U235

Restaurants  buy their mozzarella in blocks from approx. 2 kg. It is the white one, however not packed in water. And it's a bit cheaper as Foodland ;-)

14 minutes ago, CLW said:

I found some recipes on the net but they call for a fermentation temperature between 18-20°C which is difficult to achieve here.
Outside too warm and in the fridge too cold.
The recipe uses big glass jars

No problem, the jars I made in my previous post are just kept in a kitchen cabinet, next to the home made picked gherkins and onions.

2 hours ago, Naam said:

yes! even in India anything food presented as mutton is goat.

Strange enough I like it, I can not imagine how my reaction would be if a restaurant owner at home would tell me that the nice lamb dish I had was in fact goat ;-)

The basmati rice problem seems to be solved: found a post from 6 years ago about this topic and it provided a telephone number of a shop in Little India willing to send it by post. Wife checked the number and it was a friendly shop indeed, so now I need to think which Indian stuff I need to order. Suggestions?

37 minutes ago, Naam said:

using for any Biryani another rice than Basmati is a deadly sin which has a negative impact on karma!

Copy that, I once tried it with yasmine rice and since then my wife left me, the minoi became pregnant from a monk and the kids have bad school reports.

There are some mysteries about the Indian restaurants over here: they all have it and they also all have dishes with mutton.  Where do they buy it? In 15 years I think I saw only one time sheep here in Thailand. The wholesale restaurant suppliers I know don't have it, so what do they use? Maybe goat?

On 4/21/2017 at 4:39 PM, Minnie the Minx said:

May I ask where you found the biryani rice? Searched everywhere...

On 4/22/2017 at 2:58 PM, tutsiwarrior said:

I use swan bread flour and '555' (kid you not) wheat flour for stove top flatbread...can't find anything else where I live...

 

munching on a defrosted chappati at the moment...

555 flour is probably invented by a smart Thai who smelled money ;-)

T55 is the flour I normally use for breads, rolls, croissants and everything which looks "French". It is the normal flour they use in France (and unfortunately very hard to find in Thailand)

For Italian breads and pizza's I use 'Typo00' which is the Italian pizza flour you can find  in the more falang oriented supermarkets.

But the green swan flour is ok if you don't want to buy a 25kg bag.

A bit off topic: but has anyone managed to make it yourself? I make croissants (basically puff pastry with yeast) by myself and have huge problems to keep my dough cool in this hot climate (don't laugh, but I let my dough rise in a washing machine filled with some ice...). Would be probably easier if I substitute the butter with some hard croissant margarine....

On 2/27/2017 at 7:12 AM, abab said:

Casino is really the best brand of any imported products from any country in Thailand. Pizza included ! Find me any other better frozen pizza as an evidence that you know nothing ?

Found them in my freezer ;-)  

Make the dough by yourself, and freeze a pre-baked crust. Toppings you better ad at the time of consumption (but the tomato sauce you can also make in advance and freeze)

Strange things happen indeed with Casino, all 5 products they normally stock in Kanchanaburi are gone ;-(

They currently have it in Tops Kanchanaburi

Just ask any bakery to make them for you if you need big quantities.

You can easily make them by yourself if you need just a few breads.

As if there aren't enough rice dishes in this country: risotto agli asparagi (my sons like it because there is cheese in it)

11 hours ago, wayned said:

This one available from Lazada http://www.lazada.co.th/mitsubishi-1-144-50-mf-u14e-252941.html

 

They show "out of stock, in stock soon", not cheap!

 

Also this one which is more of a store display freezer http://www.lazada.co.th/konion-65-q-180-litre-gz-3100ex-white-9579211.html

Thanks, the Mitsubishi is exactly what I'm looking for.

Will keep an eye on it to see if it becomes available again.

Talking about freezers,  I spend the last 15 years of my life searching every corner of Thailand for a cabinet freezer (one with a door and drawers).

Anyone has seen them? I don't mean a combo with a fridge, just the freezer.

2 hours ago, Naam said:

i love steak tartare but not in Thailand where there's a "good" chance to acquire a tapeworm infection

It's quite safe if you grind it by yourself and use frozen beef.

And I heard a worm is the perfect companion if you want to lose some weight the easy way 

Strange that nobody posted this before : steak tartare with French fries.

(who said you can not make decent fries from Thai potato's ?)

6 hours ago, tutsiwarrior said:

thanx, gents...just what I was lookin' for...

 

when ye make pizza, what sort of toppings does yer thai family like? I was gonna guess anchovies to start, they got 'em at lotac...ground pork? chiles?

 

 

Just the classics; pepperoni, ham, seafood, mushrooms, mozzarella, artichoke, anchovies, capers, etc.

I never change recipes of Western food so that  they better fit the Thai taste. After all, the kids have my falang genes so it is only natural that they learn to eat Western food too. Never had a problem with it. Only my wife can be a bit picky but I can always seduce her with a pizza Margaretha or a seafood one.

Just be careful with anchovies, they might be too salty for many people (Thai and Non Thai). 

But whatever you decide the make, always keep in mind that 'less is more' counts especially for pizza's: use just a little bit of toppings your pizza's can bake in a couple of minutes. Pizza Hut is a very bad example! (and has nothing to do with pizza's anyway...)

On 1/12/2017 at 9:06 AM, tutsiwarrior said:

anyone know a recipe for making pizza sauce with just fresh tomatoes, garlic, onion and oil? tomato sauce and tomato paste are as hard to find in my area as a good pizza...I suppose I could just cook the toms in the other ingredients and mash up with a potato masher or put in a blender...ain't got no oregano or italian spices but I brought back some za'atar from saudi...

