Phanaeng Curry Named Best Stew in The World

[JensenZ]

2 hours ago, xylophone said:

I have liked spicy food since way back when (probably when I was in Nigeria at the end of the Biafran war, when whatever "meat" you got was steeped in a hot sauce, probably so you couldn't tell that it was either full of maggots or rotten) – – but I digress.

 

I have mainly stuck to farang food since I've been here with the occasional effort at cooking Thai food, but I'm leaning more towards making the majority of my meals, Thai, mainly because I do like spicy food and I can eat green chilis if I want, and I often sprinkle them on my home-made pizzas. 

 

And just to cement my thought process onto leaning much more towards cooking Thai food, just yesterday I had a chicken and mushroom pie which a friend's wife had cooked for me, and I had it with mashed potato and brussels sprouts, with some very weak chicken Bisto gravy.

 

I then realised that it was all very bland and damn near tasteless, so no more of that stuff for me, and although I do make the occasional Italian dish with some chili in it, Thai food will gradually take over my menu, apart from the fact that I do like a good tenderloin steak with some stilton on it (accompanied by a nice bottle of red wine) on occasion.

 

So I will be experimenting with more Thai dishes and the next in line will be a Panang chicken curry!!!!

 

Thank you to whoever started the thread because it's tickled my tastebuds.

You're addicted to chillies, which doesn't have much to do with flavour. In fact, your taste buds are probably dead as you cannot appreciate mild flavours.

 

https://thechilliproject.com.au/addicted-to-chilli-theres-a-reason-for-that/#:~:text=The brain also releases dopamine,hooked on chilli so easily.

[Yellowtail]

2 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

Most Thai food, unless you eat at upscale Thai restaurants in bigger cities, is nothing to write home about. 

 

Usually sinewy meats soaked in Sugar and MSG.  

That has not been my experience 

2 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

However you get what you pay for. 

One would hope...

[kwilco]

3 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

I think you're the kind of bloke who makes unfunny jokes and doesn't realise they just aren’t funny... 

You’ll have to help out the reader by posting emoji’s to highlight that you’ve made an attempt to be humorous !!!... 

 

so... Is curry, currying ?...    What you have mentioned is cooking methods, there’s also steaming sautéing, blanching etc...  then there are things like saus-vide... 

 

So.. Is a curry a stew ???... I don’t think so. Stew is a western term. 

What a baseless response...like talking to a naughty 12 year old

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, JensenZ said:

You're addicted to chillies, which doesn't have much to do with flavour. In fact, your taste buds are probably dead as you cannot appreciate mild flavours.

 

https://thechilliproject.com.au/addicted-to-chilli-theres-a-reason-for-that/#:~:text=The brain also releases dopamine,hooked on chilli so easily.

An assumption on your part based on what you have read about chilis, however I also like other spicy foods like black pepper (nothing to do with Capsaicin) and also mild foods without too much spicy taste in them, for example onions and ginger – – not to mention the fact that I like cheeses ranging from mild to strong. 

 

And there is absolutely no way that my tastebuds are dead because I appreciate many different wines and the flavours therein. Not to mention other foods of varying descriptions, but when I think about it, what sort of taste is there in a chicken and mushroom pie with no other flavouring/additives whatsoever?

 

Nice try but don't give up your day job.

 

PS. You might want to substitute the "your tastebuds are probably dead" with something along the lines of, that I appreciate flavours that I can get wonderful taste sensations from, such as a beef bourguignon, paella, pork in a garlic and wine marinade and so on.....many and varied taste sensations are what I thrive on.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, JensenZ said:

You're addicted to chillies, which doesn't have much to do with flavour. In fact, your taste buds are probably dead as you cannot appreciate mild flavours.

 

https://thechilliproject.com.au/addicted-to-chilli-theres-a-reason-for-that/#:~:text=The brain also releases dopamine,hooked on chilli so easily.

Really depends which chili and how much you use.   Not a fan of Thai chilis myself (50,000-100,000 on Scoville), as a bit too acidic.   

 

Prefer to use only Cayenne, 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville.  Also find it easier to control the amount/flavor/spiciness, as Thai chili vary widely, so inconsistent.

 

And yes, I does add flavor: "The cayenne pepper is a type of Capsicum annuum. It is usually a moderately hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes" -wiki

 

Again, depending on use.  You can put too much of anything on or in any food.

