For Those Who Can't Cook Thai Food,

[sbk]

It didn't take me very long before I started cooking Thai food, but then I had a hungry husband to feed who didnt' want to eat farang food all the time.

So, for those who can't cook, do you plan on learning how? Or just aren't into cooking anything at all?

For those who can, how long after you lived in Thailand did you start cooking Thai food?

[tutsiwarrior]

I've always been able to whip up a good stir fry using whatever comes to hand...with enough garlic, onions and chile (in moderation) you can make anything taste good...adapting to thai cuisine just means using thai ingredients like naam pla and fistfulls of chiles. The more subtle dishes like curries I've been relatively successful at (the family wolfed the masaman that I made once)...

but, some things like veges (cauli, broccoli, zucchini, eggplant) I still like to steam and dress with lemon/lime juice and olive oil; stir frying with thai gunk just messes up the subtle flavor...cooking with pork fat and garlic alone is OK as with some thai dishes; my tennessee grandma was a major advocate of hog jowl with most green veges...

the use of a western style oven can actually improve on selected items like duck and ribs...I notice that when both are prepared in an oven rather than stove top deep fried in oil inna wok they get eaten quicker around our house...

vive le differance, I say...an' I would never foist tuna noodle casserole on my family even with tons of chiles and naam pla...

(here it comes: 'take yer olive oil an' yer goddam tabasco an' go back t'where ye came from ye stinkin' culinary imperialist...')

Edited December 21, 2009 by tutsiwarrior

[Musongman]

I fully intend to learn to cook Thai-style. For the first time I will have my own kitchen in my new condo in Jomtien. Gotta keep my partner happy!!

[sceadugenga]

I've discovered those packaged curry pastes in the supermarkets.

Thai Red, Green, Masaman, Panang.... they come with directions but after a while you add what you like. I use mainly chicken, onions and capsicum with fresh chilli to taste.

At about 7B a pack they don't exactly break the bank either.

[tutsiwarrior]

I've discovered those packaged curry pastes in the supermarkets.

Thai Red, Green, Masaman, Panang.... they come with directions but after a while you add what you like. I use mainly chicken, onions and capsicum with fresh chilli to taste.

At about 7B a pack they don't exactly break the bank either.

yeah...those packets are great, usually hanging on a cardboard display at the end of the aisle at the supermarket; I used the masaman in my one successful effort. Also, there is a 'pork seasoning' packet that I've used to prepare ribs prior to roasting in the oven...very tasty...

can't beat the price and convenience...

[sbk]

Our neighbor makes the most amazing curry pastes (well her mother really) so we always buy from her. the packets are fine if you want to take them home but, tbh, the flavor of the fresh home made stuff can't be beat.

[bubblegum]

The curry pastes are good. Stir fry has basicly the following ingredients. Oil, garlic. ginger, soysaus, vissaus, oystersaus, onion, chili, coconut cream. With these you can make just about everything (ad some spices offcause)

[Pdaz]

Don't bother with the packet curry pastes... Go to your nearest Thai market in the morning. There will always be a stall selling 'Kreung Gaeng' (Curry Paste) The vendor will be only too pleased to tell you what they are for and which one to use for different recipes.. They are SOOOooooooo much better than the store bought packets..

My girls Mum sends us up a bag of homemade paste every Month or so as I've yet to find a really hot sour Southern style paste locally.. However for for Green, red or paste with roasted chillis there are many to try..

So easy too.. Some of the pastes can just be boiled in water for 10 mins or so to become fragrant then it's just a case of adding some Kapi (shrimp paste) palm sugar and what ever meat or fish and veg you like.. Adjust the seasoning with fish sauce and then add freshly cut lime leaves or a herb like Pak Chee (coriander/cilantro) Or you can fry off the paste in coconut cream (hua nam ga-tee) then add more coco milk to make a softer sweater curry.. Up to you

You'll never use the harsh processed packets again...

