Hello all again. It's been a number of weeks since I returned here but
wanted to thank everyone for their great info on Thai recipes. I still have
not found any decent coffee for making Thai Iced Coffee but I have been able
to approximate some of my favorite dishes.

Also, at your recommendation, I just purchased "The Elegant Taste of Thai".
Having only picked it up last night from the book store (had to order it), I
ran to the local market and got all of the ingredients for about 10 recipes.
I shall be very busy this week! I really like the book for all its
pictures and discussions on ingredients but I was a bit disappointed that
the pictures are not referenced (so you're not always sure you are looking
at the right ones!), the strange layout of the index (titles don't match and
you can't find any Thai names in the index), and finally, lack of discussion
for each dish. I suppose the focus of the book is just different than I
anticipated.

While I'm extremely grateful that I can get as many ingredients locally as I
found at my favorite market, it only makes me greedy! I cannot find any
decent bananas for Thai Fried Bananas, no banana leaves for wrapping &
steaming or baking, and various other items for which I must buy
substitutes.

I read someone else's post here about getting away from exact measurements,
etc. for cooking. EXCELLENT point. When I began my attempts at recreating
my favorite restaurant dishes, I began with a recipe tha closely
approximated the ingredients and then fiddled from there. The only danger,
however, is that my husband is furious that I didn't write down how much of
each item I used. He's very precise like that. Too bad, I cook to taste,
smell, texture, & overall appearance. To this end I have nearly perfected
(at least to our liking) the Gai Tom Kha and we are getting very close to
our favorite Kung Curry (this is a dish I can only get in one restaurant in
a stir-fry form with lots of peppers and onions and whatever meat you want
in a small yellow curry & coconut base).

I'll pass on some of my success (and failures) over the next few weeks as I
test this new cookbook.

Heather Fair

On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 11:04:23 -0900, "Heather Fair"
> wrote:

>Hello all again. It's been a number of weeks since I returned here but
>wanted to thank everyone for their great info on Thai recipes. I still have
>not found any decent coffee for making Thai Iced Coffee but I have been able
>to approximate some of my favorite dishes.

Heather,
Thai coffee, and for that matter, Thai tea are both available as
powders in Thai groceries. For some reason, the Asian markets in NJ
and southeast MA, do not carry very many Thai ingredients - one must
go to a Thai grocery. I prepare both the tea and coffee in an
automatic (Mr. Coffee style) coffee maker with good results after
seeing one of my favorite Thai restaurants do the same. I suppose
something like a Malita filter would work also.

They can be found on the net at http://importfood.com/thaiicetea.html
I am still at a loss as for what makes Thai coffee and tea "Thai,"
despite asking people and reading. One book says flavorings, esp
vanilla are added to tea. Other sources say it's either a special
blend or a variety of tea. I am beginning to think it's a trade
secret. In the good old fashion way of a lot of Asian products, the
labels are little help.

Thai tea is my most common beverage all year around. I prefer the tea
without condensed milk and drink it much like "Southern" iced tea - on
the sweet side. We always have a big jug of it in the refrigerator.
I get about a 3 quarts of tea to 4-5 coffee scoops of the powdered
tea.

"Cape Cod Bob" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 11:04:23 -0900, "Heather Fair"
> > wrote:
>
> >Hello all again. It's been a number of weeks since I returned here but
> >wanted to thank everyone for their great info on Thai recipes. I still
have
> >not found any decent coffee for making Thai Iced Coffee but I have been
able
> >to approximate some of my favorite dishes.
>
> Heather,
> Thai coffee, and for that matter, Thai tea are both available as
> powders in Thai groceries. For some reason, the Asian markets in NJ
> and southeast MA, do not carry very many Thai ingredients - one must
> go to a Thai grocery. I prepare both the tea and coffee in an
> automatic (Mr. Coffee style) coffee maker with good results after
> seeing one of my favorite Thai restaurants do the same. I suppose
> something like a Malita filter would work also.
>
> They can be found on the net at http://importfood.com/thaiicetea.html
> I am still at a loss as for what makes Thai coffee and tea "Thai,"
> despite asking people and reading.


Thai Coffee, as we know it in the States, is Oliang. Oliang is a mix of
roasted grains and seeds. The brand I have, Pantainorasingh brand, is 50%
coffee, 25% corn, 20% soy beans, and 5% sesame seeds. It doesn't even say
"coffee" on the label, since it's not really coffee (it contains coffee); my
bag says "Oliang Powder Mixed."

Thai Tea, as we know it in the States, is spiced. What's confusing about
it?

