I know a big part of it is making sure to get authentic curry paste. What else would I need to make something like a nice tofu curry (6/5 spicy) that would taste like the stuff I could get as takeout?
My partner is from Thailand. She affirms get authentic curry paste. She says to get it at an Asian grocery store, not from an American store. She says get the good coconut milk as well. And she suggests using fresh chilis, lime leaves, and basil.
And she suggests using fresh chilis, lime leaves, and basil.
To be clear for the gringos in the chat, these would be “Thai chili peppers”, “kaffir lime leaves”, and “Thai basil”, all of which should be readily available at your nearest Asian market.
You snip some leaves off the citrus tree in your backyard, add some jalapeños, and sweet basil you’re gonna have a whole different dish.
Thank you for clarifying. She probably assumed I knew to point that out, but I didn’t.
Without knowing the specific curry you’re looking to replicate makes it hard to make specific recommendations but a few things have helped me up my game.
The first is what you use to add a sour note. In the west we often use lime juice, which is great to add sprinkled at the end, but you need to get some tamarind paste for the depth of flavour. It also adds sweetness, but you can instead use some sugar, preferably brown or palm.
Fish sauce is a must to round out the depth of umami and I find soy really doesn’t work for me. If that’s a no-go because of dietary restrictions you might have to add some yeast flakes with the soy sauce, but it’s not going to have the same depth.
If you can get galangal, use it. Same with lemon grass. But again all depends on the specific curry.
It’s usually “green” that I go for, sometimes red.
Just imagine a little hole in the wall place where the menu is in Thai, with your options being “red,” “green,” or “massuman” and the staff will respond well to the white guy asking for it to be “thai spicy.”
Check out Pailin from https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/, she’s legit. She’s got an incredible amount of videos on her cooking channel, including what brands are good.
Happy cooking.