Thank you! We love Thai food, but I rarely try to cook it at home. Maybe this will help.

I have some good Thai cookbooks, and I go to Thai Town to get ingredients, such as curry paste. I've made Thai curry paste myself, and it is better than what I can buy in the cans, but the canned curry paste is so convenient and saves a lot of time.

I need to grow a new crop of lemongrass, but I have no shortage of Kaffir lime leaves and limes in my back yard. I found it interesting to see how he uses the tiny threads of lime leaves - that is not something that I have seen before, and I will definitely try that.

The main Thai dishes that I have been making so far include Pad Thai (which takes a lot of prep but cooks very quickly) and various soups - mostly with shrimp. I also like Thai beef salad, but I don't make it except for just myself.

I used to grow Thai basil for several of the Thai recipes that I like to make, but I haven't been doing that lately. I think it is okay to substitute regular basil, but it does have a very different flavor.

I keep dried galangal on hand and prefer to use that instead of regular ginger.

Since there are so many good Thai restaurants here, we generally go out for Thai food. There are a couple of Thai restaurants in Westchester that I like, but there are more in Thai Town that I like even more, although we have not been venturing that far for restaurants lately.

We have a SE Asian market locally, and a coupl of Thai and Vietnamese restaurants. The soups are good, but our urries and other dishes are superior. I have to request clantro and other ingredients be included. A couple of the restaurants used to be better, with more authentic ingredients. But there are, it appears, too many finicky patrons as well as others who are unsophisticated and therefore undemanding. I fear that SE Asian restaurants may go the way of the too Americanized Chinese brown glop restaurants — catering too much to the unadventurous American palette.

Lars, I envy you your kaffir lime leaves. When I first had a Panang duck curry, it was served with those lime leaf threads. Beautiful and a lot of flavor. I have removed the center line and shredded them finely, but Chef Derek does a masterful job.

Its great to hear that you have made a lot of Thai dishes. I cook Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese dishes which include Pad Thai, Thai beef salad, mee krob, pork or shrimp with hot Thai basil (fried basil leaves); green papaya salad, cellophane noodle salad with shrimp, Green and red and Penang curries, seafood salad (yom talay), shrimp soup, moules Thai style, fresh rolls. Lobster Cantonese, lobster Rangoon, sichuan ravioli, kung pao ___, mu shu pork, Mandarin pancakes, hot and sour soup, dry fried green beans. lots of ad hoc dishes. I don’t go too far out on the ethnic limb as I have my own areas of culinary inhibitions.

Aok, I urge you to keep cooking. I have many cookbooks, and sometimes follow recipes, often combine idea, and use them for inspiration.

Good YouTube venues; Hot Thai Kitchen with Palin and Steamy Kitchen. Palin is very good and accessible.

Thanks for this, petalique. Thai is a favorite of DH’s and is what we’re having today for Father’s Day dinner. Everything is coming from a local Thai restaurant we like.

Can you suggest a good cookbook? We live in a small, rural town now, with nary an Asian restaurant or market to be found, except storefront Chinese brown glop. It's a 30 minute drive to the closest one, and then when I get there it's overwhelming.

I will look. Fortunately, you can now order many ingredients online. Even fresh lime leaves.

You can substitute some things, although, I must say, those Thai bird eye chilies have the most wonderful perfume (aroma, fragrance) to them. I like spicy things okay, but it cannot just be heat with no flavor. I’ve grown more accustomed to the heat of some hilies and there are things one can do to attenuate the heat.

Thinds that you’re noy likely to be able to get online are fresh cilantro, cilantro with the roots; bean sprouts, Thai sweet anise basil, some chiles. You can grow some of these items and sprout your own mung beans. As Lars points out, Canned or jarred curry pastes are acceptable and a lot of restaurants rely on them. But, I am with him — home made is tops. You can also then control the amout of sodium and chili.

What sort of Thai dishes do you like?

Do you have any Thai ( or Vietnamese) recipes? One thing you might find helpful is the glossary in many cookbooks. It describes various ingredients and tools and there are often photos. I had to buy more refrigerator and shelf space for the specialty ingredients.

But there are many simple dishes and recipes and videos online.

I make a cellophane noodle salad (from dear Hattie, Susan who had a blog. She passed away some years ago.) I used her recipe and made a few changes. You can add or omit ingredients to your liking.

