Re: [CH] beer and chiles

Michael Blakeley (mike@blakeley.com)
Wed, 16 May 2001 18:03:49 -0700 

>  Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 19:04:45 EDT
>  From: Shantihhh@aol.com
>  Subject: [CH] beer and chiles
>
>  << Hey, don't leave out the very nice Dutch and Belgian beer. The best in
>  the world!!!!
>
>  Miss Dewi >>

I'll toast the Belgian and Dutch craft brewers, as long as I don't 
have to toast them with Interbrew. I did find some Rochefort (8) here 
in CA at long last, and it is as tasty as I remembered. Maybe not the 
thing for spicy food, though. Take a few large swallows and you'll be 
on the floor before you've finished your gai kra tiem.

>  I don't really care much for American beer, but do love the English Bitters,

Real Ale with Thai food is under-rated (and sadly hard to find). In 
March I found a GBG pub near Paddington station that has a couple 
Thai ladies on the premises, doing lunches and dinners. I can't 
imagine a better way to prepare for the flight home than a plate of 
gai kra teim and a couple pints :-).

>  and simply adore the Singha in Thailand soooo very good with hot---as in
>  CHILES!
>
>  I can't wait to be back there for the holidays again Dec/Jan.  Any other
>  Chileheads headed to Thailand then?
>
>  Mary-Anne

Been thinking about it for this winter. This'd be my first trip, so I 
think some stories about your chile-head experiences there would be 
perfectly on-topic.

Let's see... maybe if I post a recipe this message will look more 
on-topic, too. This paste is useful in lots of Thai dishes, 
especially Tom Yum and Tom Kha. I merged and cut down a couple 
recipes because I wanted to have a reasonable amount of this stuff to 
use up quickly. But it turned out so well that I think I may start 
eating it with a spoon soon.

Nam Phrik Pao (Chile-Tamarind Paste)

1 cu peanut oil
1/4 cu sliced garlic
1/2 cu sliced green onions (green part and white part)
1/4 cu dried shrimp
9 dried red chiles (I used tsin-tsins)
2 T reconstituted tamarind (from paste)
2 T palm sugar or golden brown sugar
1 T fish sauce

Put the oil in a wok and heat to around 350 F (I used a candy 
thermometer to check). Successively deep-fry the garlic, onions, 
shrimp, and chiles: the garlic goes very quickly, so I added it to 
the wok and immediately emptied the contents of the wok into a pyrex 
bowl, using a wire strainer to catch the garlic.

Next place the deep-fried garlic, green onions, shrimp, and chiles 
into a blender or mortar (I used a Cuisinart mini-chop) and add 3 T 
of the oil, and all the tamarind, fish sauce, and sugar. Blend until 
nearly smooth.

Finally, simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the color deepens to brown.

-- Mike