spuds

[Thian]

Today i bought imported potato's at the Makro.

Now i wonder where the potato's at the market came from, are they Thai potato's?

Sometimes on the market they sell potato's who are good for frying, but mostly they are no good for that.

How can we know if a potato is good for frying? And where can we buy those?

[CharlieH]

If you blanch the chips first, dry them lightly, then deep fry you'll find the result much better.

I belive the potatoes are imported, possibly New Zealand, like the carrots etc.(makro)

[chowny77]

I can remember when I was back in England. It all depended on the season if we got chips, sliced scallop style fried, mashed or boiled potato's. Like CharlieH said, if you prepare them you can pretty much do what you like with them.

[Gsxrnz]

Apart from the imported spuds that some of the large retailers sell, the majority of spuds we see in Thailand are grown in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, and other northern regions. I think some are grown in the south now as well.

I quite like the Thai spuds. The varieties are not what we get back home as most wouldn't grow here very satisfactorily, so the taste is quite different. They're sweeter than most western varieties but certainly nothing to complain about. The main varieties are Spunta, Bintje and Kennebec.

Kennebec is the best one for frying if you're lucky enough to find a vendor who knows enough about them to know what variety he's selling. I think this variety is what's used to produce commercial French fries for the big chains.

For frying, as CharlieH said, blanch them first and you'll get a better result. For boiling I cut them (because they're normally huge spuds) into even sized pieces, quite small, and boil slowly. There's often a fine line between being boiled perfectly and going to mush, so time it right.

[puchooay]

A very large percentage of potatoes here originate from seed potatoes from Holland. These were introduced about 50 years ago.

When you see "Holland" potatoes in Makro that is what it refers to. They are not grown in Holland but mostly Northern Thailand and China. I would guess the imported ones are the same.

[cooked]

My mother used to know about ten different varieties to be found in English markets and she would buy depending on what was to be cooked. Not much choice these days.

[NickJ]

I was told by a bonified member of the American Potato Board who lives here that most potatos here have way to much moisture in them to deep fry well. That being said my local Tesco has had these med sized almost golden colored spuds recently that are great. They are also super clean......wonder where they are coming from?

[Thian]

Yes Bintje is a great one but Makro doesn't tell varietynames.

I will try blanching them first hope it works well.

Vinegar is an english way to eat them, fried with dutch mayonaise (Remia-Foodland) is the best.

Tomorrow i try the ones from Makro, they also have great fry's there. I'm in love with Makro rama V now....won't go anywhere else.

[chickenslegs]

Hate to say it, but the best chips (British style) in Thailand are in the freezer section.

Thai potatoes make decent rosti if you squeeze out most of the moisture after grating. They also make great potato salad.

(IMHO)

[Thian]

Hate to say it, but the best chips (British style) in Thailand are in the freezer section.

Thai potatoes make decent rosti if you squeeze out most of the moisture after grating. They also make great potato salad.

(IMHO)

I hate to say it but chips are in the bags from Lays....You call them crisps right?

I tried many brands of fry's and the best are the 8-10 mm ones. Makro, Tesco, BigC have nice ones. Just the cheap ones, those fancy expensive american ones are no good. We deepfry them at 165 celcius and that works great.

[chickenslegs]

Hate to say it, but the best chips (British style) in Thailand are in the freezer section.

Thai potatoes make decent rosti if you squeeze out most of the moisture after grating. They also make great potato salad.

(IMHO)

I hate to say it but chips are in the bags from Lays....You call them crisps right?

I tried many brands of fry's and the best are the 8-10 mm ones. Makro, Tesco, BigC have nice ones. Just the cheap ones, those fancy expensive american ones are no good. We deepfry them at 165 celcius and that works great.

You say potato and I say potatoe...

[wayned]

I soak mine in water for at least 30 minutes, sometimes overnight in the fridge to remove some of the starch. I then twice fry them. The first frying is at 160 degrees and I fry them until they are just beginning to turn color. I then take them out, drain them and let them cool, sometimes in the fridge or freezer. The second frying is done at 190 degrees and fry them until they are a deep brown. They come out nice and crisp every time.

[meatboy]

I soak mine in water for at least 30 minutes, sometimes overnight in the fridge to remove some of the starch. I then twice fry them. The first frying is at 160 degrees and I fry them until they are just beginning to turn color. I then take them out, drain them and let them cool, sometimes in the fridge or freezer. The second frying is done at 190 degrees and fry them until they are a deep brown. They come out nice and crisp every time.

this is the only way to make good chips.cant remember his name but one of the top chefs in london does this method 3times.

spuds,maris piper,jersey royals,cornish and gower first crops even majorca are better than most [from china].

the thai royal project are not too bad but i have only seen them now and then in home fresh.

for sunday dinner i would even settle for jersey's in a tin.

[Eclipse]

To be honest most of the potatoes I buy from Tesco or Big C are dreadful.

Rotten, seeding, lumps out of them, green and usually a choice of about 20 or 30 to sort through.

Makro is much better and usually make a trip especially to buy them.

I cheat and make my chips in one of those air fryers. Probably not quite as good but little oil used. (Olive)

Edited February 19, 2016 by Eclipse

[canopus1969]

Yes Bintje is a great one but Makro doesn't tell varietynames.

I will try blanching them first hope it works well.

Vinegar is an english way to eat them, fried with dutch mayonaise (Remia-Foodland) is the best.