Softened cellophane noodles, optional seafood such as shrimp, herbs like a bit of cilantro, fresh spearmint, basil. (Forgot what else, I will have to look in my notebook, but add something bright like red chiles or pimento for color). Then just before you serve it (on a bed of bib or boston lettuce or shredded cabbage, you add the Thai - Vietnamese style dressing (vinaigrette) which consists of Thai fish sauce (i.e. clear nam pla), palm sugar (or regular sugar), freshly squeezed lime juice.

Green papaya salad is easy. You can shred the green papaya with a mandolin or a hand tool designed for that purpose.

Look around at Hot Thai Kitchen https://hot-thai-kitchen.com and see what appeals to you. Let me know.

PS

I bet Palin has a cookbook, but she has her videos and web page.

Thanks! Hot is not a problem here. I don't like scorching, I prefer to taste the food. DH like heat for heat's sake. He will eat a habanero like I eat a bell pepper. And he has a tub of ground ghost peppers for his own personal use.🤪

Edit: Hot Thai Kitchen looks fabulous. I'll be down the rabbit hole if anyone is looking for me.

I used to grow Thai basil for several of the Thai recipes that I like to make, but I haven't been doing that lately. I think it is okay to substitute regular basil, but it does have a very different flavor.

I keep dried galangal on hand and prefer to use that instead of regular ginger.

I grow Thai basil exclusively now. I use it in both Thai and Italian dishes.

Galangal and ginger have different flavor profiles. I keep the roots of both in the freezer.

Good YouTube venues; Hot Thai Kitchen with Palin and Steamy Kitchen. Palin is very good and accessible.

I agree, but was admonished by someone here for posting her video. She claimed Palin was sharing false information. 🙄

Edit: Hot Thai Kitchen looks fabulous. I'll be down the rabbit hole if anyone is looking for me.

She's an excellent resource! I've learned a lot from her videos.

Judi, yum! I cannot locate a box of my garden seeds, which included the Thai sweet anise basil, green beans and peas.

I grow green onion from the roots that I snip off when cooking. I always have to have a lot of garlic and ginger and like around.

I just paid a visit to Hot Thai Kitchen and now i have a craving for Yum Woo Sen

https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/glass-noodle-salad-v2/

But today we’re playing around with the smoker and brisket — that’s in a different direction.

Here's how I make Pad Thai, but it takes more than 15 minutes:

Chicken Pad Thai Fried Noodles

This recipe is a combination of several recipes that I found, and the flavor seems to be authentic, mainly because of the sauce.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. dried rice noodles
  12 oz. chicken meat (or shrimp)
  3 tbsp corn starch (or flour)
  1/8 tsp cayenne (optional)
  3 tbsp grape seed oil or peanut oil, approx.
  4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or chopped
  1 small bunch bok choy, leaves reserved separately (or one cup bean sprouts)
  1/3 cup Thai preserved cabbage, rinsed and drained – press out all excess moisture
  2-3 Serrano peppers, thinly sliced, seeds removed, if desired
  3 oz. Savory baked tofu or tempeh, sliced 1/8” thick and cut into 1/2” x 1/4” pieces
  2 tbsp dried shrimp, ground
  2 eggs, lightly beaten with
  2 tsp soy sauce
  4-5 green onions, thinly sliced, including green parts
  1/4 cup chopped basil
• Sauce:
  2 tbsp tamarind paste
  1/4 cup water
  1 tsp granulated sugar
  1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  2-1/2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
  2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  2 tbsp Thai curry paste or 1 tbsp Chinese chili paste*
  1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• For Garnish:
  chopped cilantro
  coarsely chopped dry roasted unsalted peanuts (optional – I serve these on the side)

Place the rice noodles in a large bowl, cover them with cold water, and allow them to soak for about one hour. After they have soaked, drain them well and dry with a clean dish towel or paper towels. Keep them covered until you are ready to fry them. I dried them in a salad spinner that I lined with paper towels, and them I left them in the spinner, covered, until I was ready to use them.

While the noodles are soaking, make the sauce. Dissolve the tamarind paste in water, using a pestle or other blunt object (such as wooden stomper for a meat grinder) and then strain through a coarse strainer or run through a food mill. Scrap the softened paste off the bottom of the strainer/mill, and put into a pyrex measuring cup or small bowl. Add the sugar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, curry paste (or chili paste), and cilantro and stir to combine. At this point you can taste it for seasoning and add a bit more soy sauce if you think it needs it. Set aside.

Cut the chicken into small, bite-sized pieces. Combine the cayenne with the cornstarch, and dredge the chicken pieces in the mixture.

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a wok. Stir-fry the garlic for about one minute, and add the chicken pieces, one at a time. Stir with very long stir-fry chop sticks. When the chicken is done remove and set aside. Leave whatever oil remains in the wok.

