theseahorse

It's seasoning sauce eg Maggi.

Basically, just another way of adding MSG without scaring the people who think MSG will kill them.

Look up Raidiance Whole foods. They have a shop tucked away on Suk 22, but are at the various farmers markets and fairs regually. They're always at the Bo.lan Market on the 1st Saturday of the month.

The local skins they sell in makro are ungraded and a bit of a nightmare to use. They're very tangled, have lots of holes in and some aren't cleaned/scraped well enough to use. Expect to only be able to use about 60% of the pack.

Most are about the equivalent of 34/36's but others are closer to 40 and some under 30.

Most Indian stores sell onion powder, if you're in BK then there's plenty of Indian grocery stores across the city.

5555..okay I give up ........kosher salt and bacon in same sentence already!????

Kosher salt doesn't mean it's kosher, all salt is kosher. The name comes from it's use of bring out the 'blood' from meat.

Kosher Salt is just salt with no additives such as iodine in and is a larger grain, the idea is it brings out the blood when sprinkled on meat. Calling it 'Kosher salt' is really just an American term.There's plenty of unadulterated salt availible here, just drive past the salt fields in Samut Songkhram and there's hundreds of sellers (although some are better than others), then just break it down to a good size.

So Retell, you're saying that any cut can be used?? And the basic porkloin is used for Canadian bacon? I get most of my meat from Makro and the pork loin there has hardly any fat. Maybe I'll try the local market as most of Makro's meat seems like it poped out of a pork mold and all looks the same. corporate pigs!!

Any part of the pig can be cured, but some are more suited to bacon or ham or aging than others. Obviously the most popular for bacon are the belly and then the loin, although you'll find it difficult here to find loin with a small bit of belly attached for a real British style back bacon.

But cuts like the collar are great for curing. Collar bacon is great due to the natural marbelling, just look at the Italian Coppa. It also makes a great ham too. Tenderloin is a bit too lean for just bacon/ham (although great when aged to make 'Filleto'). Then the leg makes gammon when boned and cured (or ham if you then cook it).

I personally prefer to dry-cure as I prefer the stronger flavour but many brine cure as it's easier . I also prefer it less sweet than the recipes above (they're very American). But play around, it's not hard, once you have your basic recipe sorted just add different levels of sugar or try using mollasses/honey/ syrups or different sugars (I really like using the dark brown natural sugar we get here) and play around with different herbs and flavourings, add garlic and herbs and you have pancetta. Experiment and find your own personal style.

Here's a recent batch of dry-cured back bacon.

I like the look of that bacon.

The biggest problem I have is that I don't have a meat slicer so my bacon comes out sort of gammon thickness even after it has been in the freezer for 3 or 4 hours before cutting it up to "firm up" the bacom.

The slicer helps, but with a good sharp knife and a bit of practice you should be able to slice nice thin slices. A slicer is only really needed if your slicing a lot at a time.

Also, 1,100 baht for 6.5kg of leg is expensive. You should be paying about 110 /kg not 170 from a wet market or Makro for boned leg meat.

So Retell, you're saying that any cut can be used?? And the basic porkloin is used for Canadian bacon? I get most of my meat from Makro and the pork loin there has hardly any fat. Maybe I'll try the local market as most of Makro's meat seems like it poped out of a pork mold and all looks the same. corporate pigs!!

Any part of the pig can be cured, but some are more suited to bacon or ham or aging than others. Obviously the most popular for bacon are the belly and then the loin, although you'll find it difficult here to find loin with a small bit of belly attached for a real British style back bacon.

But cuts like the collar are great for curing. Collar bacon is great due to the natural marbelling, just look at the Italian Coppa. It also makes a great ham too. Tenderloin is a bit too lean for just bacon/ham (although great when aged to make 'Filleto'). Then the leg makes gammon when boned and cured (or ham if you then cook it).

I personally prefer to dry-cure as I prefer the stronger flavour but many brine cure as it's easier . I also prefer it less sweet than the recipes above (they're very American). But play around, it's not hard, once you have your basic recipe sorted just add different levels of sugar or try using mollasses/honey/ syrups or different sugars (I really like using the dark brown natural sugar we get here) and play around with different herbs and flavourings, add garlic and herbs and you have pancetta. Experiment and find your own personal style.

