green curry paste [General]

2010 May 26
where can one get green curry paste in west end?

2010 May 26
I normally buy the Thai Kitchen stuff at Metro. Not sure how 'authentic' it is but I personally like the taste...

2010 May 26
Best green curry paste hands down is Mae Ploy brand.

2010 May 27
snoopy, where can you get mae ploy?

2010 May 27
I normally get mine at 168, T&T or Wa Kiu. I'm not sure how far west you mean west end by, but I'm 99% certain you can get this at Andy's variety on the corner of Meadowlands and Woodroffe. If you're looking for something in Kanata... I have no idea.

2010 May 27
I believe I saw it somewhere downtown on bank too, right past the street where greyhound is.

2010 May 27
iheart - sounds like you are talking about the korean grocery store at bank & arlington, near the corner of catherine st (where greyhound bus station is).

2010 May 27
That's Arum... actually, the restaurant attached to it isn't bad!

I'm not sure if Arum has it or not. I've never done serious shopping there. I know for sure that almost every store in Chinatown has it.

2010 May 27
yeah its def the one with the restaurant attached to it. Forgotten the name as I just went there once. I just seem to remember that box. How much does it go for usually?

2010 May 27
$3.49 or so? I don't rememeber the price exactly, but definitely less than $5.00. Also, it will last you anywhere between 20-30 dishes, so it is very very cheap.

2010 May 27
The large green curry is usually under $3. You can get it at the asian grocery on Hazeldean and Castlefrank.

2010 May 27
I just had some the other night ... man I love Mae Ploy... also, just so you know, a lot of Thai restos use Mae Ploy as a base for their own sauces as well as in Thailand... truth. If you look at the ingredients, it's all the ingredients you would use in making your own paste...

Ingredients:
green chile, garlic, shallot, lemongrass, salt, galanga, shrimp paste, kaffir lime peel, coriander seed, pepper, cumin, turmeric.

2010 May 27
Do you know if similar is used in indian curries?

I do a pretty nice curry already with turmeric, cinnamon and cumin as the main spices...but im trying to recreate a Ramsay one with chicken and green papaya.


2010 May 27
No. Not at all. It has a very different flavour base.

2010 May 27
I've never had thai curries. How would you compare it to an indian curry?

2010 May 27
Here's a web resource that is a good starting point for everything you want to know about Asian food: www.asiafood.org

Various Thai curries are usually built around a wet paste which you can make from scratch (best) or buy premade. There are lots of curry paste variations but common ingredients include fresh chiles, galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime, shrimp paste, shallots, garlic, coriander (fresh and seeds), and probably more. This is usually fried to release its flavor then other ingredients are sauted and coconut milk, fish sauce, and other seasonings added. Thai dishes tend to use more oriental vegetables and ingredients.

Indian dishes I'm familiar with are usually built around a base of sauted ingredients, often seasoned with cumin, coriander, tumeric, chile powder, cinnamon, and/or other spices. Oil, ghee, yogurt, water and coconut milk add moisture. Usually the dish is finished with a roasted ground spice mixture (a garam masala, for example). Indian dishes use more legumes (dals) such as chickpeas, lentils, etc.

2010 May 27
Wow, thanks Yan. That's a good explanation.

2010 May 27
Based on ingredient lists they def seem lighter than Indian curries.(which is not a bad thing) much fewer ingredients.


2010 Jun 16
late to this thread, but for another option, i find the Maesri brand fairly competitive w/ Mae Ploy. Perhaps a bit sweeter, but with one advantage that its also available in smaller tins and less likely to dry out. Maesri also line the shelves of some Thai resties. Some swear by them over Mae Ploy. Not that i disagree w/ Snoopy ... i like both.

Re. your (iheart's) question about Thai vs. Indian curries, some suggest Thai curries have more in common w/ southern Indian curries and per a more current post, Burmese ones. Also, some Thai curries approximate or perhaps represent adaptations of Indian ones. As an example, Mae Ploy carries a "yellow" curry which includes tumeric as one of its main ingredients:

en.wikipedia.org

The Thai word "Gaeng Kari" (or "Gari") translates into something like "curry curry". Not positive, but w/ its etymology ("gaeng" = thai word for curry, "gari" (or "kari") = curry), perhaps the yellow curry is a thai adaptation w/ an Anglo influenced twist ... i dunno, i'm not a socio-linguist.

2010 Jun 16
I've been cooking Thai food frequently for over 10 years now, and I've come to the conclusion that there are only two types worth buying: Mae Ploy and Mae Sri. I prefer the latter, but lots of people prefer the former. One of the advantages to the latter is that it comes in 1-2 serving cans (depending on your tastes), so you are always getting fresh curry paste. Even though I cook a lot, with the big tub of Mae Ploy, I found the flavour started to go flat after awhile. Curry paste really shouldn't be kept that long.

No offense to the other poster, but Thai Kitchen is really an awful brand. It tastes terrible, and they overcharge ridiculously.

When you get into Thai curries significantly, I *strongly* urge you to make your own curry paste. The first few times seem tedious and time consuming, but with some practice, you can whip together a beautiful curry paste within 30-45 minutes. The taste difference is indescribable. All canned curry pastes will seem one-dimensional afterwards. I really don't think I could eat canned curry paste again with any regularity: it is occasionally my lazy go-to, but even jazzing it up with extra lemongrass, lime leaves, garlic, shallots, and chillies (which makes a big difference), it still falls far flat from homemade. If you haven't tasted a homemade Thai curry, you are missing out big-time.

My other major recommendation is to use boxed coconut milk instead of canned. It's quite common in Ottawa, and it doesn't suffer the tinny taste that canned often has. If I have to use canned, I use coconut cream exclusively, as its stronger, richer flavour masks that awful hint of aluminum, but coconut milk in boxes is absolutely fabulous and the next best thing after making your own coconut milk. (This is NOT something I would suggest. I have done it three times and fricking hell, it is a ton of work that is not worth the small payoff.)