BTW I've been cooking Thai food since my first trip in 87.. (was a bu66er to get ingredients in UK then ) and continued to cook Thai dishes since moving to Asia in 89.. My GF's Mum finds it funny that the family farang cooks more Thai food than her daughter... ahahahah..

Edited December 22, 2009 by Pdaz

[sbk]

Me too, started learning how to cook shortly after I arrived, and now, I eat it spicier than my husband (also a source of amusement to all and sundry).

Curious if there are any cooks out there who cook western food but don't won't or can't cook Thai?

[DennisYale]

Thai foods are much delicious and spicy foods of the world with much excellent flavors and taste that is simply mouth watering and tempting.I like thai food much it is much difficult to cook thai food but i am trying to learn it at home.

Thanks...

[jazzbo]

the packets are fine if you want to take them home but, tbh, the flavor of the fresh home made stuff can't be beat. I agree; but who do you think buys those packets? Same with coconut milk fresh squeezed in the market; the Thais still love to buy those TetraPak ChaoKohs's or AroyD's not 5 meters away.

[j0hnga1t]

I don't live in thailand but I've taking cooking classes. Now I troll the web for recipes. My fiancee is coming here on Jan 8th and she is a GREAT cook. She is already asking me about the availability of Thai ingredients. I told her Thai ingredients are readily available in San Francisco except for the bugs and rats she likes to cook up Yes she grew up in Isaan

[Pdaz]

here's last nights effort..

Southern style pork rib curry.. No coco milk, just shrimp paste, sugar, nam pla and lime leaf... oh a three tablespoons of curry paste..

Will taste even better when left over night and the flavours combine and mellow..

Yes it's true Thais do use the packets.. It's a bit like youngsters in the UK using a Yorkshire pudding mix where their mum would have made it from scratch.. For me buying the pack doesn't have any advantage as market bough fresh curry paste keeps well in the fridge.. It's only if I'm going to pound my own paste that I need extra time. One thing I have found to be true is that if you are going to make Thai food you are much better of buying the fresh ingredients (herbs, lime leaf etc) in the market as the ones from the supermarket just aren't as fresh and fragrant.. However I buy my meat from the supermarket as the quality is better.. Fish comes from the fish market for the same reason.. It pays to shop around..

[neverdie]

sbk,

I absolutely LOVE thai food.

I got myself a thai gf so she can cook for me, its that simple.

Occassionally, when Im batching it, I am forced to go outside and find a restuarant to eat in .

ps: I may not be able to cook, nor willing to learn but I can carry heavy things

[dogblower]

I haven't made the slightest effort to learn Thai cooking, but before everyone jumps down my throat, my lady cooks the Thai food and I cook the farang food since we both eat either cuisine (we also eat out ... a lot).

[siggie2]

After many years of thai food i find european food very band.My gf makes so many different meals that most of them are not found in restaraunts,very very nice.I cook the indian curries which are pretty good

[sceadugenga]

Our neighbor makes the most amazing curry pastes (well her mother really) so we always buy from her. the packets are fine if you want to take them home but, tbh, the flavor of the fresh home made stuff can't be beat.

An evil witch sold me some home made red curry paste in a local market. It looked a bit sus so I only added a couple of chillis rather than the usual four or five.

It was so hot it literally left me stunned. I was being watched by interested parties so I ate a couple of spoonfuls with a lot of rice.

Had to give it to the maid. The Mrs was very sympathetic though... son nam nar, som nam nar.

Just when you think you've got it mastered.

[tutsiwarrior]

yeah...ye gots to watch seasonings that y'get down the market...the packaged curries are predictable and you can always adjust to taste next time around...

this morning I watched as the step daughter prepared a splendid onion omelette in the thai way in oil and I thought 'the salsa I made yesterday is plenty phet and salsa goes good wid eggs...' so I went downstairs to my kitchen and brought up a small bowl an' put it on the table. The step daughter's face said it all: 'if yew think that anyone is gonna put that falang shit on my omelette then yew are one falang baa...'

later the wife said: 'darling, I did put some on my fish and it was delicious...'

