KWR wrote:

> Brett Maguire wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I have two questions regarding Thai curry pastes, the first of which
>> is about the texture of the paste itself. I pound them using a large
>> stone mortar and pestle (the kind for sale on thaigrocer.com). I am
>> never sure just how "pastey" the paste should be. It is clearly one
>> entity, but it is textured; it would never be mistaken for, say, a
>> green smooth Jiffy peanutbutter. How smooth should the paste be? Is
>> it alright for there to be some identifiable pieces of inividual
>> ingredients, or is that an indication that I need to pound more before
>> incorporating the next item?
>>
>> The next question is one about mortar and pestle technique. In Su-Mei
>> Yu's book, Cracking the Coconut, she writes, "finally the familiar
>> rhythmic song of an even pounding sang out from the mortar" (page 203
>> for you following along in the hardcover copy). Never having worked
>> with a Thai chef, I am uncertain as to what this rhythmic song really
>> is. I find that by pounding straight down into the mortar, the paste
>> slides up the sides in about two or three hits, thus making it
>> necessary to scrape more paste down into the center to continue. The
>> only other option would be to pound against the sides, something which
>> Su-Mei Yu warns against doing. With this constant introsion into the
>> actual pounding, it is difficult to have any regular rhythm. Am I
>> doing something wrong, or do I just have a faulty conception of a
>> pounding rhythm?
>> Thanks,
>> Brett
>
>
> Hi Brett,
>
> This isn't a helpful answer to your question, I'm afraid, but an
> observation of my own: that the shallots-and-garlic phase of the
> grinding process can be really tricky and frustrating. I have taken to
> pre-grating these ingredients using a sharp fine grater, then adding and
> grinding the grated mush into the curry paste as a final step. It cuts
> down on the dual problems of flying shallot bits and half-smashed but
> unpulverized flat pieces of garlic / shallot. I used to just slice them
> finely before adding, but feel that this way works better.
> Whither authenticity, eh?
>
> krnntp

By the way, my grinding technique is a clockwise or counterclockwise
rubbing / crushing / rolling motion. Depending on how much the mixture
is riding up the sides of the mortar, I will either widen the diameter
of my path, or try smooshing it downward using vertical wiping strokes.
Sometimes I've resorted to stopping periodically to wipe the admixture
back into place with a hand or utensil.

Like Brett, I'd be interested to hear anyone's comments on how it is
actually *supposed* to be done.

I'm a bit skeptical of the "bop - bop - bop" vertical hammer approach
which seems to be one philosophical way of approaching a mortar and
pestle. A limited amount of striking seems to be useful to fragment and
destroy large ingredients, but when it comes to the fine processing of a
paste, I feel like I get a lot more return on work when the pestle
rarely leaves the grinding surface.

Best - krnntp