no offense man, but you post a lot of reactions videos lately, the other quality content that you have gets lost in this entertaiment one that is easy to make and doesnt bring so much value like the other ones, maybe you should have made another channel for reactions videos.Otherwise good content!!
You might be able to cheat some and use the food processor and a mortar and pestle. Or atleast help yourself out by mincing many of the ingredients up before you do the mortar and pestle. Nothing worst than trying to use a M&P with whole ingredients. If I was gonna do it with whole ingredients, I would give it a few mashes, and then add some course salt to help with the process. That would start bringing out the liquid from the ingredients, but also help in making it into a paste by acting as an abrasive. If I was gonna cheat with the food processor I wouldnt do it more than a few quick blitzes. Much of the purpose of the M&P is to crush the ingredients to squeeze out the flavors so they can start to marry and mix, and with thai curry paste, It looks like you almost want to make a pulp. If I was to think of an analogy, it would be similar to how your teeth work to chew food, your front teeth are made for slicing and cutting food, like a food processor, while your molars are what is doing most of the chewing, like the M&P. So as with the teeth that is how I would approach making this paste, cut first, then mash and grind.
Thai person here. Just want to clarify the reason his MIL didn't add the fish sauce. From my understanding (of her accent) she is from the southern part of Thailand which is surrounded by the seas and the shrimp paste over there is VERY strong and pungent so adding the fish sauce would be an overkill. It would be so pungent that it would cover up the smell of the paste. So in Thai cooking if you already have a pungent base sometimes just only salt is preferred. Great commentary btw.
@@raining_macondo as Jate said , Shrimp paste at Southern part of Thailand is really strong and fishy smell. But u can put a little bit of fish sauce if u like (me too).
The coconut cream in plastic bag usually come freshly pressed from the market. There is a special machine to extract milk from freshly grated coconut. I guess you can only find this in South East Asia. It is not emulsified.. It is pure 100% coconut milk with no water added. If it is kept chilled in fridge it can get clumpy and separate into cream on top and coconut whey at the bottom.
A good way to do it in the west: get a coconut from the grocery store, scrape out the coconut meat/white. If you have a juicer, put the meat in the juicer and it’ll spit close to coconut cream. If you only have a blender, then reduce that liquid over the stove to get rid of water, eventually it’ll be all coconut cream
yes, I live in Indonesia, and whenever I needed coconut milk for cooking, I went to the traditional store next to my house, and she will cut and grind it right away. Very fresh. Of course I can always buy the instant one, but if my maternal grandmother found out about it she will curse me straight from her tomb.
@Aidan Jane McIntosh she will beat u til the dead. I'm a Thai. My mom will eat any things that made with instant coconut milk even coconut milk by grinder is not satisfied her. Only one is me squeeze its my barehand
I'm suppose to say The best coconut milk is which squeezed by hand. U can squeeze it without water. I did it one time I can't feel my knuckles for days. BELIEVE ME don't its yourself😂😂😂 So the common way to make coconut milk is squeeze coconut with water(my hometown use boil water) or coconut water itself either way are no better one. My grandmother told me water for foods and coconut water for sweets In conclusion I don't know scientistific name but it's about the more liquid will absorb the less liquid. For common sense machines have a lot more power than human, but homemade coconut milk always have more richness and aromatic
Just to clarify a few things 1. Brown rice can be Jasmine rice too as the hull still remained. I do prefer white Jasmine rice over brown one with my curry though. 2. Cooking the coconut milk first will make the curry smell better in my opinion but both ways can be done. 3. Thai people will not normally eat Basmati rice with Thai green curry because basmati rice smell does not quite agree with the green curry smell. 4. The other way is to cook the coconut milk first until it is reduce then fry the paste with it until fragrant then add in the meat to fry then add in water to boil and then add other vegetables. Fish sauce or salt can be added later on to get the taste right. Coconut milk can be added at the end to add sweetness or fatness to the curry before Thai basil and fresh chili added for garnishing at the end. 5. Some people prefer meat with bone in thinking that it added sweetness and like the bone cracked hence, the rough chopping. I prefer meat with no bone in my curry. I’m Thai from Bangkok so the taste and cooking method is somewhat differed.
Bones are ok but bone fragments are not, for safety reasons. Fragments are usually sharp and can cut or puncture. Plus, they're small enough that they can wedge between the teeth and cause damage.
I cooked it the fourth way, reducing the coconut milk then add the curry paste. My mum likes the bones in chicken, but I usually use boneless chicken thighs for my curries
I'm not Thai but the thing about basmati is spot on. Basmati rice has a very distinctive smell and taste it doesn't mix well with everything but works really well with other things.
I love the balance between your composed, more serious feedback and Uncle Roger's extreme comedy... I love uncle roger and watched so many of his videos but you can't sit there and binge 6 hours worth, with you and him in a video, great mix, can watch 6+ hours a day. 10/10 would recommend.
Hahaha here's me a couple of hours later watching uncle James watch uncle Roger watch other chefs cook, and I'm not stopping at this video so I don't know how long I'll be sitting here. So the original comment isn't even exaggerated 😂😂😂
I can easily watch six hours of Uncle Roger, but especially when mixed with reaction videos from others and collaborations with people like Auntie Liz and Esther and Uncle Guga.
As the person who always used by legendary grandmas to grate coconut when we had ceremonies, the coconut milk comes in 2 products we call 'head and tail' aka the cream and milk. The cream is the first batch of pressing grated coconut, it so thick sometimes it don't actually split as you can see in the plastic bag, we use as thickener and make curry rich. As for cooking, grandma also grate a little bit of brown tissue that stick to coconut shell as it make the cream more nutty, if they want to use for dessert dish they used only white part. The tail or milk is use for the volume of curry so that curry don't diluted as much by using only water. What Mark's mom curry is quite thin and she use only salt that maybe she cook in southern style.
