Thai Curries (help)

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Date: Fri, 19 Apr 1996 12:20:50 -0700  From: "Colonel I. F. K.
Philpott" <colonel@korat1.vu-korat.ac.th> Thai  'curries' are typically
made using a 'curry' paste. However that is an  oversimplification:
firstly the word used for these dishes in Thai is  kaeng (pronounced
'gang') and it covers soups, stews and of course  curries. A paste
which is used could be used just as well for a soup  as for a curry.
Secondly of course it is not true that Thais call them curry: the  word
for curry is kari and it is only applied to a small number of  dishes:
the dishes that appear on western Thai restaurant menues as  'curries'
are kaengs, and they are made not with curry paste but with  a sauce
made from prik kaeng (which in this case could be translated  better as
chili paste).  There are many different prik kaeng in Thai cuisine and
from them you  could make a vast number of different dishes by using
different  protein ingredients, and vegetable ingredients and so on to
the  extent that it is said that most Thai housewives could cook a
different kaeng every day of the year.  However if you know the four
basic pastes listed here, and the basic  techniques from my next
posting, you can make a vast array of dishes,  if not perhaps quite one
per day for a year.  A rough rule of thumb is that one cup of raw
chilis yields a cup or  so of paste (since there is air in the chilis).
Further it will keep  about 3 months in a preserving jar in the fridge.
Since the average kaeng will require (depending on how hot you make
it) between 2 and 8 tablespoons of paste, and since there are roughly
16 tablespoons in a cup, you can scale this recipe up to suit your
needs. Suffice it to say that we make these pastes on a cycle over 8
weeks and make 6-8 portions of each of them. As they say in US motor
advertisements: your mileage may vary!  For Thai curry pastes, see the
following recipes:  prik kaeng kiao wan -- This is a paste for a green
curry, and the  'wan' indicates that it should be slightly sweet as
well as hot. 2:  prik kaeng phet -- phet means hot incidentally. 3:
prik kaeng Panaeng  ~- This is a paste for a 'dry chili' 4: prik kaeng
masaman -- masaman  is a mild hot and sour dish equivalent to the
Indian vindaloo.  See also kaeng sai mai rong hai (curry or soup or
stew without tears).  CHILE-HEADS DIGEST V2 #298  From the Chile-Heads
recipe list.  Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe  Archive,
http://www.erols.com/hosey.

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