Masa/Tortilla Lovers UNITE!

[jaideeguy]

There are many of us here in LOS that would kill for real authentic masa flour, made from white corn and it's one of those ingredients that is in most supermarkets in the US at a cheap cost. Here, there is none and I have checked all the super stores, restaurant suppliers and food wholesalers, but none have it and most don't know it. Even the [so called] Mexican restaurants use either wheat of yellow flour for their tortillas and it's just not the same.

It seems to be a constant topic in the 'Western food' forum and all they talk about is making it yourself and I've done that a few times, but it takes a long time and is quite labor intensive, where the masa flour is simply add water, make a dough, flatten it with your hands or a press and instant tortillas or use in tamales.

So, I propose that us 'MASA ADDICTS' come out of the closet and talk to the managers of stores like Rimping or others and inform them that there is a market here in LOS.

If this post gets favorable responses and it seems like a doable thing, then I will go into the Maechok Rimping with a copy of our request and maybe they will order it.

Myself, I will commit to at least 5 kilos a week for my own personal use. In the US it is mostly sold in 2 kilo bags, but can be ordered in large bags and repackaged.

So, please post here if you miss your masa flour............

[junglechef]

I am interested in buying masa flour and and commend you on your grass roots or should that be corn flour initiative

[jaideeguy]

Sorry about the mistake in the subject.....should read 'masa/tortillia lovers UNITE!!'

I'm seriously addicted and I know others are, including several Mex restaurants, so the demand is here. Let's get the word out and mention this to other masa addicts that we know............

[m51chris]

count me in - I've tried making it myself, and it's just too labor-intensive. I count corn chips as one of my three basic food groups: beer, chips, and salsa. 555

[Tywais]

The one thing I miss is proper corn bread. The Jiffy mix at Rimping is ok but not the real thing and always a bit too dry though that just could be my baking. Looked up using Masa and found lots of hits using Masa or Masa Harina to make corn bread and looks like a winner. UG may be along to comment. Not sure if the Masa is too fine or not but the recipes seem to indicate it works. Normally one would use corn meal as I believe it is grainier.

Masa Cornbread

Masa double cornbread

[cloudhopper]

yeah 5 kilos a week is serious dude. Dam I really miss a good XMAS eve tamale. Well I think you caught that recent thread on making it but if you can buy the real thing then I'm in too. My pal tried to get Rimping to order a case of pepperoncinis but they never did. Maybe try Yok.

BTW 3 Little Pigs makes some great corn bread.

[Dante99]

Get the Mexican restaurant owners on board if you can with a commitment for weekly quantities then go to Kasem, the original one and talk to the founder. She can decide and she has done similar things in the past.

If you go to Rimping and not likely you can talk with anyone who can decide.

Edited September 28, 2013 by Dante99

[jaideeguy]

yeah 5 kilos a week is serious dude. Dam I really miss a good XMAS eve tamale. Well I think you caught that recent thread on making it but if you can buy the real thing then I'm in too. My pal tried to get Rimping to order a case of pepperoncinis but they never did. Maybe try Yok.

BTW 3 Little Pigs makes some great corn bread.

Oops CH.......meant 5 kilos a month, unless I open a tamale stand.

[Ulysses G.]

The one thing I miss is proper corn bread.

The Duke's has the best cornbread I've ever has in SEA and it is not at all dry. It probably has a lot of calories as it is very rich, but worth it IMO.

BTW 3 Little Pigs makes some great corn bread.

Does the 3 Little Pigs' cornbread have a good texture?

Edited September 28, 2013 by Ulysses G.

[BillyBobThai]

You have my vote. I think we need to have a tamale making party and make about 100 kg to divide up and take home and freeze. With 6 or 8 guys it would be quite easy, and think of all the beer we could drink.

Edited September 28, 2013 by BillyBobThai

[junglechef]

Like the idea of a social tamale production line. This Jewish guy living in Thailand misses his Christmas time in Venezuela making tamales with a whole family around a big table.

[zippydedodah]

i have made tamales, with varying degrees of satisfaction, using banana leaves instead of corn husks. I actually enjoyed the flavor the banana leaf imparted to the masa substitute (polenta) that i was using - hey desperate times call for desperate measures!

anyways... IF real masa was secured, does someone have a source for the dried corn husks?

[jaideeguy]

i have made tamales, with varying degrees of satisfaction, using banana leaves instead of corn husks. I actually enjoyed the flavor the banana leaf imparted to the masa substitute (polenta) that i was using - hey desperate times call for desperate measures!

anyways... IF real masa was secured, does someone have a source for the dried corn husks?

