milk. I just put a little oil in a skillet, maybe some garlic, a bit of ginger, some onion, then when the onions are soft I stir in some curry paste until it becomes fragrant, then add the coconut milk.

xp are you frying the cream part of the tin of coconut milk? the top, thick parts of the can?

yeah, and I use Chaokoh so it's got a really nice thick cream w/ no emulsifiers.

I usu put it in the fridge overnight.

best thai food porn ever

i've lived there and am pretty sure you can safely label the people of thailand "foodies". they take this shit seriously, as amply demonstrated by the variety of dishes available from street food vendors in the above thread.

thread link

omg made a jungle curry that is destroying my insides as we speak

i'm not a spice wuss but had some sort of jungle curry at Jitlada (place had the biggest disparity between food quality and service ever) in LA that was really tasty but i could barely eat any of it cause of the heat, bummed me out cause i don't live in LA and had been looking forward to a meal there.

yeah, and I use Chaokoh so it's got a really nice thick cream w/ no emulsifiers.

― Yo! MTV La Tengo (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 29 January 2013 05:27 (4 hours ago) Permalink

hmmm that sucks then, that was my one pro tip that helped me.

I've never tried frying it in the coconut milk. I just put a little oil in a skillet, maybe some garlic, a bit of ginger, some onion, then when the onions are soft I stir in some curry paste until it becomes fragrant, then add the coconut milk.

yeah isn't the paste always before the milk? this makes sense in terms of cooking generally, at least anything else like this you tend to let your aromatic stuff get going before you add the bulk of liquid.

you tend to let your aromatic stuff get going before you add the bulk of liquid.

yeah you do this, you fry it in the fat from the cream, then you tip in the rest of the milk... as per - http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/recipes/greencurp.html

ah okay... i must try that way.

wouldnt it be easier just to start frying the paste in oil (maybe coconut oil?) and then put the cream in tablespoon by tablespoon separating each time

Okay so now my general technique is:

Fry 2T red curry paste in some oil for a few min
Add 1 can coconut milk, mix together
Add 1 lb protein (I've only done chicken and beef), cook for a bit
Add veggies, cook until tender
Balance flavors w/ fish sauce, palm sugar, etc (usu 1T of each)

Tonight I'm going to make a red fish curry w/ broc, bell pep, shallot, mushroom. I am thinking of a) frying some kaffir lime leaves w/ the curry paste/simmering them in the coconut milk b) maybe frying the shallot w the paste too c) adding the veggies with or even before the fish time bcz the fish only takes a few minutes to cook.

Is this OK enough re: my proportions, technique, order of stuff? How can I improve my thai curry game?

I'm no Thai expert, just an amateur cook, but it sounds pretty good to me. I agree with shallot in the oil first, and def. the veggies before the fish. Depending on what the veggies are, you may even what to steam/blanche them a bit before adding them to the coconut milk.

Also jarred curry paste is usually not spicy enough for my taste, so I'd also chop up a few chili peppers and fry them with the oil & shallots, but that's just me.

I usually saute the protein and veg in the curry paste before adding the milk, so that they get some more of the flavor. But I've never really explored proper technique so I am probably breaking several curry laws lol

Probably would work fine with most proteins, but I think fish prob. too delicate for that.

mackerel

I got tilapia

I have never bought fresh fish before! Goodness gracious, that shit's expensive!

saute the fish in the curry paste but remove it when done. add it back in when everything else is done.

Btw, here's a recipe that's basically what you're proposing, except without the broccoli (which to include I'd blanche a bit before adding to the coconut milk between steps 2 and 3):

http://www.atasteofthai.com/index.php?page=recipe&id=328

Oh! also! how small do I cut the fish?

I don't think you need to cut it up for this recipe. In the picture it looks like whole fillets.

Well that recipe yeah but I was planning on doing a more traditional soupy curry w/ bite size pieces type jawn

I guess you could cut to any size you like.

an inch or so is good, as a general rule

living in sydney now and i'm eating so much REAL THAI FOOD. it is the best. quality of life improvement = 100%

thai spicy

REAL Thai food

cf thread of pictures of real chinese food

rticles are tl;dr but the worst thing is American hipsters who say "That's not real _________"

― liars - wkiw (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, June 7, 2012 7:09 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'm just being stupid, forget it