Hadrian1

I've got a friend visiting Thailand. I would like him to pick up a couple of Kaffir Lime plants for me so that I'll have a supply of leaves for my Thai Cooking. Where would one find Kaffir Lime Plants for sale in Thailand and how much would the cost? Thank you.

How about a recipe? A tried and tested one.....

I use this place as i travel passed it quite a bit which is in Bristol and there have a online shop as well

http://www.waiyeehong.com/

Eastgate Oriental City,

Eastgate Road,

Eastville,

Bristol, BS5 6XX

I see they have lots of stuff but the one first thing that I looked for ie Black Soy Sauce as in the type to make Pad Krapow doesn't seem to be available. They do supply it at the place I posted although they are out of stock. I see the 'Ran' place has a minimum order amount of £30 which I usually too much for me.

Can these be grown in colder climates eg northen Europe?

Here's another:

http://www.thai-food-online.co.uk/

Anybody use them?

Are they fully covering the eggs? Two hens brooding next to each other....I don't know the exact circumstances might not be ideal. Do they have completely separate nests or might some eggs between them if you know what I mean. If I had to make a guess.....it's something to do with losing heat during incubation and the chicks are weakened. Do the fully formed chicks which have died in the eggs actually start to hatch or not?

I used to go to a Thai Vegetarian restaurant on Soi 22 Viphavadee Rangsit. It was a buffet style establishment. Anybody else know it?

Kaffir lime leaves also freeze well too, so next time you see some, don't be afraid to stock up.

Thank you both for your replies. I read somewhere......I think David Thompson's book on Thai cooking that you can also freeze the fruit as it's only the rind that you need and freezing won't have any effect on the taste. I have actually got a plant in the house. It's doing ok but I understand that it won't produce any fruite until about 3 years old.

Does any one know of a good alternative to Green Papaya for Som Tam? It's quite hard to get here, and when i can find it it's just so expensive...

Thanks

x

sour green apples, carrots are popular alternatives....

In restaurants in the UK.....carrots are used to make up the quantity of shredded material so that less expensive Papaya is used. I don't think though it would be an alternative. Below is an alternative version made without Papaya which was made by a tv chef here in the UK. I've never made it but I personally doubt it would be as good as one made with Papaya. I might be surprised though.

? white cabbage - cut into thin strips

3 carrots - cut into thin strips

1 red onion - cut into strips

3 cloves garlic - finely chopped

3 tbsp peanuts - crushed

12 small tomatoes - quartered

1 small red chilli - finely chopped

3 tsp Nam Pla or light Soy Sauce

2 tsp soft brown sugar

Juice of 2 limes

Handful of fresh coriander

METHOD

Mix the vegetables in a large bowl, cover in cling film and leave in the fridge until ready to serve the salad.

Mix the lime juice, sugar and Nam Pla together in a small bowl and put in the fridge.

Before serving:

Add the finely chopped coriander to the vegetables in the large bowl. With a rolling pin handle, mash the vegetables a little to release the natural juices. Pour the lime juice mixture over the vegetables and serve immediately.

I have read several Thai coockery books which mention that if you want to make the Thai Green Curry paste then you need to use the rind of the Kaffir Lime. I also went on a Thai cookery course in London where the Thai woman giving the lesson stated that the rind of a Kaffir Lime was needed but since it was difficult to get hold of at times or in some locations.....you could subsitute with the rind of a Lime. Anyway, that's what we did on the course, subsitiute the Kaffir Lime rind with that of a normal Lime. At the end, we ate what we had created and it was very nice indeed. So, my question is.......why is the kaffir lime used and specified if the normal lime seemed to to the trick. Does the Kaffir lime have an extra dimension to it's taste or whatever? I understand that the Kaffir lime juice isn't much used for anything except for I think I read somewhere to keep a salad or something similar from discolouring or looking 'fatigued'. Could anybody who knows a bit about the Kaffir lime throw some light on this for me? Thanks you.

There's Som Tum.......What else is there? Looks nice.

It looks to me like it's a ra chand juicer. Maybe you can buy it on-lin somewhere.

I recently had the Fried battered banana served with Ice Cream. That is fusion isn't it....

PS I recently saw a book which might be of interest to you regarding Thai fusion. I'll look for it.

Everytime I go to Siam Square......................

Sorry to digress from your original post.