[JensenZ]

48 minutes ago, xylophone said:

An assumption on your part based on what you have read about chilis, however I also like other spicy foods like black pepper (nothing to do with Capsaicin) and also mild foods without too much spicy taste in them, for example onions and ginger – – not to mention the fact that I like cheeses ranging from mild to strong. 

 

And there is absolutely no way that my tastebuds are dead because I appreciate many different wines and the flavours therein. Not to mention other foods of varying descriptions, but when I think about it, what sort of taste is there in a chicken and mushroom pie with no other flavouring/additives whatsoever?

 

Nice try but don't give up your day job.

 

PS. You might want to substitute the "your tastebuds are probably dead" with something along the lines of, that I appreciate flavours that I can get wonderful taste sensations from, such as a beef bourguignon, paella, pork in a garlic and wine marinade and so on.....many and varied taste sensations are what I thrive on.

That: "taste buds are probably dead" really got you riled up. It was a bit of hyperbole. Let's go with "desensitized", and I hold by my original assessment that you are addicted to chili.

 

It's not what I read about chili, but common knowledge. It's not a failure of any type, so no need to take it personally. My wife has a bit of an addiction to spicy food too, and recently a doctor told her to lay off spicy food as her stomach was not looking too good on an X-ray.

 

Of course, you can't taste a chicken and mushroom pie, for the reason I already gave. Mushrooms have quite a bit of flavour to people without tastebud impairment.

 

PS. I gave up my day job long ago. What do you do during the day?

[Ratchsima]

On 3/21/2023 at 10:21 AM, Goat said:

Number 1 and number 8 in the world. That will throw the many posters here who can only complain about all things Thai. Be interesting to see how they try to negatively spin this around.

 

Thailand is the best country in the world to live in and the delicious cheap food is a big plus.

 

Personally I would rate the Malay Coconut Curry Laksa as my favorite and considering the close proximity it surprises me that you rarely see it here.

Yes , Panaeang curry was great in  authentic version but modern Thai make it too sweet. For many Thais these days , sweet = delicious which is very distasteful .

 

From Sweet Pad Thai to sweet Tomyum , sweet grilled pork , sweet Somtam , sweet Pork satay , modern Thais make everything sweet. It can create bad reputation for Thai food in the future.

 

Food in Japan and Germany are too salty on average but it is better than sweet. I mean salty taste is somehow classier than sweet taste .

 

Food in Korea is also very sweet , sweet marinated pork , fried chicken , even sour cream and onion flavor potato chips is very sweet!!, every brand!!

 

Food in Taiwan and Singapore taste is the best for me , very classy with balance of mild saltiness , savoury and bit of sweet.

 

[brewsterbudgen]

8 hours ago, Ratchsima said:

Yes , Panaeang curry was great in  authentic version but modern Thai make it too sweet. For many Thais these days , sweet = delicious which is very distasteful .

 

From Sweet Pad Thai to sweet Tomyum , sweet grilled pork , sweet Somtam , sweet Pork satay , modern Thais make everything sweet. It can create bad reputation for Thai food in the future.

 

Food in Japan and Germany are too salty on average but it is better than sweet. I mean salty taste is somehow classier than sweet taste .

 

Food in Korea is also very sweet , sweet marinated pork , fried chicken , even sour cream and onion flavor potato chips is very sweet!!, every brand!!

 

Food in Taiwan and Singapore taste is the best for me , very classy with balance of mild saltiness , savoury and bit of sweet.

 

What with its excessive sweetness and sodium, it's no wonder Thai people are so unhealthy!  

[bignbad]

On 3/21/2023 at 10:35 AM, BritManToo said:

Tourist food, usually not on sale in restaurants that cater to Thais.

You may not be right with this comment, I get it at the local village market, in a plastic bag, always next to the chicken feet, and very good it is too.

[spidermike007]

15 hours ago, BritManToo said:

You haven't tried the Auf der Au breakfast buffet (220bht).

Then a curry at RajDarBar in LK for dinner.

 

No Thai food for me.

So sorry to hear. Must be rough living in Thailand, and not liking Thai food. One of the my favorite things about living here. 