Peter

"Peter Dy" > wrote in message
. ..
>
>
> Thai Tea, as we know it in the States, is spiced. What's confusing about
> it?
>
> Peter
>
>

I suspect the confusing part comes with some websites that say Thai tea is a
red tea. What is commonly known as Thai tea outside of Thailand is the
spiced (especially with star? anise) black tea that has added food
colouring. However "real" Thai tea (i.e. tea that is grown in Thailand) is
a red-leaf tea. I think it's grown in the North (somewhere around Chiang
Mai, maybe).

I think I mentioned before that when I was in Thailand, it was very
difficult for me to find the spiced tea. We asked at a few grocery stores
and they seemed confused, then said they didn't carry it. They directed us
to the Lipton's and Nestea. When we were in Chiang Mai, one place (where we
were drinking the tea) told us to go to a market stall, but when we went
they only sold the red-leaf tea. Even my relatives, who knew without a
doubt which tea I was referring to, had no idea what kind of tea to buy and
suggested Lipton's. I was very confused.

rona

--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"Rona Yuthasastrakosol" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Peter Dy" > wrote in message
> . ..
> >
> >
> > Thai Tea, as we know it in the States, is spiced. What's confusing
about
> > it?
> >
> > Peter
> >
> >
>
> I suspect the confusing part comes with some websites that say Thai tea is
a
> red tea. What is commonly known as Thai tea outside of Thailand is the
> spiced (especially with star? anise) black tea that has added food
> colouring. However "real" Thai tea (i.e. tea that is grown in Thailand)
is
> a red-leaf tea. I think it's grown in the North (somewhere around Chiang
> Mai, maybe).


Yeah, I can see some of the confusion. But if the tea is red or if the tea
is black, it makes no difference if it is not spiced (going by the American
definition of Thai Tea). I'm sure Earl Grey is usually made with a certain
type of tea leaf, but if it is not perfumed with whatever Earl Grey is
perfumed with, it is not Earl Grey.

Who would want to drink unspiced tea made with Thai tea leaves anyway? Is
it supposed to be any good?

I'm not sure why people have a hard time finding Thai Tea (US definition).
It's often not called Thai Tea on the label, though. But I've seen it
everywhere I've lived, large bags of it, piled up.

Rona, are you saying the Thai Tea I purchase here, which is made in Thailand
by Thai companies, uses black tea, but that in Thailand, black tea is not
drunken (spiced or not)?


> I think I mentioned before that when I was in Thailand, it was very
> difficult for me to find the spiced tea. We asked at a few grocery stores
> and they seemed confused, then said they didn't carry it. They directed
us
> to the Lipton's and Nestea. When we were in Chiang Mai, one place (where
we
> were drinking the tea) told us to go to a market stall, but when we went
> they only sold the red-leaf tea. Even my relatives, who knew without a
> doubt which tea I was referring to, had no idea what kind of tea to buy
and
> suggested Lipton's. I was very confused.


Yes, I remember that thread. Interesting. I drank Thai Tea (US definition)
several times in Bangkok; tasted the same as the stuff I get in the States.
I didn't try looking for it in stores though.

Peter

"Peter Dy" > wrote in message
. ..
>
>
>
> Yeah, I can see some of the confusion. But if the tea is red or if the
tea
> is black, it makes no difference if it is not spiced (going by the
American
> definition of Thai Tea). I'm sure Earl Grey is usually made with a
certain
> type of tea leaf, but if it is not perfumed with whatever Earl Grey is
> perfumed with, it is not Earl Grey.
>

Some websites claim that the spiced Thai tea is made with red-leaf tea. I
suspect they think so because the colour of the tea is orange-ish. Even
Panta...singh (I always forget the name), however, has food colouring as one
of the ingredients, so I don't know where those websites get the red-leaf
tea idea from. AFAIK, it's a black tea. Kasma Loha-Unchit says so, too,
and I trust her. I should read what David Thompson has to say on the
matter.

> Who would want to drink unspiced tea made with Thai tea leaves anyway? Is
> it supposed to be any good?
>

The stuff I ended up buying one time didn't have much flavour at all, but I
may have not brewed it correctly. Then again, it may not have even been red
tea, but some other kind. I was having a difficult time communicating and
the person helping me may not have understood me very well. It may have
some kind of health benefit. It might not even be tea, but something like
rooibois (or is all red tea rooibois?).