Tomorrow i try the ones from Makro, they also have great fry's there. I'm in love with Makro rama V now....won't go anywhere else.

Chips with mayonnaise...........

Are you a girl..........?

Belgian

[Eclipse]

Belgian or Dutch.

[Thian]

Guess you guys never tasted real mayonnaise? Remia from Foodland.....try it! Even better: Mayonnaise, garlic, pepper, salt, some milk/water and stir well......some dried parcely in it and you have great fresh garlic sauce.

But the spuds from Makro are not very good for frying, even after blanching first. You have to fry them very slowly on low fire or they burn.

I've had better ones from the market in the past.

Also Cumberland saucages from Makro are horrible....Khun Vee Vienna saucages in Gourmet market PAragon or in the supermarket in Emporium are much better (cost double though).

[sunnyjim5]

Guess you guys never tasted real mayonnaise? Remia from Foodland.....try it! Even better: Mayonnaise, garlic, pepper, salt, some milk/water and stir well......some dried parcely in it and you have great fresh garlic sauce.

But the spuds from Makro are not very good for frying, even after blanching first. You have to fry them very slowly on low fire or they burn.

I've had better ones from the market in the past.

Also Cumberland saucages from Makro are horrible....Khun Vee Vienna saucages in Gourmet market PAragon or in the supermarket in Emporium are much better (cost double though).

REAL mayonnaise never came out of a Supermarket, a glass jar/bottle or a plastic squeeze bottle.

Learn how to make Real mayonnaise by opening the link

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/eggs-recipes/my-beautiful-mayo/#d6H5BPdeWgKplm4O.97

[notmyself]

The spuds over here don't taste great (very little flavour) and are high in water and starch. You can get the texture pretty good with chips using the 2-3 time cook method but they still don't taste of much at all. They do make quite good mash if you steam them in their skins and then scoop out the flesh but still needs a helping hand with lots of butter and some chives. Best litmus test is to bake one in the oven and see how it turns out.

Doubt you will find them over here but I find Cyprus potatoes the best for flavour with Egyptian (smaller) a very close second.

Cyprus has long been famous for the high quality of its potato crop.

Grown in the fertile red soil of eastern Cyprus, a selection of favoured types of potato are hand-picked to ensure a blemish free product and packed close to the fields themselves to ensure a fresh product.

http://www.redsoilpotatoescyprus.com/

Problem with Cyprus spuds in the UK is that they are never sold in supermarkets for the reason that they cost double that of any other spud, at least. Any good greengrocer should carry them though.

Seems to me that the earth they are grown in over here is just not conducive to a good taste. It was interesting to see that a member suggested they are imported from NZ... I've spent quite a considerable time there over the years and thought their spuds sucked too. Soil is super fertile and can grow pretty much anything except spuds.

[guinacht]

I’m not so certain

[meatboy]

i found the best tasteing spuds are grown in sandy soil,eg.jersey royals,canaries,cyprus,gower,pembroke's,cornish and norfolk's.

for chips i find the market spuds are better,they sell short date ones that start sprouting in 2-3 days.[oldies]

[notmyself]

i found the best tasteing spuds are grown in sandy soil,eg.jersey royals,canaries,cyprus,gower,pembroke's,cornish and norfolk's.

That would seem to be the case though I have no idea why they would have a better taste. Could much of it be down to what is essentially good drainage?

[GinBoy2]

Problem with the 'spuds' here that there is no choice.

Back in the US i could walk into any market and be confronted with an array of different varieties on sale, all nicely named and ready for inspection, so to speak.

Here you get, potato's. That's it. No idea what they are, and after time you get thankful that at least there's something there.

I've tried clicking my heels, but somehow didn't end up back in Idaho with all those luscious spuds

[Kenny202]

Ive found the best and freshest spuds I buy here are the little packets of 2 or 3 I buy in the smaller Tesco lotus shops (similar to 7/11). They look like dutch creams, always fresh and firm and do well for chips, mash and roast potatoes. Lovely flavour

[KittenKong]

Problem with the 'spuds' here that there is no choice.

Back in the US i could walk into any market and be confronted with an array of different varieties on sale, all nicely named and ready for inspection, so to speak.

Here you get, potato's. That's it. No idea what they are, and after time you get thankful that at least there's something there.

I've tried clicking my heels, but somehow didn't end up back in Idaho with all those luscious spuds

Villa Market in Pattaya usually has a fairly wide choice of potato varieties and they are labelled.

Prices are stunningly high.

[Turkleton]

Ive found the best and freshest spuds I buy here are the little packets of 2 or 3 I buy in the smaller Tesco lotus shops (similar to 7/11). They look like dutch creams, always fresh and firm and do well for chips, mash and roast potatoes. Lovely flavour

Most likely they sell "soup potatoes", which are usually more firm and "yellowish".

The "Holland Potatoes" from Makro are imported from China.

However they make decent "Reibeplätzchen"

[GinBoy2]

Ive found the best and freshest spuds I buy here are the little packets of 2 or 3 I buy in the smaller Tesco lotus shops (similar to 7/11). They look like dutch creams, always fresh and firm and do well for chips, mash and roast potatoes. Lovely flavour

These are the most common variety I see here.

[rice555]

Hello All, the Big Ag Market in Korat.

rice555

[KittenKong]

^^^ Is that 160B per bag or per kilo?

[rice555]

^^^ Is that 160B per bag or per kilo?

bag

rice555