Here's a recent batch of dry-cured back bacon.

Adams Organics have had locally grow butternuts squashes for a while. Theres still some in my local Tops, small but very nice and a fraction of the price compared to the imported ones at Villa.

I've also seen fresh sage in a couple of Villas recently too. Stuff like this is getting much easier to find in BK now.

Boyce - Aren't you based in Korat? I keep seeing stuff about Korat Chef and his sausages, all good butchers should sell a customer some casings so they can make their own - have you asked him?

If he won't help, PM me and I'll sort you out with some, I'm in BK though so Korat Chef may be a better option.

No. They stopped selling them a while ago.

Sent from my Samsung

Rusk, I've never seen. But I prefer bread crumbs in my British sausages anyway, probably my Suffolk upbringing. The dry white 'Panko' crumbs are very cheap and just need a quick blitz.

Still no luck with the stuffer? I was in Kluay Nam Thai earlier today and they had a few on the shelf. Cheapest was a 2 litre barrel for 8,000 (or 9,000 in Ferrari red). A few larger ones too.

According to the brochure I picked up their website is - www.bakeryeasy.net

Lesson 1. Go to the shops and buy some scales!

No self respecting cook uses cups, even American books now give the weight and advises people not to use cups. Crumpets are really easy to make, but you need to weigh out the ingredients otherwise it's not going to work, same goes with any baking.

If you're looking for a good recipe, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall wrote a good article in the Guardian a few years ago about Crumpets, Drop-Scones, Pikelets, Farls and Muffins with recipes, Google it and I'm sure you'll find it.

Edit.

@ WilliaminBKK

You posted at the same time as me. Glad to hear you're using some scales and the crumpets have come out well.

Here, give this website a look: http://orgathai.weba...shop/pricelist/ They have organic Jasmine brown rice.

The rice from Raitong that Orgathai sell is amazing. By far the best Thai rice I've had. Especially the GABA. I usually pick some up each month at one of the farmers markets. There's details of the markets on the website here too.

john dory is mekong catfish

john dory is a flat fish and nowhere near cod

What they call Dory here is catfish, but John Dory is not catfish. Maybe some bad restaurants add the word John to it, a bit like they call a Tubtim a Red snapper, but in the shops its just Dory.

Also a really John Dory isn't a flatfish, it's a fish that is a little flat. There's a big difference. Anyone whose ever filleted a flatfish can tell you that. Not like cod, no. But closer to cod than a flatfish.

Anyone know if champ still sell the big mincer with the sausage attachment in Makro pattaya i can remember seing one for 12000Baht it was a good size machine for the price.

Not sure about Pattaya but Champ do sell the mincers with sausage attachments in BK.

I really wouldn't advise getting an attachment for a mincer, they don't make good sausages as it wll smear the sausage when stuffing. You really want one that will just push the meat into the casings without mixing the meat anymore. I used to use an attachment to my Kitchen Aid mincer, but since getting a vertical sausage stuffer my sausages are a hundred times better and would never go back to using an attachment.

The picture in your OP is the cheapest option, but you can get a good 2l vertical stuffer at most of the catering equipment shops for about 8,000 baht.

When i had a butchers shop in the uk , i used to have a power filler that took 80 lbs of meat in one go,

any info on where to get the 8000Baht option Vertical Stuffer as there's not alot around here that sell them.

Cheers

Boyce

Mine came from one of the catering equipment shops on Rama 4 in Bangkok, nearly all of the shop along there have them and most are bout 8,000 for 2kg and about 10,000 for a 5kg. All Italian made and come with a selection of tubes, from chipolata size up to salami.

I first learnt to make sauages using a power filler and although they're great when making a lot of one type the vertical hand crank stuffers aren't that much slower if you making numerous smaller batches.I stuffed six varities today totalling 30kg and it took just over an hour.

Anyone know if champ still sell the big mincer with the sausage attachment in Makro pattaya i can remember seing one for 12000Baht it was a good size machine for the price.

Not sure about Pattaya but Champ do sell the mincers with sausage attachments in BK.