> I'm not sure why people have a hard time finding Thai Tea (US definition).
> It's often not called Thai Tea on the label, though. But I've seen it
> everywhere I've lived, large bags of it, piled up.
>

In Winnipeg it was very difficult to find until maybe 4 or 5 years ago.
Even then there was only one store that carried it on a regular basis. Over
the last couple of years, the number of Thai restaurants has increased (we
have at least 7, maybe 8) so more and more people have become familiar with
it and want to make it at home. Most Chinese grocery stores carry it now,
but it isn't usually prominently displayed so it can still be difficult to
find within the store (it isn't always in the tea section, buy is usually on
a bottom shelf somewhere you least expect it).

> Rona, are you saying the Thai Tea I purchase here, which is made in
Thailand
> by Thai companies, uses black tea, but that in Thailand, black tea is not
> drunken (spiced or not)?
>
>

Oh no. People definitely drink black tea, both spiced and not spiced. I
think, though, black tea is not drunk very frequently. My relatives are
more likely to drink coffee, hot or iced, than tea (my relatives aren't
really indicative of what the general Thai population does, however). In
the supermarkets we went to, I noticed there weren't a lot of varieties of
black tea. The most common was Lipton--in both the black tea and instant
varieties). The instant section tended to be larger than the brewed tea
section, too.

>
>
> Yes, I remember that thread. Interesting. I drank Thai Tea (US
definition)
> several times in Bangkok; tasted the same as the stuff I get in the
States.
> I didn't try looking for it in stores though.
>

I drank it a lot in Thailand, too. In fact, the first time I ever had Thai
tea was in Bangkok. Or maybe at the golf club near Pattaya. Because I
liked it so much, my aunt and uncle ordered it for me everywhere (whether I
requested it or not). I wonder if spiced Thai tea is not as readily
available in Thailand because people just don't make it at home.
Considering the price one pays buying it from a street vendor, why bother?
I never got to buy it from a street vendor, though :-(.

rona
--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"Peter Dy" > wrote:
> []
> Thai Coffee, as we know it in the States, is Oliang. Oliang is a mix of
> roasted grains and seeds. The brand I have, Pantainorasingh brand, is
> 50% coffee, 25% corn, 20% soy beans, and 5% sesame seeds.

That's the brand my wife uses, too. I was surprised to see what it consists
of, since I never looked! Thanks, Peter.

--
Nick, Retired in the San Fernando Valley www.boonchoo.com
"Giving violent criminals a government guarantee that their intended
victims are defenseless is bad public policy."
- John Ross, "Unintended Consequences"

"Heather Fair" > wrote in message
...
[...]
> Also, at your recommendation, I just purchased "The Elegant Taste of
Thai".
> Having only picked it up last night from the book store (had to order it),
I
> ran to the local market and got all of the ingredients for about 10
recipes.
> I shall be very busy this week! I really like the book for all its
> pictures and discussions on ingredients but I was a bit disappointed that
> the pictures are not referenced (so you're not always sure you are looking
> at the right ones!)


Yeah, for some it is like that. But for the most part, the pics are on the
opposite page.


, the strange layout of the index (titles don't match and
> you can't find any Thai names in the index)


The book has a low-budget feel to it, yes.


, and finally, lack of discussion
> for each dish. I suppose the focus of the book is just different than I
> anticipated.


The recipes are what's good about it! And I think the nice, clear pictures
of the entire completed dish obviates the need for discussion -- you know
what the dish is supposed to look like.

Let us know how it goes!

Peter
[...]

"Peter Dy"
snip>>> The recipes are what's good about it! And I think the nice, clear
pictures
> of the entire completed dish obviates the need for discussion -- you know
> what the dish is supposed to look like.>>>snip

Good points!

Last night we made 2 dishes that are designed to be used with prawns but
substituted scallops (all we had on hand). Surprisingly good.

The first was a simple dish that just steams the shellfish in a mixture of
oyster sauce, soy sauce, chiles, garlic, etc., then topped with spring onion
(could not find spring onion locally so we used green and white onion) and
pepper.

The second dish was a bit more complicated, similar to Pad Thai with sugar,
chiles, & garlic base but no peanuts or egg. Again, much better results
with this cookbook thus far.

I also tried the coconut ice cream and it turned out well, but did take much
longer to firm up than typical milk or cream or custard based recipes.

Even with some substitutions, we had very good results overall and the
recipes are well laid out. I think I recall someone saying that they didn't
like the book because it made the recipes appear harder than they are (more
steps, etc.). I can see their point but it's really no trouble for me at
least. I'm one that typically reads the whole recipe and then just starts
tossing ingredients together, sans precise measurements.

Heather Fair
Wasilla, Alaska
http://hoofinitnorth.com