do y'all's thai restaurants not allow for you to specify spice levels?
― wario in the streets, waluigi in the sheets (m bison), Saturday, 14 September 2019 18:13 (four years ago) link
the menus often have a rating next to each dish to say how spicy they are, but some places don't do that. the rating helps although is obv kind of subjective. or you can ask the waiter, but again, subjective and may depend on the waiter's English skills, or your Thai skills
generally the menus I've seen don't outright specify that you can vary the spice level but if you ask then they're usually happy to ask the chef to do so
(my Dad often asks if things are spicy because he likes things to be very spicy, and then the waiter usually replies "we can make it milder for you" and then he tells them "oh no, I like it spicy" and then the waiter is either totally confused or at least not totally convinced the white guy actually wants a spicy curry; I am not sure if this conversation actually helps him get the desired spice level)
― a passing spacecadet, Saturday, 14 September 2019 18:25 (four years ago) link
I think in (some?) Indian restaurants in the US they ask what level of spice you want it. That's unheard of here in the UK ime. But what's classed as 'medium' varies from restaurant to restaurant!
― kinder, Saturday, 14 September 2019 19:02 (four years ago) link
The Indian over the road from my old flat in Edinburgh always asked us how spicy we wanted curries because they knew we were chilliheads - it was great ordering up super spicy Dhansaks.
― I agree that the "I" is a pretty heavy concept (fionnland), Saturday, 14 September 2019 19:42 (four years ago) link
unrelated to spiciness but I miss the now-defunct Chinese over the road from my flat which would give us the Chinese menu (just because we went in there way too often and liked to order something new each time, and it had extra items not on the regular menu) and be very patient and indulge us asking what everything on it was
(o/h knows a little Japanese so could recognise some glyphs but not translate the actual menu items)
― a passing spacecadet, Saturday, 14 September 2019 19:53 (four years ago) link
I had a pumpkin/squash Burmese curry once and it was one of the best things I've ever had
― kinder, Saturday, September 14, 2019 10:20 AM (two hours ago)
yes! i feel like my preference for yellow Thai curry is lol colored by its similarity to this
― sarahell, Saturday, 14 September 2019 20:22 (four years ago) link
My spice preference varies from pepper to pepper. I believe Thai typically gets the head from raw bird’s eye chilies? Very hot! Too acidic or something for me, I’m a medium.
With Chinese tho, (arbol or similar for the spicy, Sichuan for the numbing) I can go max spicy and one time I smoked too much weed and ate the grandma sauce right out of the jar with a spoon
― flamboyant goon tie included, Saturday, 14 September 2019 21:12 (four years ago) link
agree, I can go the hottest ever for indian food but the hottest ever for thai food just wipes out my palate and I can't taste anything.
― Yerac, Saturday, 14 September 2019 21:40 (four years ago) link
ok, this thread persuaded me to go out for curry
the wife had a pumpkin panang curry, it was very good
i had a lamb shank massaman curry HOLY SHIT that was nice, went well with the bloody mary with thai chili as well
if i could change my vote it would definitely now be massaman
― sock fingering, baby (rushomancy), Sunday, 15 September 2019 00:07 (four years ago) link
I've only ever had the colour-named ones. Massaman sounds/looks very tasty, must try. I still have some lamb shank in the freezer..Out of red, green and yellow I think I prefer the latter, though it's all good basically. Thai restaurant around the corner in the city I used to live had a great yellow one with onions, potatoes, and thai basil, damn I miss that place.
― willem, Monday, 16 September 2019 12:06 (four years ago) link
mussaman is best at first but the deep cut long-timer is panang for sure
― she carries a torch. two torches, actually (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Monday, 16 September 2019 12:09 (four years ago) link
Green 4 Lyfe
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, 16 September 2019 12:40 (four years ago) link
Yeah I am a big massaman fan but it’s too sweet to be quotidian curry, unlike green/red, both of which I am so enamoured, I would gargle either sauce like mouthwash
― flamboyant goon tie included, Monday, 16 September 2019 15:19 (four years ago) link
I think I really want to vote for fish curry, which is a strong contender for my favourite food in the world, but I'm not sure how it fits into this taxonomy. is panang just a sub-category of red? there is a lot to consider here, & the deeper we go, the more shapeless it all seems
― ogmor, Monday, 16 September 2019 15:29 (four years ago) link
There's fish sauce in green, probably in all of them I guess, standard Thai ingredient I thought
― a wagon to the curious (Noodle Vague), Monday, 16 September 2019 16:36 (four years ago) link
i made a red curry yesterday because of this thread. with paste from a can so nothing too involved, but was tasty enough. served with rice noodles, carrot, cauliflower, mushrooms and crispy baked tofu
― Seany's too Dyche to mention (jim in vancouver), Monday, 16 September 2019 16:37 (four years ago) link
Ain't no curry like a green thai curry cause a green thai curry don't stop
― ☮ (peace, man), Monday, 16 September 2019 18:52 (four years ago) link
I wouldn’t vote for it, but jungle curry is something else. Thinner other curries and very sour, with whole green peppercorn clusters throughout. Yikes.
