It Rains Fishes and Dancing Shrimp
March 23, 2015 9:46 AM Subscribe
Thai Curries — Kaeng (or Gkaeng or Gaeng). Award-winning cookbook author, cooking teacher, and tour guide Kasma Loha-Unchit discusses Thai curries. More detail on making curry: making curry paste from scratch, tips on equipment and technique, tips on prepping herbs and spices, the importance of the mortar and pestle.
Should you be making your own curry paste from scratch? In this interview, Kasma says maybe not… or at least, not yet:
Should you be making your own curry paste from scratch? In this interview, Kasma says maybe not… or at least, not yet:
Though Kasma and I disagree on some minor points, we share the same sentiments on pretty much all of the major things one of which is that unless you have all of the fresh herbs and spices required to make authentic and traditional Thai curry pastes, you’re better off using commercial curry pastes than trying to make do with ill-advised substitutes.
Mmm. I love me some panang curry. I often have to be picky with Thai food because for whatever reason lemongrass tastes off-putting to me but either the lemongrass in panang curry isn't as pronounced or it's just masked enough compared to some other Thai dishes.
posted by kmz at 10:02 AM on March 23, 2015
posted by kmz at 10:02 AM on March 23, 2015
Her recommendations on brands of ingredients are indispensable when shopping in Asian markets. I'm totally that guy that spends an hour at the market with my nose to my phone, trying to compare or find brands that she talks about.
posted by odin53 at 10:14 AM on March 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by odin53 at 10:14 AM on March 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
Friday: Brag to the Thai and Filipina women at work that I can make green curry paste using ingredients from my garden.
Saturday: Destroy kitchen trying to prove it. End up with a fibrous brown mass that looks like partially decomposed compost. It smells good at least.
Sunday: Make curry anyway. It's edible.
Monday: Metafilter tells me what I did wrong.
Damn Metafilter you scary. And LATE.
posted by kanewai at 10:33 AM on March 23, 2015 [6 favorites]
Saturday: Destroy kitchen trying to prove it. End up with a fibrous brown mass that looks like partially decomposed compost. It smells good at least.
Sunday: Make curry anyway. It's edible.
Monday: Metafilter tells me what I did wrong.
Damn Metafilter you scary. And LATE.
posted by kanewai at 10:33 AM on March 23, 2015 [6 favorites]
Been telling myself for a while to get a mortar and pastel, thanks for the encouragement!
posted by sammyo at 10:44 AM on March 23, 2015
posted by sammyo at 10:44 AM on March 23, 2015
Quick check at Amazon for Kasma Loha-Unchit's books...out of print and expensive used.
GAWD
DEMMIT
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 10:46 AM on March 23, 2015
GAWD
DEMMIT
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 10:46 AM on March 23, 2015
a mortar and pastel
I guess that's one way to get a red curry.
posted by yoink at 10:57 AM on March 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
I guess that's one way to get a red curry.
posted by yoink at 10:57 AM on March 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
Great post, Lexica, thanks! I just bought the ingredients for a batch of green curry yesterday. I'd resigned myself to never quite being as good as my local Thai joint but maybe now I'll have a fighting chance...
posted by dislegomena at 11:08 AM on March 23, 2015
posted by dislegomena at 11:08 AM on March 23, 2015
I have her "It Rains Fishes" book and it is my absolute favorite of all cooking books. I learned so much about mixing flavors and cooking in general from it. She's wonderful. Her love for food and all that goes into it really comes through.
posted by fraula at 11:16 AM on March 23, 2015
posted by fraula at 11:16 AM on March 23, 2015
I love this interview: "For the record, Thai green curry paste is green because of the color of the fresh green chillies in the paste. An angel loses his/her wings every time a Thai green curry paste recipe calls for fresh green leafy herbs (which will only oxidize and turn your curry brown). And every time a Thai green curry paste recipe calls for fresh red chillies, a wingless angel jumps off a cliff." Ha!
I'm all about Chaokoh coconut milk, but I have to beg to differ on the linked curry paste recommendation in order to insist upon Maesri FTW. My favorites are the red and prik khing curries, but they also make an incredible tom yum soup paste. (They're also all vegetarian.)
Vegetarian Thai recipe adaptations, for my fellow plant-eaters:
- Instead of fish sauce, try Maggi or Golden Mountain with a splash of umeboshi vinegar or make your own nước chấm chay.
