Am I making this noodle correctly?

Question

I decided to make pad thai noodles from scratch. The recipe I found for rice noodles said to let the rice soak overnight then grind the resulting mixture in a blender. After that it called for steaming the batter in small batches then slicing into noodles. The problem that I had is that these noodles did not cook up in my wok correctly. They got extremely gummy and were grainy.

I have experience with pasta, but I have no idea where I went wrong with such a simple recipe. Anybody have any ideas on how I can fix this?

EDIT: the recipe was this 1 1/4 cup rice 1 1/4 cup water oil to coat steamer tray

Place rice in water overnight, blend until smooth (smoother better than not), ladle into oiled steamer pan one ladle full every five minutes, remove noodle sheets and slice noodles.

Asked by sarge_smith

Answer

A difference I see between your recipe and other alternatives is that you don't have any other starch besides your rice. Other recipes include a good amount of tapioca or potato starch. The other difference was that other recipes used rice flour instead of rice.

You might also want to consider a change in technique. You can make rice noodles like a crepe rather than in an oiled steamer pan. Simply use a non-stick or oiled crepe pan, put in batter to crepe thickness, and let it cook until it begins to pull away from the edge of the pan. Invert and release in one motion onto a cutting board and slice.

Answered by justkt

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How do I prevent coconut milk from separating in Thai curry?

Question

It seems like every single attempt I've made at making a Thai-style coconut curry ends up with the sauce mixture separating. Although it usually still tastes good, the coconut ends up looking like it has curdled.

My question is what could I be doing wrong? I've mainly been following the recipe on the side of the curry paste I have (Thai Kitchens brand, IIRC).

1. Stir some of the paste with a can of coconut milk (I've been using Chao Koh) until that boils.
2. Add some fish sauce and chicken broth along with the meat and vegetables
3. Simmer until cooked.

My suspicion is I may be using too much chicken stock. I usually use about 1-2 cups. The vegetables I add(typically bell peppers and onions) will also contribute additional liquid to the curry.

My family and I love this dish, but I would really like to perfect its preparation. What steps can I take to prevent the coconut milk from separating from the curry?

Asked by ddysart

Answer

Even though it isn't really milk (in the dairy sense), coconut milk still naturally separates into a thick cream and thinner liquid like regular milk. As such, when working with coconut milk you should still follow the same procedures you would to make a milk-based cream sauce.

The number one rule when making any creamy sauce is: DON'T LET IT BOIL! Boiling will guarantee that your creamy sauce (including sauces made with coconut milk) will break in some form or fashion. At most, you should cook these at a bare simmer.

Other than that, there are some techniques you can use to keep your curry smooth.

You could use an emulsifier like honey (common in vinaigrettes, where it is used to make sure the oil and vinegar don't separate), added toward the end of cooking.

You could also use a thickening agent, like a cornstarch slurry or a quick roux. Curry paste is also a thickening agent. As a general rule of thumb, when making Thai-style curry I usually cook my vegetables in a little more oil than I think they need, then add the curry paste and sauté that until it has absorbed the oil (along with any dry spices). It will act as a roux for the coconut milk and make sure there are no lumps in the final curry.

Lastly, cooking the curry uncovered at a simmer, stirring occasionally, will thicken it up nicely and help all the ingredients stay together.

Answered by Andy Rice

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What is coriander root and where can you get it?

Question

I mentioned the book Thai Food in an answer to another question. This reminded me of one of my longest running quandaries with it. Many of the recipes mention “coriander root”. I am aware of being able to buy the seeds (whole or ground) or the leaves, but I have never seen for sale anything calling itself coriander root.

Has anyone managed to source this, or am I missing something obvious?

Answer

It is just the root of the coriander plant. Certainly at least here (UK) you can buy living coriander plants in the supermarket; you could pull one out of the pot and use the root from that.

Apparently you can also subsitute 2 stems of coriander for every piece of root called for in the recipe, but I've never tried this.

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Prevent coconut milk from separating in Thai curry?

Question

Seems like every attempts I've made at making a Thai-style coconut curry ends up with the sauce mixture separating, making it look like the coconut milk curdled. The taste is still usually good, it just look kinda gross.

My question is what could I be doing wrong? I've mainly been following the recipe on the side of the curry paste I have (Thai Kitchens brand, IIRC). This has you stir an amount of the paste with a can of coconut milk (I've been using Chao Koh) until that boils, add some fish sauce and some chicken broth, along with the meat and vegatables, and simmer until cooked.

My suspicion is I may be using too much chicken stock (I end up using anywhere from 1-2 cups). And that I might be getting liquid from the veggies (typically bell peppers and onions)

My family and I love this style dish, I would really like to perfect its preparation.

Answer

Even though it isn't really milk (in the dairy sense), coconut milk still naturally separates into a thick cream and thinner liquid like regular milk. As such, when working with coconut milk you should still follow the same procedures you would to make a milk-based cream sauce.

The number one rule when making any creamy sauce is: DON'T LET IT BOIL! Boiling will guarantee that your creamy sauce (including sauces made with coconut milk) will break in some form or fashion. At most, you should cook these at a bare simmer.

Other than that, there are some techniques you can use to keep your curry smooth.

You could use an emulsifier like honey (common in vinaigrettes, where it is used to make sure the oil and vinegar don't separate), added toward the end of cooking.