[xylophone]

9 hours ago, JensenZ said:

That: "taste buds are probably dead" really got you riled up. It was a bit of hyperbole. Let's go with "desensitized", and I hold by my original assessment that you are addicted to chili.

 

It's not what I read about chili, but common knowledge. It's not a failure of any type, so no need to take it personally. My wife has a bit of an addiction to spicy food too, and recently a doctor told her to lay off spicy food as her stomach was not looking too good on an X-ray.

 

Of course, you can't taste a chicken and mushroom pie, for the reason I already gave. Mushrooms have quite a bit of flavour to people without tastebud impairment.

 

PS. I gave up my day job long ago. What do you do during the day?

Yes it did annoy me that someone who knows nothing about me or my eating habits decided to come to that conclusion. However looking back on my post I can see how you might have come to that because I did mention eating spicy food in Nigeria, however that was in 1970 and then only very occasionally, after the enforced famine.

 

Back in England I really didn't taste any spicy food or crave it, and moreover one could not find chilis in the local supermarket, even if one wanted to. So it wasn't until the late 70s that I happened upon Indian curries and one a week would be sufficient, so hardly a craving.

 

BUT I always had a penchant for strong tasting foods, not spicy, but with flavours that stood out and that's probably why I stopped eating my mum's cooking at the age of about 14. She was an awful cook.

 

In New Zealand in the late 80s I would hold dinner parties (and match wine to the food) and again there was never any spicy food involved, although strong tasting foods were the feature – – lamb shanks slow cooked in red wine, garlic and rosemary, finished with a port wine reduction; or venison sausages on peppered brie, with a blackberry and portwine sauce......I'm sure you get the drift.

 

Now in Thailand and I do cook Italian and Thai food amongst others, and tend towards the spicy side of life (food-wise) and the recent experience with a chicken and mushroom pie and tasteless mashed potatoes really cemented in my mind that I need to experience more Thai food.

 

And the quip about "giving up your day job" is just an old English expression which basically means that you should not consider becoming a food critic! But then again I'm sure you know that anyway.

 

As it happens, during the day I am mostly lazy and spent far too much time on the computer, however I do spend a bit of time investing in property in New Zealand, through a peer-to-peer lending medium and following some shares I have.
 

[KhunLA]

2 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

What with its excessive sweetness and sodium, it's no wonder Thai people are so unhealthy!  

Are they really ?

Have you seen some of farangs walking/waddling around?

 

https://www.worlddata.info/life-expectancy.php

[bkk_bwana]

Taste Atlas has zero credibility. It's been called out dozens of times. It just churns out lists of nonsense and the news picks up on it and report it as fact.

[kwilco]

3 hours ago, bkk_bwana said:

Taste Atlas has zero credibility. It's been called out dozens of times. It just churns out lists of nonsense and the news picks up on it and report it as fact.

Most of these sites do... whether it's "best food"  "best city" or "most dangerous roads" whatever.

I find it amusing that people don't know what a stew is, though.

[KhunLA]

New Top 100 Rating for Stews, and one of my favorites, along with Panaeng, Massaman moving up in the ranking for 2024, from 8th to now 4th position.

[SHA 2 BKK]

My Thai friends are horrified when I put Penang or Massaman on a couple of pieces of heavily buttered toast and scoff it down.   My explanation that this is the way Stew is supposed to be consumed meets with vacant stares.   

[fondue zoo]

On 3/21/2023 at 2:43 PM, josephbloggs said:

Don't worry, someone will be a long shortly to say that:

 

• It's not a patch on Italian food / Mexican / French etc.
• It's not even a Thai dish.
• MSG
• Dirty oil
• etc etc

 

 

okay, I'll do it

 

 

[toofarnorth]

On 3/21/2023 at 12:02 PM, bendejo said:

If I never have to smell that damned cabbage soup again . . .

 

 

About 2 weeks ago me and 'er indoors went to Tesco Lotus for lunch , for a change not KFC but wanted the food hall next door.

I had to endure cabbage soup , well a little bit of it. Disgusting.

[brianthainess]

On 3/21/2023 at 9:52 AM, webfact said:

Phanaeng curry at the top of the Best Stews

I have never seen one without Potatoes and other veg in it unlike the bland one in the photo.

 

[Yellowtail]

16 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

I have never seen one without Potatoes and other veg in it unlike the bland one in the photo.