- Instead of oyster sauce, use vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce (also known as 'mushroom stirfry sauce,' 'shiitake flavor stirfry sauce,' etc.).
- Instead of shrimp paste, add a dollop of doenjang, yellow bean paste, or ground bean sauce.
The secret, no matter if you use fresh or store-bought paste, is to fry your paste in a bit of coconut cream until the oils start to separate out. Then add the rest of the can of coconut milk, all of your vegetables/protein, and simmer. That's how you get those glorious little globules of brightly colored oil on top. Man, I really shouldn't be thinking about this so much on a day when I don't have time to eat lunch...
posted by divined by radio at 11:31 AM on March 23, 2015 [11 favorites]
I'm all about Chaokoh coconut milk, but I have to beg to differ on the linked curry paste recommendation in order to insist upon Maesri FTW. My favorites are the red and prik khing curries, but they also make an incredible tom yum soup paste. (They're also all vegetarian.)
Vegetarian Thai recipe adaptations, for my fellow plant-eaters:
- Instead of fish sauce, try Maggi or Golden Mountain with a splash of umeboshi vinegar or make your own nước chấm chay.
- Instead of oyster sauce, use vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce (also known as 'mushroom stirfry sauce,' 'shiitake flavor stirfry sauce,' etc.).
- Instead of shrimp paste, add a dollop of doenjang, yellow bean paste, or ground bean sauce.
The secret, no matter if you use fresh or store-bought paste, is to fry your paste in a bit of coconut cream until the oils start to separate out. Then add the rest of the can of coconut milk, all of your vegetables/protein, and simmer. That's how you get those glorious little globules of brightly colored oil on top. Man, I really shouldn't be thinking about this so much on a day when I don't have time to eat lunch...
posted by divined by radio at 11:31 AM on March 23, 2015 [11 favorites]
Just yesterday, Mr. Psho and I made this curry and it was fantastic. Probably the best curry I have ever had. Roasting the peppers, shallots and garlic made such a difference.
We used a blender instead of a mortar and pestle so I guess we are Inauthentic (plus using New Mexico chilies) but hoo boy was it tasty, and not too hot.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 4:45 PM on March 23, 2015
We used a blender instead of a mortar and pestle so I guess we are Inauthentic (plus using New Mexico chilies) but hoo boy was it tasty, and not too hot.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 4:45 PM on March 23, 2015
Her book is one of the finest out there for not just Thai but cookery, in general. She walks people through their taste sense. It is also a journey to a nostalgia of a Thai past that allowed time to do its mysterious magic on the preparation of food. A favorite in my collection.
posted by jadepearl at 4:53 AM on March 24, 2015
posted by jadepearl at 4:53 AM on March 24, 2015
Huh, interesting that she recommends Mae Ploy. I bought a container of that a few years ago and tried to use it several times, never with very good results. The resulting curries were certainly spicy but were missing that depth/complexity of flavors I associate with Thai food. Maybe I'll try Maesri next.
posted by lunasol at 12:53 PM on March 24, 2015
posted by lunasol at 12:53 PM on March 24, 2015
Did you add fish sauce? Sugar? They both bring a lot of depth to Thai food. But I agree the Mae Ploy curries can end up being a bit bland. I've tried adding just more curry paste but then it gets too salty.
posted by Nelson at 1:07 PM on March 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Nelson at 1:07 PM on March 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Did you add fish sauce? Sugar?
Yep! Just didn't work out for me.
posted by lunasol at 1:16 PM on March 24, 2015
Yep! Just didn't work out for me.
posted by lunasol at 1:16 PM on March 24, 2015
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I took a tourist cooking class in Thailand and the chef surprised me by giving me permission to use commercial curry paste. "It's what we do at home, too." The Mae Ploy brands are readily available in US stores. There's even a little recipe on the side which amounts to "add coconut milk, vegetables, meat". If you follow that you can get a pretty decent curry, better than you'll get from your local Thai takeout joint. Fresh basil and properly cooked vegetables make a huge difference.
But the curry paste is interesting and there's got to be variety and quality had from grinding fresh. Newly inspired! I'm trying to figure this out right now cooking Indian food, where pre-made masala mixes aren't nearly as useful.
posted by Nelson at 9:58 AM on March 23, 2015 [3 favorites]