Paprika From Thailand

[tutsiwarrior]

I discovered that I have some paprika from Thailand, 'JJ' brand, that I had purchased outside of Thailand (never seen none in country) and haven't used it yet. I've never seen paprika as an ingredient in any thai dish. Has anyone ever used it in their chicken paprika, goulash or as a garnish for their devilled eggs?

Paprika enthusiasts are snobs and won't touch anything other than the hungarian stuff of which there are thousands of varieties. How does the thai product rate?

[AyG]

In my experience, it rates poorly. I bought a large plastic jar of the stuff - much cheaper than the silly little imported jars. Used it a couple of times, but each time hated the taste. Rather nasty and bitter. Nothing like "proper" paprika. Threw the rest away. Probably OK for sprinkling decoratively on egg mayonnaise, but I certainly wouldn't use it in any dish where it's supposed to be the main flavouring.

[tutsiwarrior]

to follow on, I made chicken paprika last night using a spanish paprika that I brought back from the UK (look for it locally at Villa, etc):

one chicken breast, cubed;

1 1/2 regular yellow onions;

1/4 cup safflower oil

3 tbbl spoons spanish paprika;

water to simmer;

home made yogurt for the sauce...

I hadn't made any in years, and man, was it gooood....

[bonobo]

Unfortunately, paprika has a very short shelf life, so a local variety at a decent cost would have been well-appreciated.

I have thrown out much more paprika that I have used here in Thailand.

[tutsiwarrior]

I've only ever used paprika for chicken paprika and beef goulash and nice chicken breasts are always easy to find locally...not so beef; I don't trust the beef at tescos unless it's ground up, could maybe tenderize it first with a slice of green papaya, I suppose...or, if one can find aus, NZ or US beef (like in them big, fat stinkin' overpriced western supermarkets in BKK) etc on a regular basis then one could use up the paprika before it was unusable...I always use gobs of the stuff in any recipe...

I wanted to make some more chicken paprika tonight but had nothin' for the sauce, plenty of onions, etc...always keep the unused paprika (and all other spices) in a suitably sized screw top container to forestall their inevitable decay and etc...

few things are more comforting than gazing upon a nicely stocked spice shelf...but then desperation strikes with the realization of their short shelf life...then existential despair and etc