I really wouldn't advise getting an attachment for a mincer, they don't make good sausages as it wll smear the sausage when stuffing. You really want one that will just push the meat into the casings without mixing the meat anymore. I used to use an attachment to my Kitchen Aid mincer, but since getting a vertical sausage stuffer my sausages are a hundred times better and would never go back to using an attachment.

The picture in your OP is the cheapest option, but you can get a good 2l vertical stuffer at most of the catering equipment shops for about 8,000 baht.

Lard is just rendered pork fat. Just buy some back fat and slowly melt it.

I am a chocoholic, but try to eat low carb, so only go with the dark. I couldn't find decent chocolate here for a decent price, so I ordered a 5 kg block of Callebaut 70-30-38NV Extra Bittersweet chocolate bloc, 71% cocoa, 11 lbs., cost delivered to US, $88.84. My sister reshipped. Ordered from https://www.chocosphere.com/ Best prices; great service!

It was a helluva block! My sister never lets me hear the end of it. She was shocked when she saw it. I think it was something like 19" x 11" x 2".

Schmidt sell Callebaut chocolate, I think it's about 400 baht/kg depending on the type. Not sure if they have that exact one though. but maybe worth a look when you run out.

It's really easy to make a simple pate. My basic recipe is 1/3 pork liver,1/3 lean pork mince and 1/3 pork belly, then just add you're favourite spirit and your favourite herbs and spices and 2% salt (so 20g per kilo). I made a orange, juniper and masala pate the other day. But if you like it very livery add a little extra.

The way I make mine is to cut the liver into a 3cm dice, fry off as quickly as possible, so lots of colour but without cooking it through (never fully cook the liver at this point! ). Remove the livers and cool down in the fridge, now throw a little diced shallot into the same pan and soften, deglaze with your favourite booze and add this to a bowl to cool. Once everything is nice and cold, blend the livers, the mince and the chopped pork belly together along with your seasoning and place in a pate dish, cook in a bain marie (so place in a pan of water) in the oven until it reaches about 65 C in the middle (about 45 minutes on 160 C). Once cooked, weigh down with a couple of cans and leave to cool completely in the fridge.

You then just need to find some good bread and cornichons and munch away.

Every Chef has a few tricks up their sleves, and to be fair I've seen a lot worse.

Using clarified in hollandaise is a pet hate of mine (and the chef I trained under), as Mr Red said it's a sauce thats been 'bastardised' over years and even by some very good chefs. But it's the milk in the butter that makes a butter good, so why throw it away when making a hollandaise?? I've seen so many chefs add water to the mix when it gets too thick, why? Add the buttermilk thats where the flavour is!

Although I don't have one next to me now, I'd bet my life that if you look in Le Répertoire it would say melted butter, not clarified.

Sorry for going off on a chef rant, but I'm loving the way that this topic on packet bearnaise is turning into a discussion of real food.

Unfortunately is also one of the most "abused" sauces of ever...

Mostly of restaurant who offert it at the end serve a kind of mayonnaise form the can, cold and acid...

Serious restaurants (expecially inside hotels) prepare it just before the service and keep in a warm place till they use.

A very often used trick is to add a little of hard bechamel sauce before to start adding clarified butter, it help into keep everything thick and creamy.

Serious restaurants make it at the table whilst carving the Chateaubriand.

A very traditional sauce that has been bastardized over the years,still a classic.

Am really a lover of Bernaise, but unfortunately i never found a so serious place who made it at the table

Never seen it done at the table either and I've worked in a lot of very classic French restaurants in my past. Nice idea though, the more you can give to the chef de rang the better.

@Ciocco - Adding a bechamel is bad, but using clarified butter??? I'd have had a pan thrown at me if I cheated and done that in my commis days. ALWAYS melted butter, that is the correct, traditional way. If you make it out of clarified it's greasy and tastes oily, all the good flavour of butter comes from the buttermilk.

If only I had a baht for every young chef I've had to <deleted> explain this too.

As another post said, go to Villa. Theres about two or three different brands of oat meal (not rolled oats) in the Villa by soi 33.

I'd alway heard the rumours of Thai milk being made from powder but never really believed it, although it would explain why Meiji, Dutch Mill etc. taste so bad.

The Chok Chai milk is better (although doesn't actually come from Chokchai farm), but the only milk I have now is the Dairy Home brand, by far the best here and worth the few extra baht.