Thai food!!

midlandsfairy

For those that havn't got round to making their own green or red thai curry pastes (like me!) I bought one from Tescos last week that was really nice, just as good as the paste from the Chinese Supermarket I used to go to. Also spotted in it Sainsburys. It came in a round plastic tub (a huge amount for £2.99 I think it was) and was with the sushi/'free from'/'speciality ingredients' section in Tescos.

Loving this thread, thanks to all those who posted fab ideas. They've all been jotted down to try!! (Also glad to hear sushi was so easy to make... I've always thought it seemed too complicated!)

Jei70

Yummy! I've never made Thai food from scratch, though I have most of the staples in stock: fish sauce, chillies, ginger, coconut milk...

The ingredients I've never used before are Kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. I note that Kaffir lime leaves can be kept frozen - is that the case with lemongrass too? Or is it best to just buy a couple of sticks as and when required? I'm thinking bulk-buying here, should be cheaper and come with less packaging.

newleaf

vixtress wrote:

i am in yorkshire and there are no oriental supermarkets near, there are loads of asian ones (mainly pakistani/indian goods) near where i work, they are fantastic for curry ingredients etc
think i will place a big order on https://www.thai4uk.com most things seem to keep well!

Which side of Yorkshire are you? If you can get to Manchester there are lots of Thai ingredients available in the Chinatown supermarkets, well worth a visit.
Fresh ingredients like Galangal, Kaffir lime leaves, Lemongrass, Ginger etc. are all easily frozen and keep for ages.

vixtress

Jei70 wrote:

Yummy! I've never made Thai food from scratch, though I have most of the staples in stock: fish sauce, chillies, ginger, coconut milk...

The ingredients I've never used before are Kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. I note that Kaffir lime leaves can be kept frozen - is that the case with lemongrass too? Or is it best to just buy a couple of sticks as and when required? I'm thinking bulk-buying here, should be cheaper and come with less packaging.

i buy the dried lime leaves and lemongrass, its probably not as good as the fresh stuff but it seems to do the job to me!
it must be ok as i am seriously addicted!!

i really should make an effort to get to manchester, i am on the border of lancs/n yorks so its not that far really, only about 1 1/2 hrs. am sure i would spend a fortune if i went!!

lynzpower

Hi all

ive got apacket of red thai cooking paste ( out of date, but it will be alrigh wont it) that Ive had for ages. I have no idea what to do with it- anyone know

I have 2x chicken breasts out of the freezer, and I also have full raft of storcupard items ( inc noodles, rice) but not much veg.

What would you do with it???

Gingernutmeg

I use thai paste to make tuna fishcakes - tin of tina, an egg, dollop of thai paste, some cold mash and breadcrumbs to coat. They're really good

Apart from that, I use it to make thai curries. You could marinate the chicken in the paste, fry it off and add some coconut milk if you've got it, and serve with noodles or rice. IF you've got any veg, just chop it up and cook it off after the chicken - I do this with some really odd stuff and it generally ends up tasting fine.

tr3mor

Thai red curry.

Fry onions, peppers, ginger, garlic, chillis, add the paste, add a tin of coconut milk, then add any meat/veg.

ThaiShopper

Try and use as much fresh ingredients as you can. This makes all the difference to the final taste!!
You can try the supermarkets or you can simply order from a company that will deliver the ingredients to you. i.e. http://www.siam-market.co.uk

misskool

Anne_Marie wrote: »

Following on from my above post about DH telling me my rendang was nothing like the real thing. Anyone out there who has first hand knowledge, please give me some tips.
Going against the grain, bought a packet of spice mixture for rendang in the Chinese supermarket. It has the ingredients in English, so if he likes the packet mix, can now make up my own mix...but goodness knows what quantities. I have never heard of galangga....could that be anything like galangal? Also lists zoeddery ginger....what is that? (I do buy fresh ginger & keep in freezer for grating when cooking, so just going to use that anyway, unless am told different.)
Hubby still at sea for another month or so, so will be a while before I can try this out. No point in making it for me, as never tasted the "real thing", and I don't eat meat either!

Bit late for a response but hopefully will help someone else. rendang is indo-malay and normally cooked with tough cuts of beefs, it's braised in spices and dried/dessicated coconut. It's like a dry curry. If you still need a recipe, I use this site a lot
http://www.kuali.com/recipes/viewrecipe.asp?r=199

Leopardlady

Thanks this looks great, i grew up in Southeast asia and miss a lot of the food, i love cooking and am thrilled with all the great tips and links on here. I will put any recipes i find good on here.

Thanks