It appears you visit Siam Square often! I started a thread some time ago asking what some ladies at a certain food stall were selling. The thread is below:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Pad-Thai-t129907.html

Are they still around there.....close to the Hard Rock Cafe at I think around office closing time? If you do go there soon, could you check out if they still sell there and find out the name of their dish? I am not 100% sure we identified it before.

Spicy Fried Beef with Ginger

2 tablespoons oil

1 lb sirloin steak tips or skirt steak thinly sliced

2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger

Salt

1 tablespoon Red Curry Paste

1 large onion, sliced (about 2 cups)

2 red or orange bell peppers, sliced (about 2 cups)

3 tablespoons Sweet Red Chili Sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup chopped basil

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add beef and one tablespoon of the ginger. Salt to taste and stir-fry until meat is barely cooked. With a slotted spoon, remove beef to a bowl, draining oil back into skillet.

2. Add Curry Paste and onion to oil. Stirring, cook until curry is dissolved and fragrant. Add peppers and remaining ginger. Stir-fry until vegetables are tender crisp.

3. Add Sweet Red Chili Sauce and soy sauce to vegetables . Stir to combine. Pour reserved meat, with accumulated juices into skillet. Cook until meat is just heated through. Add basil and mix until combined. Serve with Jasmine rice.

Hey.....thanks for that. I suppose the basil would be Thai Sweet as opposed to Holy? Did I have the name correct?

I tried this dish in a UK Thai restaurant a while ago. This is what my Thai friend called it in English. But I think in Thai she said something like Pad Nunga prik geng. It was very nice and not what I would call a curry. I thought that 'geng' was 'curry'? Anyway, if anybody knows it, could they tell me what's in it and ideally....a recipe. It was a year or two ago I ate it and I only asked lately about the dish. Not sure if she remembers it that well but from my description, this is what she came up with.

Hmmm...thanks teletiger. The seeds might be the problem but I would like to know how deep the gardeners/farmers plant the seed.

I am trying to grow some of the golf ball sized aubergines in the UK as well as some pea aubergines. The larger ones are doing nicely but the pea aubergines havn't germinated at all. I tried surface sowing but it hasn't worked for the pea aubergines. I saw that maizefarmer suggested pushing finger into the soil and dropping seed into that. How deep would that be? Anybody with any other suggestions? Sorry for a slight degression to the thread!

I am afraid I can't be of much help, I have grown the pea eggplants but it was simply a matter of sowing the seed. They should sprout as easily as the others since they are, in fact, related. Solanum torvum is the pea sized eggplant and the larger one, also called brinjal is solanum melongena.

Did you surface sow or plant them a few millimetres deep?

Thank you both for your replies.

I've seen your video before aircut. Very good. Maybe you could answer me what makes Thais choose either eggplants or the larger aubergines? Is it personal preference or just a case of what is at hand?

Still hoping for somebody to appear that have tried growing the smaller ones......

If I remember correctly, when eating Green Curry in Thailand, I used to mostly get the golf ball sized green aubergines in it. However recently in the UK, I had some pea aubergines in my Green Curry. Which are most prevalent there? I think I prefer the pea ones.

I can't get either where I live. I have got hold of some seeds from Thailand. I have surface sowed both types. Most of the larger ones are sprouting nicely. Not one of the pea aubergines have sprouted yet despite being planted at the same time. I am starting both off indoors. Has anybody else tried growing them? Any tips? Thanks.

Forgive my ignorance.....but what are Coyote dancers? Are they hookers?

easyman,

What type of Shoarma do you make? I thought that Shoarma was made with mince meat.....very often lamb and then put on one of those revolving doner kebab things and middle eastern in origin? Am I correct?

Here is an old post of mine with photos of basil that we grow.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/-t184508.htm...99#entry2021699

Thanks. It seems that you grow it? How long do you find it takes for krapao to germinate? Do you plant the seeds in the soil or surface sow? Cheers.

Excellent reply Beachbunny.

Since I live in the UK and where I live there are no Asian shops, I am trying to grow Harapa and Krapao. The Harapa is doing nicely and most if not all the seeds I planted have sprouted and doing nicely. Not one of my Krapao seeds have germinated and I planted around 2 weeks ago the same time as the Harapa. Anybody else tried growing these? The krapao seeds are very fine indeed.....much smaller then the Harapa. I have now planted some more seeds and this time put less soil over the seeds. Anybody have any suggestions? Both sets of seeds are being grown indoors.