 

 

Really? I like pha-naeng, but don't remember potatoes in it. 

 

I like to use the leftover as a pizza sauce. 

[gamb00ler]

On 3/21/2023 at 9:56 PM, MikeN said:

Should have found myself a southern girl....

Both panang and Mussamun dishes are pretty popular in central Thailand as well.

 

I got lucky... I married a central lass with an excellent family and excellent English... not to mention an awesome cook!

[kwilco]

Panang and Massaman are popular all over Thailand but they probably originate in the South. Massaman means muslim  - it is basically a copy of curries from the South Asian sub-continent.

Panang name has no connection with the Malaysian island Penang, it is derived from the expression describing how monks sit cross-legged.

As curries they are particularly popular with tourists who don't have to make such a big taste adjustment as they do for "genuine" Thai food.

I wonder if the poll just included THai people where it would rank.

 

[josephbloggs]

14 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

About 2 weeks ago me and 'er indoors went to Tesco Lotus for lunch , for a change not KFC but wanted the food hall next door.

I had to endure cabbage soup , well a little bit of it. Disgusting.

Great story, thanks!

[josephbloggs]

14 hours ago, brianthainess said:

I have never seen one without Potatoes and other veg in it unlike the bland one in the photo.

 

Panang curry never has potatoes, ever.

Yellow curry does, Massaman does, but not panang.

[GammaGlobulin]

On 3/21/2023 at 10:06 AM, rbkk said:

A curry is not a stew; in my book.

 

Even Vindaloo is not a stew.

 

Instead, I think that Phanaeng is more of a ROAST or a TOASTED dish.

 

Personally, I prefer this flavor above almost any others.

 

Here is a kawali, for you...

 

[GammaGlobulin]

On 3/23/2023 at 10:05 AM, KhunLA said:

Have you seen some of farangs walking/waddling around?

 

No.

But, I am not the one to ask.

I rarely see Farang walking, except on YT.

There are no Farang around here.

There is one restaurant about 1.5 kilometers from here that can prepare Phanaeng Gai (chicken).

It's OK, but not great, and I would say not very authentic, either.

I like the flavor, but not Phanaeng, really.

Just the name of the dish, on the menu, is Phanaeng.

 

So, if Phanaeng is he best stew in the world, then what is being served around my house is not the best, and also not stew.

 

I would pay extra for the real deal.

 

[SAFETY FIRST]

On 3/21/2023 at 9:52 AM, webfact said:

Phanaeng Curry  

Oh, is that how you spell it, I've been mispronouncing it. 

 

Very yummy, that and Massaman 

 

[kwilco]

Stewing is a moist heat, slow cooking method, where small uniform pieces of meat and/or vegetables are cooked in liquid, and then served in the resulting gravy.stew is a cooking method - Stewing is a moist heat, slow cooking method, where small uniform pieces of meat and/or vegetables are cooked in liquid, and then served in the resulting gravy.

[kwilco]

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Even Vindaloo is not a stew

Are you using it as an English term - why not a stew?

[KhunLA]

4 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

No.

But, I am not the one to ask.

I rarely see Farang walking, except on YT.

There are no Farang around here.

There is one restaurant about 1.5 kilometers from here that can prepare Phanaeng Gai (chicken).

It's OK, but not great, and I would say not very authentic, either.

I like the flavor, but not Phanaeng, really.

Just the name of the dish, on the menu, is Phanaeng.

 

So, if Phanaeng is he best stew in the world, then what is being served around my house is not the best, and also not stew.

 

I would pay extra for the real deal.

It is strange list, as I wouldn't phanaeng a stew, not most of them / curries, anyway, as no stewing / slow cooking going on.  Chicken breast, cut up, doesn't need to be slow cooked, although if made right, whole legs & thighs, then yes, gets stewed.  Pork is usually sliced thin, again, not slow cooked.   

 

Lots of time, the Chcken green curry will be served, and the eggplant isn't even soft, as still got quite a bit of crunch to it.  Depending how much, not a bad thing.

 

They might prepped and cooked fast, actually done, the sit on the stove all day, for quick easy serving when ordered.

 

Beef Massaman (my favorite) would be the exception, as is and has to be slewed / slow cooked, and falls apart like a stew should.  If done right.