― Mazzy Tsar (PBKR), Thursday, 19 September 2019 20:37 (four years ago) link
Than.
― Mazzy Tsar (PBKR), Thursday, 19 September 2019 20:38 (four years ago) link
Jungle is what I usually order when I visit the good local Thai restaurant. I keep tins of green and red curry paste in the pantry, they make for quick dinners, and I suspect they're used by the bad local Thai restaurant.
― hedonic treadmill class action (Sanpaku), Friday, 20 September 2019 02:07 (four years ago) link
My understanding is that many Thai people use Mae Ploy curry paste at home. Green curry benefits a lot from being made fresh but I think red curry paste is fine.
― lost IDM classics (lukas), Friday, 20 September 2019 02:24 (four years ago) link
The other night I made the error of making a masaman from a jar of paste - instead of a rich, brown, cinnamon / anise experience it looked and tasted like a sweet red curry, even with a heavy lick of tamarind paste, a couple of star anise and some cardamom pods. I have no idea why it was so different but the times I've made it from scratch it's been amazing; this one was merely nice.This is the good stuff - it's a lot more work but mmmmmmm: https://www.cooked.com/uk/Charmaine-Solomon/Hardie-Grant-Books/The-Complete-Asian-Cookbook/Thailand/Kaeng-masaman-recipe
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Friday, 20 September 2019 05:41 (four years ago) link
Sorry guys, I'm gonna have to go with Steph.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 20 September 2019 06:47 (four years ago) link
To curry favor, favor curry.
― ☮ (peace, man), Friday, 20 September 2019 11:08 (four years ago) link
What are your Thai cookbooks! I've always just referred to Vatcharin Bhumichitr, not by choice, but because it was the cookbook that was in the shared house I was living in when I got into cooking in like 2003 or so.
― fgti (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 20 September 2019 11:58 (four years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Monday, 30 September 2019 00:01 (four years ago) link
*bites nails*
― cheese canopy (map), Monday, 30 September 2019 04:38 (four years ago) link
xxp i've got a few, including the big pink david thompson book that doesnt get a lot of use because it is so authentic and therefore so time consuming
― just sayin, Monday, 30 September 2019 05:00 (four years ago) link
Ah good tip, I'll check it out. I don't remember the exact wording but I love that moment when Steingarten said that in his time in Thailand, he ate dozens of meals and they were all of them diverse and different and all of them absolutely memorable. I've never been
― i could chug a keg of you (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 30 September 2019 13:39 (four years ago) link
Massaman is my fave.
If you are in SF, and have some money, try Kin Khao - a Michelin-starred Thai restaurant downtown. It's delicious! My only issue is that they make things hella-spicy, with no option to tone it down. I usually end up drinking way too much water when I go. But it's really good.
― DJI, Monday, 30 September 2019 20:15 (four years ago) link
Hard disagree. There's lots of good-great Thai in SF though, Kin Khao is not one of them.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 30 September 2019 20:17 (four years ago) link
What are your faves?
― DJI, Monday, 30 September 2019 20:21 (four years ago) link
voted massaman but they're all super good
― davey, Monday, 30 September 2019 20:24 (four years ago) link
i voted red because that is the one i make and it's rather good imo
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Monday, 30 September 2019 20:26 (four years ago) link
What do we get if we voted for the winning curry?
― A is for (Aimless), Monday, 30 September 2019 23:26 (four years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Tuesday, 1 October 2019 00:01 (four years ago) link
goddamn i was literally the deciding vote on this, and i changed my opinion after voting
― Calpico Girlfriend (rushomancy), Tuesday, 1 October 2019 00:05 (four years ago) link
You're the Jill Stein voter of this poll.
― DJI, Tuesday, 1 October 2019 00:09 (four years ago) link
surely the jill stein voter is whoever voted "other"?
― Calpico Girlfriend (rushomancy), Tuesday, 1 October 2019 00:18 (four years ago) link
I voted for Hillary and khao soi (other)
― Tart Prepper (Sufjan Grafton), Tuesday, 1 October 2019 01:38 (four years ago) link
Yellow and Massaman are my two favorites.
― Pauline Male (Eric H.), Tuesday, 1 October 2019 01:40 (four years ago) link
Ok time to investigate Penang, I guess!
― i could chug a keg of you (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 1 October 2019 03:11 (four years ago) link
thanks for the cookbook recs itt. ready to makemy own paste
― alomar lines, Tuesday, 1 October 2019 05:12 (four years ago) link
fwiw when i was in culinary school we had a Asian food demo. class and i remember the instructor recommending mae ploy thai curry pastes. used to use the green one a fair bit and it's quite good. think i'm gonna pick up a panang since i've never had that. ime depending on where one lives and seasonality, procuring all the ingredients (like galangal and lime leaves, even lemongrass) can be a challenge
― one charm and one antiup quark (outdoor_miner), Tuesday, 1 October 2019 17:00 (four years ago) link