Elsa

It brings me back to the best times I’ve spent in Thailand. Thank you for this.

Thank you for your comments and ideas! I’m glad you like Thailand as much as I do.

Firstly, NEVER be afraid to try any Thai dish! You will achieve the greatest advances as a result of your greatest failures.. You will learn, by trial and error, what does and doesnt work, sometimes with spectacularly positive results!

Someone mentioned substituting milk for coconut milk.. not a great idea as the milk can react and curdle with lime juice and the acid of the chillies, unlike the coconut milk (and besides, the coconut milk/cream has such a unique flavour that it just cant be replaced

Someone else mentioned their curries being brownish and not bright green, remember to use plenty of quaily oil at the start to encapsulate and carry your ingredients – and I use lots of purple thai basil (which is still quite green) in my paste to make a rich bright green curry paste that clings to the oil and sits beautifully in the coconut cream/milk. Pound the basil leaves well to release the colour and flavour!

The two flavours that I add ‘to taste’ during the cooking process are the juice of fresh lime and nam pla (fish sauce).. I add them just after I add the vegetables.. then test and adjust as the meal develops.

Another way to lighten and brighten the appearance of your gang kaew wan is to add some fresh coconut cream at the end of the dish, lightly drizzled over your curry – hey.. im giving up more of my tips.. whats going on here??

Western egplant, as Cee says, is nothing like Thai eggplant.. so forget it lest you will have a disaster on your hands!!! The best western substitue for Thai eggplant is zucchini.. yep!

Another trick is to add common western mushrooms, in very large chunks, they will add a wonderful texture and they really absorb the citrus flavours and will excite the palate of the biggest mushroom haters on the planet!!!

For those who want to cook for more than 2 or three at a sitting, be careful becuase the dynamic of heat and timing COMPLETELY CHANGES when cooking with much greater volumes of ingredients.. you will need to practice this and accept that you will overcook and undercook ingredients until you get it right! If you use pork (mu), add the pork when you add the vegetables, if you use fish (and I recommend trevally, king fish etc – ie. firm fleshed pelagic fish – add the fish closer to the end just as the vegetables are starting to soften.

Your curry is cooked when the vegetables have softened, but still retain a slightly crunchy texture

Im an Aussie, and by the sounds of it we have the same issues in Thai restaurants here as in the US.. being that most curries arent so hot, and they are largely FAR too sweet! You can always counter this by asking for “Thai Hot” (you will rarely see this mentioned on the menu); and if sweetnes is the issue, well, you will just have to ask for less sugar next time! (I use about a level table spoon of fine raw brown sugar right at the start).

Pracice makes perfect folks.. and my green and red curries are not perfectly traditional, but they have delighted friends from across the globe including my Thai chef friends! Respect the traditional ingredients and methods of releasing and combining the flavours.. and great results will follow )

Cossie!

It is very nice to se genuine recipes and not westernised recipes I have taught myself Thai cooking over 10 years, then refined my techniques with cooking classes and by living with my Thai friends in small villages in Mae Hong Son province of north west Thailand.

The variety of techniques between provinces is astounding.. and I love them all! Aroy mak mak

Gang kaew wan mu and gang ped pla are my two favourite curries.. and there are so many more to explore and practice it makes my mind boggle!

In a restaurant scenario, or street stall in Thailand, curries are cooked quite quickly when prepared fresh, but becuase I largely cook for myself or friends, I take my time, allowing the paste to diffuse its flavours into quality oil for up to an hour or so before adding cocount cream and further allowing to blend over low heat for up to another hour. I never add any ingredients until everthing is prepared, becuase these meals, as for many, are all about timing (and it is timing that you will just have to intuitively develop

I have quite a number of tips, mostly self-discovered, and some taught by old Thai ladies in remote mountain villages, to enhance the WOW factor, and to enhance the individual key ingredients (such as bai makroot (kaffir lime leaf), king (ginger), chillies (prik) gratiem (garlic), and da krai (lemongrass)). (of note is that I will use king in curries and galangal in soup style dishes such as Tom Yam Goong (prawn) or Tom Ka Gai (chicken) – galangal is much hardier than king and lends itself better to cooking with higher temperatures, im my experience).

Oh, ok.. one tip – after I serve gang kaew wan to each plate, over artistically formed servings of jasmine rice, I will squeeze the juice of half an ordinary lime over each dish.. of course, the amount should be ‘to you taste’, but it really sets your taste buds into a culinary tizz!!!

As for coriander, there is a traditional Thai coriander that I find much milder, more delicate and palatable than ‘western’ coriander (although you will see both in Thailand). Thai coriander is referred to in english as ‘spiky coriander, given its long broad and spiky leaves, with a similar scent (western coriander is much to bitter for my personal liking). (I know you can get spiky corainder at Rustys Markets – mostly Hmong and Thai vendors – in Cairns).

From north to south, east to west, as I said there are many different styles of Thai food, based on centuries old traditions. In the south ingredients seem to be well pounded/pureed whilst in the north ingredients are much ‘chunkier’! Flavous much more coarse but without that bitter strong spice of real southern curries (eg. Hat Yai) – not to say that northern curries cant be extremely hot!

Personally I love very hot curries, and I delight in Thai street stall cooks looking dumbfounded at me as I hurriedly devour their prik rich dishes

My favourite Thai dishes include the wide variety of nam prik dishes (chillie sauce). Nam prik Ong(a northern dish) is particularly delicious dish made with tomatoes and minced pork (mu).

Another delicacy of the north-west provinces is nam prik khua sai (literally translated means chilly sauce fried sand). Its a combination of chillies, garlic, onion and shrimp fried to a grainy texture and stored dry (never refrigeraed. Its absolutely amazing with fresh Kow Nee-o (sticky rice) and grilled pork, and enjoyed with fresh prik, gratiem and topped off with responsibly consumbed shots of Low Kow (traditional rice whisky – locally made, not mass produced). Of course, you have to be sitting with your Thai friends, talking Thai (to your best ability!), on the footpath as you take in the ambience of a northern Thai village, children playing and laughing, cousins, uncles, grandparents and neighbours included

Enjoy Thai food and Thailand everybody.. and remember, forget the pub talk about Thailand.. travel throughout the provinces, show humbleness and respect for all those who you meet.. and you will have the most remarkable and unforgettable experiences of your entire life.. with NO EXCEPTION

Cossie

Thanks for the comment, but I do not recommend to the readers to use cow’s milk. Like you said, it doesn’t have enough fat, so the flavors will not come out when you fry it. This dish is meant to be made with coconut cream & coconut milk. If you’re worried about the fat in coconut milk, do what Thais do and don’t drink the juice, just fish for the vegetables and meat inside the curry and eat that with the rice

do they have lime leaves? that’s the same leaf that comes from the magroot plant, also sometimes called “kaffir lime”. if you add more of them to the curry when you cook it, it may make up for the flavor. i wouldn’t substitute regular lime skin – just leave it out.

regular (purple italian) eggplant does not taste like pea eggplant whatsoever. if you can’t find it, just leave it out. maybe add some extra thai eggplants instead!

I was also told by the lady at the asian market that regular eggplant tastes the same as pea eggplant. Anyone able to vouch for this? I did get the thai green eggplant so I’m excited to try those!