Edited December 24, 2009 by tutsiwarrior

[Spee]

Sbk asked: "So, for those who can't cook, do you plan on learning how?"

I've cooked all my life but am a total wanke_r novice when it comes to Thai cuisine. Outside of Thailand, the hard part is finding the right ingredients, mainly fresh herbs and fruit. Also, I have a really nice wok, but it just doesn't work that well on an electric burner. I miss the big open flame which allows for rapid even heating and cooking. I can't get the fresh mango and papaya needed for yam-mamuang and som-tum.

I have tried to cook Thai food for larger groups of westerners on a few occasions, and usually resort to internet recipes. I made batch of garlic-chili fish for a holiday pot-luck luncheon last week. Didn't have the whole fish or banana leaves like one would see in Thailand, but I had the rest of the ingredients. I used tilapia fillets on a cooking sheet and got a lot of compliments using this internet recipe:

dubya dubya dubya dot thaifood.about.com/od/thaiseafoodrecipes/r/bakedwholefish.htm

Cooking is part experimentation and part development of the palate to be able to gauge the right fusion of flavors and aromas. That will be an endless, but enjoyable journey for me.

[sceadugenga]

Not sure where you're from spee but keep looking for the right ingredients locally.

Australia has a lot of supermarkets owned by Vietnamese that carry a lot of stuff used in Thai cooking. I'd imagine it would be the same in the US and Europe.

Same same the Indian shops in the UK, try asking if things can be ordered in.

As you say, when it comes to fresh ingredients; compromise, experimentation and development are essential.

Edited December 25, 2009 by sceadugenga

[sbk]

Spee, those awful electric stoves just don't work for woks at all! You can buy one of those rings that's supposed to sit on top of the electric bit so that the wok can be moved around but I find the temperature then becomes a problem.

Internet recipes should only be a guide, go with your tastebuds.

[luangtom]

No need to. The wife is such a good chef, she caters for others making her Thai dishes. If something happens to her, I will eat out........

[Crypt36]

I did used to make alot of rice but more indonesian, japanese and chinese style ingredients... I don't like spicy food and can't stand it neither do I like the fish sauce (nam pla?). Pepper, salt, garlic, gingerroot, Soysauce, Teriyaki and Oystersauce is what I use. Lot's of stuff like Spaghetti and Bami I would make in Holland but not over here because I can't get decent ingredients unfortianetely.

But I got kinda tired of rice 24/7 for months so now I just eat my bread and cook/bake my potatoes, veggies and meat with salt and pepper.

there's so much stuff you like to eat back home and can't get here... It's kinda hard sometimes but I'm used to it now, it works the other way to though!

Edited December 28, 2009 by Crypt36

[tutsiwarrior]

I have noted recently that, since I've been at home now fer a few months, the family are now eating lots of cauli and broccoli, always stir fried with garlic and oyster sauce...

I always load up when I can find good quality stuff either at Lotus or down the market and recently when I look in my fridge in my western kitchen it's gone later to turn up on the family table upstairs...

this is a significant development as the family are discovering the benefit of fiber rich veges; they still eat all the cholesterol laden pig guts and the rest with weird hairy greens but now spoon in some nice 'western' veges with the rice where before they were loathe to even smell them...

onward and upward with falang corruption of traditional thai cuisine...

Edited December 28, 2009 by tutsiwarrior

[lioness]

Absolutely no intention of learning. My (Thai) husband is an excellent cook and doesn't like me in the kitchen, which he tends to view as his domain.

[pieter73]

I don't understand why the Thai food is so famous.

I think 90-95% is done by lazy cooking..

So then you need sharp things like lemmon gras etc.

I prefer the indonesian food.

Or the old european food that takes more then one hour to make..

Most thai does not even bother to get the shell from the garlic and scrimps or to take the poo chanel out

or give everybody the food at the same time..

Pieter

[gotlost]

NO