[Question] How do I make my curry taste like the stuff from a Thai restaurant?
-
And she suggests using fresh chilis, lime leaves, and basil.
To be clear for the gringos in the chat, these would be “Thai chili peppers”, “kaffir lime leaves”, and “Thai basil”, all of which should be readily available at your nearest Asian market.
You snip some leaves off the citrus tree in your backyard, add some jalapeños, and sweet basil you’re gonna have a whole different dish.
Thank you for clarifying. She probably assumed I knew to point that out, but I didn’t.
-
And she suggests using fresh chilis, lime leaves, and basil.
To be clear for the gringos in the chat, these would be “Thai chili peppers”, “kaffir lime leaves”, and “Thai basil”, all of which should be readily available at your nearest Asian market.
You snip some leaves off the citrus tree in your backyard, add some jalapeños, and sweet basil you’re gonna have a whole different dish.
You snip some leaves off the citrus tree in your backyard, add some jalapeños, and sweet basil you’re gonna have a whole different dish.
Now I’m somewhat morbidly curious as to what that would taste like.
-
I know a big part of it is making sure to get authentic curry paste. What else would I need to make something like a nice tofu curry (6/5 spicy) that would taste like the stuff I could get as takeout?
“Tastes like it’s from your local Thai restaurant” is different than “tastes like it’s from Thailand”
The Surprising Reason that There Are So Many Thai Restaurants in America
You may have noticed that the ratio of Thai restaurants to Thai people in the US is high—and it's no coincidence.
VICE (www.vice.com)
The TL;DR is that the Thai government has sponsored many Thai restaurants around the world as a form of diplomacy. Menus and recipes have largely been standardized by the Thai government, but adapted to local tastes.
Personally, if I want takeout style Thai curry, I use maesri brand curry paste cans. They are cheap and don’t take up much space, and they have instructions on them like “add curry paste and 100 ml coconut milk to wok and cook till fragrant. Add 400 g protein …”. It’s easy to keep a selection on hand of the different flavors. Yeah, it won’t be the same as doing it 100% from scratch, but a lot of Thai restaurant food like pad Thai is notorious for requiring a lot of ingredients.
-
I know a big part of it is making sure to get authentic curry paste. What else would I need to make something like a nice tofu curry (6/5 spicy) that would taste like the stuff I could get as takeout?
Fry your curry paste for a little while to get it releasing the flavors. And when you put in coconut milk, don’t let it boil or it separates and gets oily.
-
I use this one and it is awesome.
Amazon.com: Mae Ploy Panang Curry Paste, Authentic Thai Panang Curry Paste for Thai Curries & Other Dishes, Aromatic Blend of Herbs, Spices & Shrimp Paste, No MSG (14 oz Tub) : Books
(www.amazon.com)
Mae Ploy is legit.
-
It’s usually “green” that I go for, sometimes red.
Just imagine a little hole in the wall place where the menu is in Thai, with your options being “red,” “green,” or “massuman” and the staff will respond well to the white guy asking for it to be “thai spicy.”
Penang or GTFO.
Seriously though, a good Thai recipe book on curry or an online source you trust is going to be your bet here, and not subbing out ingredients for the western equivalent.
Elsewhere people have already mentioned avoiding certain shortcuts, but I think you’re going to have to make some allowances the first time around, like a food processor versus using a mortar and pestle. As you track down more ingredients over time, try them out. You might have to go to multiple stores.
Lots of excellent advice in the thread already (could kick myself for not including shrimp paste!) but the truth is there are no surprise ingredients or techniques.
-
C Cooking shared this topic on
-
Also vouching for this stuff.
It’s my cornerstone keep in the pantry trick for lazy vegan meal prep and fuck I get so many compliments on the meals I make with it
I’m sure you know this, but some of the maesri pastes are non-vegetarian.
Strongly agreed on the delicious, lazy, vegan food, though.
-
“Tastes like it’s from your local Thai restaurant” is different than “tastes like it’s from Thailand”
The Surprising Reason that There Are So Many Thai Restaurants in America
You may have noticed that the ratio of Thai restaurants to Thai people in the US is high—and it's no coincidence.
VICE (www.vice.com)
The TL;DR is that the Thai government has sponsored many Thai restaurants around the world as a form of diplomacy. Menus and recipes have largely been standardized by the Thai government, but adapted to local tastes.
Personally, if I want takeout style Thai curry, I use maesri brand curry paste cans. They are cheap and don’t take up much space, and they have instructions on them like “add curry paste and 100 ml coconut milk to wok and cook till fragrant. Add 400 g protein …”. It’s easy to keep a selection on hand of the different flavors. Yeah, it won’t be the same as doing it 100% from scratch, but a lot of Thai restaurant food like pad Thai is notorious for requiring a lot of ingredients.
Thanks for this! I had no idea.
Excellent use of soft power.
-
You snip some leaves off the citrus tree in your backyard, add some jalapeños, and sweet basil you’re gonna have a whole different dish.
Now I’m somewhat morbidly curious as to what that would taste like.
I have a “Mexican” lime tree in my yard. I will snip some of the softer leaves for making Thai dishes. I’ll also use the jalapenos I grow as well.
My dishes taste better than most of the restaurants where I eat.
Tamarind paste is a great ingredient for Thai dishes.
-
I know a big part of it is making sure to get authentic curry paste. What else would I need to make something like a nice tofu curry (6/5 spicy) that would taste like the stuff I could get as takeout?
Galangal