You could also use a thickening agent, like a cornstarch slurry or a quick roux. Curry paste is also a thickening agent. As a general rule of thumb, when making Thai-style curry I usually cook my vegetables in a little more oil than I think they need, then add the curry paste and sauté that until it has absorbed the oil (along with any dry spices). It will act as a roux for the coconut milk and make sure there are no lumps in the final curry.

Lastly, cooking the curry uncovered at a simmer, stirring occasionally, will thicken it up nicely and help all the ingredients stay together.

Check more discussion of this question.

How do I use whole fresh tamarind?

Question

On a whim I bought some tamarind at the grocery store this week. I'm most familiar with it from the dish Pad Thai. My idea at the time was that I would "do something" with it and a pork chop. Pork chops being my canvas of choice for much experimentation.

However I'm now stumped as to what I actually do with this thing. I cracked the flimsy shell/skin to expose the sticky fruit inside. I licked it; it tastes good. I'm not sure what to do next though.

I've looked at some recipes online, but they all work with tamarind paste. I'm assuming I need to process the meat somehow to turn it into a paste.

Questions

• Do I have to turn this into paste?
• How do I clean/prepare it? (besides obviously throwing the skin away)
• Do I need to add oil, water, or other ingredients to make it a paste?
• Are there seeds? Do they need to be removed?

Answer

1- Remove the hard shell,

2- simmer them in a little liquid until the meat can be easily removed from the seeds.

Tamarind is very sweet and very sour. Tamarind chutneys are delicious for a starting point. You can find recipes but not many other ingredients are required.

You asked if you have to make it into a paste- I suppose not but cooking them is required to get the seeds out and cooking turns the meat into a paste.

Carmi is correct that you can add them directly to liquid but you need to be able to get the large, hard seeds out.

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Thai Chicken and Noodles Recipe Recreation

Question

I used to eat this delicious Thai Chicken and Noodles recipe from a restaurant that closed down over a decade ago. I'm looking for a closest approximation of a recipe that will still taste good. (I don't know if cooking.SE will tolerate this kind of question, since it's a bit off-topic, but here goes.)

The dish was composed of:

• Dark brown noodles, a bit thick
• Chicken that was reddish and deep-fried; it was very crispy
• Chopped vegetables; zucchini at the least.

The dish was pretty dry; it didn't have any curry, sauce, or any other ingredients, really.

How would I make a dish like this? Or, what's the closest to this dish that I can find a recipe for?

Answer

Check out these recipes for curry fried chicken. They look tasty. Just use chicken breast cut into strips instead of whole legs and wings and things.

This one, or this one.

They're the same recipe, but it makes me laugh that this site just copied Rachael Ray or vice verse :p. Probably the former, but still amusing. Anyway..

You should be able to find some whole grain rice noodles from most major grocers, least here in Cleveland, Ohio. They will be thick like your looking for. Start those boiling while you saute your veggies with some olive oil. Start off with some garlic in the pan for a minute once it's hot, then add some green beans, bell peppers, zucchini, snow peas and what-have-you and cook until they are as tender as you would like.

Mix in the noodles, with an extra tablespoon (15mL) of olive oil if you please, and give them a toss. Put the chicken on top almost like a garnish.

If you think it will be too dry, it's easy to make a sauce REALLY quick by just reserving some of the water you used to cook the noodles, like 1/4 to 1/3 Cup, or 50 to 100mL (it's a really rough number). Add the water to your noodles and veggies in small increments until you think it's "saucy" enough. Add in some Curry Paste or eat as is!

Try using Peanut Oil or Sesame Oil instead of Olive Oil!

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Why did my peanut butter sauce split?

Question

I made a peanut butter sauce/marinade for some tofu bits, with peanut butter, soy sauce and pineapple juice. It tasted good and was the right creamy texture when I put the tofu in it. After a couple of hours it was still fine, and then I tossed it all in the frying pan. Within a minute or two, the sauce had split, and had lost most of its flavour. What parameter of the cooking am I getting wrong?

Answer

You need to 1) increase the emulsification, and 2) reduce the amount of time the sauce is very hot.

You can try adding honey or mustard to the sauce, that will improve emulsification. You can also hit it with a stick blender which will do a much better job of breaking it up than can be done by hand.

Also it may look ok after a few hours but who knows how much separation is starting to happen at a very small scale and will accelerate when it hits heat.

Add the sauce at the last possible moment before plating. It isn't going to benefit from cooking, and it isn't going to marinade into the cooked food, so don't have it in any longer than it takes for it to warm up. 20 seconds is probably all it will take.

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What can I substitute for Kaffir Lime Leaves?

Question

Kaffir Lime Leaves seem to be a common ingredient in Thai food, particularly coconut based dishes. I have never seen them in Atlanta, and I've looked (farmers market, whole foods, normal grocery, but not an Asian grocery store). What is the flavor profile of these leaves? Is there a good substitute?

Answer

I wouldn't attempt to substitute. I've read somewhere that you can use regular lime leaves, but I've never seen those anywhere. Even Googling for lime leaf turns up kaffir lime leaves.

They can be found easily enough online: ImportFood.com. They freeze well for months in just a zip-lock bag.

The flavor profile is best described as a bright floral aromatic. It's similar in function, not taste, to a bay leaf. Thai cuisine uses kaffir lime leaves much as we do bay leaves.

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If you decide buying online isn't worth the hassle, then Kitchen Savvy suggests the following substitute:

• 1/2 a small bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp of lime zest
• 1/8 tsp of fresh lemon thyme

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