2010 Jun 17
I've never tried Mae Sri. I was told years ago by some Thai resto owners that I should go with Mae Ploy, and so I did. I'll have to try Mae Sri. Like Itchy and Vorpal have said already, Mae Ploy only comes in large tubs, and when you're using 1 tsp or so per dish, it does last a long time. However, on the downside, as I just found out a couple of days ago when I tried to use some green curry paste, the flavour has gone flat and I'll have to toss it :(

2010 Jun 18
I know its getting a bit off the original topic - but responding to Vorpal - I always jazz up my canned curried paste - with whatever is handy (fish sauce and sugar always - lemon grass/galangal/garlic/lime leaf/lime etc as I see fit) Do others do the same or do you try and stick by the "recipe" listed on the can?

2010 Jun 18
I'll echo Vorpal. Making your own curry paste is a must. I don't really feel like I've "made" a thai curry dish if I've used the can stuff. The process is a tad long but I get a kick out of it. And you have total control on flavour. I suggest looking at a lot of recipes and looking at some stuff on youtube. Then after being armed with all that knowledge, you can sort of now how its done and not need to be so deligent in following a recipe... you know kind of wing it which is more fun. There are some ingredients that may be hard to find: galangal, kaffir (sp?)...

Only problem is after making the slightly tedious homemade paste, you will not want to use the pre-made concentrate stuff. Or at least I really don't enjoy the ones I've had since.

2010 Jun 21
Sourdough: there is no fish sauce or sugar typically in curry pastes, so using them is pretty much standard Thai curry cooking 101. The basic technique for curry is to heat some coconut cream to boiling, mix in your curry paste and stir-fry until bubbling and fragrant (several minutes). It's unlikely due to homogenization that the coconut milk will separate, which is really what the desired goal is in Thai curries, but that's okay - it won't really affect the taste. Add in a couple tbsp of fish sauce, 1-2 tbsp of palm sugar (preferably), and 3 lime leaves, finely sliced. Cook for another couple minutes, and then proceed with your meat and other ingredients.

Agree with chopper: I never follow a curry paste recipe anymore. I've made a few hundred curry pastes, so I pretty much know how each ingredient affects the flavour, and I just make a paste to suit the flavour I'm craving. Also, there are loads of ingredients that are optional (e.g. lesser ginger, ginger, turmeric, etc) so you can really tailor things to your mood / pantry contents.

The awesome thing about Ottawa is that kaffir limes are available all over Chinatown! I couldn't find them anywhere in Toronto, sadly :(.

I am ruined for store-bought paste now, which is fine, because homemade paste isn't that time consuming or hard once you've done it a few times. Furthermore, because of all the steps involved, it's a great activity to do with another person and provides an excellent bonding experience.

2010 Jun 22
so vorpal and choppper - what appliance are you using for making your paste? I've used mortar and pestle, but broke it a while back, and have not replaced. With the current family demographic canned paste is a likely alternative going forward, however if I ever find the time I'd like to get back to making my own again.

Note - you can get the coconut milk to separate if you heat it before adding the paste. The oil separates out which for some curries is the right time to add paste. The course I took in Thailand made a variety of curries and pastes and the methods differed for each.

2010 Jun 22
I always used to use a mortar and pestle--it is a bit of work (and annoying to those who are trying to watch TV in the other room or those who live on the 23rd floor [sorry!]). If you make a decent sized batch (about a cup), you can use your blender. The secret trick is to add a bit of vegetable oil (not water) to the mix to help it blend smoothly. Works like a charm! I wrap blobs of paste in plastic wrap and freeze it for up to a few months--seems to work fine. I suppose this breaks a whole series of Thai cooking rules...

2010 Jun 24
I use a food processor to get things started, and then when they're as fine as a food processor is going to get, I pound for a few minutes in a big mortar and pestle. You can skip one or the other if you want - I certainly have when lazy.

I've heard that oil should be avoided in blenders / food processors, as it takes away from the texture and makes the curry paste a dense, unpleasant ball. (So said several Thai cookbooks I've read.) I've found it largely unnecessary.

I think that canned coconut milk here is usually homogenized, which means it may not separate no matter what you do. David Thompson, famed Thai chef, recommends a tbsp of veg oil or coconut oil to simulate and encourage the effects.

2011 Jan 14
Where can I find green (unripe) bird eye chillies?

2011 Jan 14
Pretty sure I've seen these at T&T.

2011 Jan 15
Yes, they had the green Thai chiles at T&T yesterday.

I have used the blender for curry pastes with good success--my downstairs neighbour seems annoyed when I use my mortar and pestle. Yesterday's masaman paste didn't turn out perfectly though--didn't grind the spices finely enough in the spice grinder and then gave up before the paste was as smooth as it should have been. Curry tastes amazing but there is a bit of grittiness from the spices and a bit of pulpiness from the lemongrass. Not a fatal flaw, but I will work harder next time...

I used the recipe in "Cracking the Coconut" for the paste (great Thai cookbook, incidentally).


2011 Jan 15
I've followed vorpal's advice and recently purchased two thai cookbooks by David Thompson. Now it's simply a question of sourcing some of the ingredients. Apart from T&T, is there a one stop shop for thai related items, preferably on sommerset?

2011 Jan 16
Not any more: 168 used to have ALMOST everything, but it is no more. Kowloon is probably second best. But I really miss Maniphat, which had the best selection of SE Asian stuff, including fresh kaffir limes, culantro, water spinach, fresh green peppercorns, lesser galangal, fresh turmeric, etc.