Make sure the rest of the ingredients have been sliced/chopped and are lined up in order of addition. Remove the green part of the bok choy and reserve it chopped with the green onions. In order add the

• Bok choy (white part only)
  preserved cabbage, rinsed and drained
  Serrano peppers
  baked tofu or tempeh
  dried shrimp
  drained rice noodles

Stirring with the long chop sticks to distribute evenly. You may need to add the extra oil as you go along. After the noodles have been brought up to temperature (about 3-4 minutes or so), add the sauce, stir to combine, and push the entire mixture to one side of the wok with a wooden spoon. Add the egg/soy sauce mixture to make scrambled eggs in the bottom of the wok. When the eggs are soft set, stir them into the rest of the mixture, using the chop sticks.

Lastly, add the green onions and bok choy greens, fry for about one minute more, and then add the basil. Serve with garnishes on the side or on top. I omit the peanuts for myself, and I serve the peanuts in a small dish at the table for others to add as they like.

*If you use Chinese chili paste, you may want to omit the Serrano peppers. The Thai curry paste that I use (Prik Kaeng) is not very hot, and is made from chili extract, lemon grass, garlic, onion, and shrimp paste. I would not recommend using a Massaman curry paste that has more ingredients than that.

Serves 4

This is one of my favorite recipes from Pai I adjust the amount of sauce ingredients and only use about 1/2 cup Thai basil, but keep the recipe basically the same.

Lars, I hope to get time to try your recipe. It looks great.

Judy,

”I agree, but was admonished by someone here for posting her video. She claimed Palin was sharing false information. 🙄”

That’s hilarious. Wonder what the ”misinformation” was. Maybe the commenter was thinking of Sarah P_____.

I forgot — one of the best Thai dishes I ever made was Chang Mai Noodles (Khao Soi). I used Pim’s recipe and it looked like her’s and the flavor was fantastic.

It looked a lot like the rendition here from asiaonlinerecipe.

I made it all from scratch, including the red or Penang curry paste. It is extremely rich, so I have not treated myself to it since. Pim’s recipe used to be available online. I spotted her book at a discount store becasuse the front cover was torn. What a fun read and some very good recipes and tips. $3.50 well spent.

I love Khao Soi! Believe it or not, Trader Joe's used to have a fairly authentic tasting frozen version. I've never made my own curry paste. I buy the Mae Ploy brand.

Making Thai curry paste as home is pretty simple. I live a tad off the beaten path, so for me, having the fresh ingredients on hand can be a challenge. The very first curry paste I made was a green. It was fantastic. I will try to see if I can find the recipe. I got it from a magazine ~ 1985. Perhaps ’Saveur.’ It had some of these ingredients: shrimp paste, fish sauce, cilantro with roots, thai bird chili peppers and ?japapenos, lime leaves, Asian shallots, galangal…. But, I was naive, and poked my face and nose into the blender after I’d combined these chili peppers and herbs. YOW! My eyes and nasal passages felt as though they’d been torched.

I froze small batches of the curry paste. All the ingredients even out once put together; and even more so after the coconut cream and the other ingredients are added.

I made a red or maybe a Penang curry paste another time. That was much easier. I modified a recipe from a book by a chef in SF.

I could eat curries many times a week if I didn’t have to watch my sodium and saturated fat intake. I love it, even if is is a simple tossed together ad hoc lunch.

I know this is slightly heretic, but I ordered some little cans of Maesri Thai curry pastes and so far we have really enjoyed them and they are delicious. I'm much more likely to cook Thai with this shortcut. Boy I miss living near Stroudsburg PA, which has quite a few amazing Thai restaurants!

https://www.amazon.com/Maesri-Variety-Curry-Masaman-Panang/dp/B074Q2M316/ref=pd_day0fbt_img_sccl_2/135-0629095-5252812?pd_rd_w=hNFCB&content-id=amzn1.sym.28060bf9-0745-4e32-a449-e95381c8ca7a&pf_rd_p=28060bf9-0745-4e32-a449-e95381c8ca7a&pf_rd_r=7SQC8ZZ5AJ2CXBCSFD6C&pd_rd_wg=xEWqG&pd_rd_r=f025f412-92de-4615-9e2f-de266c3d0db0&pd_rd_i=B074Q2M316&th=1

Green curry is my favorite!

My guess is most Thai restaurants here don't make their own curry pastes. While I'm sure homemade is best, I'm pretty content with the brand I buy. I'll look for Maesri on my next Asian market visit.

https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/curry-paste-101/