Easy. 

Fry garlic and onion in (olive) oil. Add diced fresh tomato's and a sprig of fresh basil. Add some water. 

Let simmer it till the water is evaporated and you have a thick sauce. Sir occasionally, especially at the end to prevent burning. Your sauce should become quite thick otherwise your pizza will become too soggy.

No need to use stuff from cans, everything you need you can find on the market except maybe olive oil - the Italians who invented the pizza hundreds of years ago never went to Tesco or ordered ingredients online.

Cold smoked salmon trout.

Not much cheaper as a Makro smoked salmon (the only one available in a decent radius), but so much better if you make it by yourself (cheap smoked salmon's are injected with water before smoking - mine are not)

Salmon trouts fit better in my fridge (approx. 1kg/filet), so that's why I use them it instead of salmon. Fish is ready to eat after 3 days.

On 12/19/2016 at 2:16 PM, wayned said:

I usually use a 2kg chunk of pork collar.  It's nicely marbled with fat and comes out nice especially for sandwiches.

Ready!  I used loin instead (had it in the freezer) and followed some recipes from Fritz Sonnenschmidt. (Pastrami and Kassler Rippchen)

The result is delicious, however I would not call it ham. The recipe for the rippchen is identical as that for a cooked ham (wet cure for 10 days, inject brine, cook slowly - eventually smoke it first). So my guess is that if you want a real ham you should use ... a ham instead of a loin.  But it is a good substitute and much easier to prepare at home as the real thing.

16 minutes ago, wayned said:

I usually use a 2kg chunk of pork collar.  It's nicely marbled with fat and comes out nice especially for sandwiches.

Thanks, will give it a try. How long do you cure it?

2 hours ago, wayned said:

I cure and cook my own ham and corned beef. 

Which cut do you use for the ham? Have been thinking about making my own ham too, but there is no way to put a 7 kg pork leg for weeks in my fridge. So I'm looking for something smaller 

5 hours ago, meatboy said:

thanks for your reply PDAZ,i wish i could go home a few times every yr.but my traveling days are over.

i too love nz.lamb,but welsh salt marsh is the best in the world,i have been a meat eater all my life and there is nothing better than a juicy steak, hereford blacks are exceptional,but i have had,ausi,argentina,brazilian,plenty of thai[pon -yang-kham] which is very good.

this yrs.treet is a 16oz. wagu steak this will be the first time and more than likely the last.my pension dont go that far.

as for thai food i love curries,green,red, masman and make my own indian.

same for beef and pork pies,i buy a lot of local beef flank,and striploin when i can get it cooked slow sealed in a dish it comes out well.

when living in bkk.we did a lot of shopping at food land that was 25yrs.ago,well tomorrow they open in korat so the wife is all excited.

so lets see what has changed or will it be the same quality or not. 

I also moved from a tourist area (with a lot of falang stuff for sale) to the country side and obvious also face the lack of products over here.

My solution:

Set up a life line with the civilized world: ask a friend (in BKK, Pattaya, Phuket,....) to ship a couple of times a year some  boxes with the stuff you can not find in the boonies. Shipment can be done by bus to the next city and is really not that expensive. Had a delivery last week from Phuket and paid thb 1500 for 75 kg. Just had to pick up the goods in the bus station and take them back home. 

Take products with a long shelf life like hard cheeses, can's, dried foods. Don't order them in Villa or another overpriced falang supermarket, but find yourself a supplier who caters to hotels. You will need to buy a lot, but you will save tons of money at the end of the day (expect prices to be 50% from what you pay now). Only drawback: I had to install a second fridge only for my falang food ;-) If packet well, you can even ship your favorite steaks or seafood this way.

Learn to cook: sound obvious, but most people seem to have no idea what you can make by yourself with local ingredients. Before I often bough 'Rillettes du Mans' (some French pate like meat, available from Casino in Big C). Now I make it by myself. Same goes for a lot of thing you normally buy in the supermarket (pickled gherkins, onions, vegetables, mustard, sauerkraut, ricotta, sausages, pies, breads, fresh pasta, etc etc etc)

At the end of the day there are only two products left which stay out of my reach: soft cheeses and ham. The cheeses because of their short shelf life, the ham because of their weight (5-7 kg, really too much for me but if you live in an area with other falang, maybe you can share?)

In short: I don't have a problem with availability of falang products and I'm absolutely not moaning about their price. Adapting myself a bit and be creative is the small price I have to pay to live here.

19 hours ago, Tarteso said:

Try to make our "your Falang cake" with double of sugar for them ! It Work for me
 

Strange enough, my family often complains that my food is too sweet. The birthday cake was a good example.

16 hours ago, CLW said:

For cake, you could try angel or chiffon cake recipes. They have a very light and fluffy texture.
Any cheesecake was also liked.
Especially fluffy Japanese cheesecake (sure, everything from Japan or Korea is popular here 555)
 

Thanks, I will give the angel cake a try, but it will have to wait a bit 'cause I will need to buy cream of tartar first in the Big City.

Bread isn't a big problem: they eat only my hamburger buns and they passed the test. 

That Thangzong thing sounds curious. Right now, I'm waiting till the 'biga' for a batch of Ciabata is ready. Will mix a bit of that roux in one loaf; let see what it gives. Found an article on the www from a guy who claims it improves it a lot, however 'soft dough Japanese style' and 'crispy Italian style' looks a bit like a controversy to me. Wait and see...