Dried corn husks................that's the easy part. Most superstores and markets have fresh corn still in the husks. Just dry it in the sun for a day.

[zippydedodah]

i have made tamales, with varying degrees of satisfaction, using banana leaves instead of corn husks. I actually enjoyed the flavor the banana leaf imparted to the masa substitute (polenta) that i was using - hey desperate times call for desperate measures!

anyways... IF real masa was secured, does someone have a source for the dried corn husks?

Dried corn husks................that's the easy part. Most superstores and markets have fresh corn still in the husks. Just dry it in the sun for a day.

well, of course i knew that was possible...but if you want large husks and are making a few dozen tamales, you gotta buy a LOT of corn and many of them that i have seen do not have large husks, actually. So i would end up putting small husks together with bits of masa sticking them together to make them wide enuf for my tamales... i prefer a large, fat, tamale, not a thin long one...

[jaideeguy]

I've seen large ears of sweet corn in the local shops and they were as large as some packaged corn husks that I had sent to me by friends from the US.

What to do with the corn??? eat it or give it to me for my chickens, 555

[butterisbetter]

I used to live in the Yucatan, and the tamales there were made with banana leaves. I don't think I ever saw one there made with corn husks.

[hellodolly]

Why can some one not do this commercially. I see where Thailand corn growers have a tremendous amount of corn this year and are looking for help to export it.

[BillyBobThai]

Corn husk will be the easy part. I see a guy on canal rd who sells boiled corn. For a few baht I feel quite sure he could produce all we need, given a few days notice.

I remember as a child, my father telling me that his mother made hominy using hardwood ashes. For those who have never eaten hominy, it is well worth a try. Hominy is ground up to make MASA and grits, another great food. By now you can probably that I am from the southern USA, where, for poor folk, food is a passion.

Lets plan a get together, say at 3 Little Pigs, to have a further go at this.

[cm das]

Masa is made from field corn, not sweet corn, isn't it? If anyone wants to start from scratch, I mean all the way from scratch, I've got about 2 rai of organic field corn growing up in Chiang Dao & I'd be happy to donate some or all of it for the benefit of my fellow tamale & tortilla lovers.

[junglechef]

Hominy is made by soaking corn kernels in lye and is really good stuff

[jaideeguy]

Masa is made from field corn, not sweet corn, isn't it? If anyone wants to start from scratch, I mean all the way from scratch, I've got about 2 rai of organic field corn growing up in Chiang Dao & I'd be happy to donate some or all of it for the benefit of my fellow tamale & tortilla lovers.

CM Das,

I'll take you up on that offer and I have a few kilos of the proper masa/hominy seed, 'Hickory King dent corn' and I've grown it on small plots a couple of generations, but still pure...............not cross pollinated.

That would be your main concern is to not have any other corn in pollination stage while the HK seed is pollinating...............interested??

Send me your phone # by PM and I'll give you a call later today...........

Edited September 30, 2013 by jaideeguy

[BillyBobThai]

Well, are any of you guys up for a sit down at 3 Little Pigs this week or next? That is if the US government does not shut down and my money is delayed or stopped.

Edited September 30, 2013 by BillyBobThai

[butterisbetter]

Hominy is made by soaking corn kernels in lye and is really good stuff

Actually, it's rarely made from lye (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide).. 99.99 percent of the time It's made using calcium hydroxide or quicklime which turns into calcium hydroxide on contact with water.

As BillyBobThai points out hominy was traditionally made using woodash, which does contain a lot of lye. At least it was made that way in north america. So lye can be used. In Mexico, they roast limestone to turn it into quicklime.

There's a whole thread in the western food forum about making masa which is where I either learnedor gave me the impetus to learn most of the stuff I'm regurgitating now.. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/663304-you-can-make-your-own-corn-tortillas-at-home-in-thailand/page-3

One word of warning: if you're thinking of getting your quicklime from a construction supply house, don't. It could be contaminated with heavy metals. Apparently, they sell something in the food markets called "Bpoon Daeng" which is red quicklime. If they're making it just by roasting limestone, it might also not be safe to consume. So I've ordered some quicklime and some calcium hydroxide reagent grade (a purer grade than food grade) from a chemical supply house. Still waiting.

[jaideeguy]

Hominy is made by soaking corn kernels in lye and is really good stuff

Actually, it's rarely made from lye (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide).. 99.99 percent of the time It's made using calcium hydroxide or quicklime which turns into calcium hydroxide on contact with water.

As BillyBobThai points out hominy was traditionally made using woodash, which does contain a lot of lye. At least it was made that way in north america. So lye can be used. In Mexico, they roast limestone to turn it into quicklime.

There's a whole thread in the western food forum about making masa which is where I either learnedor gave me the impetus to learn most of the stuff I'm regurgitating now.. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/663304-you-can-make-your-own-corn-tortillas-at-home-in-thailand/page-3

One word of warning: if you're thinking of getting your quicklime from a construction supply house, don't. It could be contaminated with heavy metals. Apparently, they sell something in the food markets called "Bpoon Daeng" which is red quicklime. If they're making it just by roasting limestone, it might also not be safe to consume. So I've ordered some quicklime and some calcium hydroxide reagent grade (a purer grade than food grade) from a chemical supply house. Still waiting.

Phun keaw, the local beetle nut lime is made from burnt snail shells and crushed up into a powder. Same same as in the Philippines before white men came and brought chemicals. I've used that many times for making masa and works great. Maybe the American indians did same??

[butterisbetter]

Hominy is made by soaking corn kernels in lye and is really good stuff

Actually, it's rarely made from lye (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide).. 99.99 percent of the time It's made using calcium hydroxide or quicklime which turns into calcium hydroxide on contact with water.

As BillyBobThai points out hominy was traditionally made using woodash, which does contain a lot of lye. At least it was made that way in north america. So lye can be used. In Mexico, they roast limestone to turn it into quicklime.

There's a whole thread in the western food forum about making masa which is where I either learnedor gave me the impetus to learn most of the stuff I'm regurgitating now.. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/663304-you-can-make-your-own-corn-tortillas-at-home-in-thailand/page-3

One word of warning: if you're thinking of getting your quicklime from a construction supply house, don't. It could be contaminated with heavy metals. Apparently, they sell something in the food markets called "Bpoon Daeng" which is red quicklime. If they're making it just by roasting limestone, it might also not be safe to consume. So I've ordered some quicklime and some calcium hydroxide reagent grade (a purer grade than food grade) from a chemical supply house. Still waiting.

Phun keaw, the local beetle nut lime is made from burnt snail shells and crushed up into a powder. Same same as in the Philippines before white men came and brought chemicals. I've used that many times for making masa and works great. Maybe the American indians did same??

That's good to know. I've read that Native Americans in what is now roughly the USA and Canada used wood ash.

[junglechef]

Hominy is made by soaking corn kernels in lye and is really good stuff

Actually, it's rarely made from lye (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide).. 99.99 percent of the time It's made using calcium hydroxide or quicklime which turns into calcium hydroxide on contact with water.

As BillyBobThai points out hominy was traditionally made using woodash, which does contain a lot of lye. At least it was made that way in north america. So lye can be used. In Mexico, they roast limestone to turn it into quicklime.

There's a whole thread in the western food forum about making masa which is where I either learnedor gave me the impetus to learn most of the stuff I'm regurgitating now.. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/663304-you-can-make-your-own-corn-tortillas-at-home-in-thailand/page-3

One word of warning: if you're thinking of getting your quicklime from a construction supply house, don't. It could be contaminated with heavy metals. Apparently, they sell something in the food markets called "Bpoon Daeng" which is red quicklime. If they're making it just by roasting limestone, it might also not be safe to consume. So I've ordered some quicklime and some calcium hydroxide reagent grade (a purer grade than food grade) from a chemical supply house. Still waiting.

I'm just repeating (regurgitating is such a awful sounding word when it comes to good food) what I was taught in culinary school. Think I'll just stick to what I'm more experienced in. .... so

BillyBobThai's suggestion sounds fun, if can he or someone actually make it happen count me in.

[beammeup]

Count me in also as long as it can be shipped down south. I have been using poon cow also used for chewing beattle nut and pickling, found in the local market very cheap. I purchased some corn in the market the other day 8 large ears for 50 baht and it had dents in the kurnels and was pretty tough, I thought it tasted OK with lots of butter and salt but no one else would eat more that 1 bite. I wondered if this was field or dent corn so I dried it out and may try nixtamalizing it and see what happens. Does anyone know how to identify field corn by taste? If this is just tough sweet corn can that be nixtamalized into masa? Buying a bag of the masa would sure be a lot easier.

[BawBae]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/678704-corn-masa-for-tamales-etc-at-kasem-warorot/

[Tywais]

Saw these on the shelf at Rimping Nim City a couple of days ago.

[jaideeguy]

Not really the same same Tawais..........that's just ground corn, good for corn bread and other things, but masa is a whole different product and it seems that Kasim's does have some in stock as reported on the CM forum. Unfortunately it's the yellow variety, but I'll give it a try and a report.