1) There are 2 styles of Thai green curry depends on the family preferences. First is oily style, you put the coconut cream first and stir-fry the curry paste until the coconut oil comes out. Second is milky style, you put the coconut later just like Mark's mother-in-law did in the video, and don't let the coconut oil separate off. 2) Using salt in curry soup is very Thai old school of cooking soup. My Thai mom prefers salt too when she cooks curry. Traditional Thais tend to make soup or curry in a big pot at once for whole family, even for several meals. Thus using fish sauce is the such a waste of ingredients because shrimp paste smell is much stronger than fish sauce and salt are much cheaper. It's more proper to use fish sauce as table seasoning than put a lot amount in to the pot. 3) Some Thais, also my Thai mom, add some chilli leaves in the paste, too. To give more greenish colour and to decrease amout of chillis in case she's cooking for young children who cannot handle strong hot spicy food.
Hi Sigi! I need to ask- are Thai green curries of this viscosity? I know Mark mentioned in his video that what they did was "thick and rich". I believe it was rich, but we tend to do ours thicker... is that common or am I influenced by American "gravy" that it coats the back of a spoon/each rice grain? TIA!!
Over here in South East Asia, it's very common to just go to a sundry store to buy coconut milk, so it's usually packed up in a plastic bag. Same goes for coconut flakes as well.
Hey chef, really enjoyed your reaction videos. They are so educational and insightful. It's like having a teacher talk you through a video demonstration in class. Also fun fact, in Thai cooking we use coriander root a lot especially in combination with garlic and pepper corn. Thais would call this combination "3 best friends" and would use it in many many Thai dishes from stir fry, soup, salads and marinades.
I can confirm this ... The hardest thing to add in any dish is bitterness = Coriander does this extremely well. I personally would add a lot more than this. But make sure you thoroughly wash coriander root b/c u don't wanna be eating dirt
@@darkgatheringwfb5759 Everytime I grow coriander it ends up bolting anyway so looking forward to cooking with roots next summer! Better than tossing them in compost, ha. ❤️
In Thailand, we use the thing called Sam Kler meaning three friends which consists of coriander roots, garlic, and either white or black pepper, all pounding together. It's good for many things such as marinating meat, soup, or stir fried. There are paste, sauce and powder versions sold in the market in Thailand.
Chef James has hit a jackpot with Uncle Roger reactions. His calm, polite demeanour contrasts well with Uncle Roger's loud reactions and dirty jokes. I have friends who are chefs and I have met people who work in kitchens through them. Usually, chefs I have met are either loud mouthed, curse shooting people or calm and quiet like Chef James. I guess working in high stress environments are not for "normal" people.
@@ChefJamesMakinson Substance abuse is also, sadly, very prevalent. Mostly alcohol and cocaine. Dude, I cannot imagine you angry and that is why I find the thought terrifying :)
I normally do not write comments but I really like your calm voice and your knowledgeable commentary. Right now I am binging all of your videos even though i should be sleeping by now but I enjoy them so much. I hope your channel keeps growing because I´ve already learned a lot while watching. Much love from germany :)
About the coriander roots: In ancient Siam food was commonly used as medicine. Traditional healers would often send their patients to this or that food cart to get a specific dish. In the ancient naturopathy (Sart Bambatgay) one distinguishes between the healing properties of coriander roots and the rest of the plant. Although the leaves are more fragrant and provide more flavor, the roots are said to provide way more healing effect than the rest of the coriander plant, which may or may not be the reason she uses the roots.
I actually liked how they showed the pounding process and that it actually TAKES TIME. When you edit cooking videos to look like everything happens instantly it creates a lot of false bad expectations. That said, that's a LOT of pounding.
Yup, it's nice that it was kept in but a time lapse would've been much better. Granted it seems like he's only using a handheld rather than a tripod so it might've taken some time to get the angle right and keep the footage stable.
Hey Jamie, I found out that tulsi leaf is a type of basil 30 years after .My grandma had it for religious purpose and we chew it for numbing our tooth pain but in Costa Rica they use it as basil. Wow blew my mind.
Thanks for yet another great review, chef. You’re so polite, respectful and share wonderful tips along the way. I look forward to trying some of your recipes. Oh and also, you have the most brilliant smile! I really do enjoy watching you crack up at some of Uncle Roger’s commentary 😂😂
I don’t know why but it got funnier with your reactions in this video 😂 Great video chef and thank you for telling us what to use for substitutions. Because as a local, I sometimes have no idea what to use when I couldn’t find the authentic ingredients abroad.
5:45 Finally someone comments on the pestle and mortar thing. Uncle Roger (and others) sometimes make it sound like Europe has no knowledge of this literal Stone Age tool... But it does raise an interesting question: why is it rare in a modern Western kitchen? Perhaps because it is heavy, and things like pesto or mustard are rarely made at home nowadays?
People still use it at home but It's not practical to use in the pro kitchen. Like how we make Alioli here, in the restaurants we don't use a pestle and mortar to make it as we tend to make liters at a time.
People have all kinds of funny impressions about what Europeans did and didn't know and did and didn't do back then. Most probably think our ancestors lived in caves in the middle ages.
Swede here, In professional kitchens I think it simply takes too much time and effort compared to some modern machinery. In normal households I see the divide between those who like to do stuff themselves, who still use one for pestling spices and so on, and those who simply want a fast convenient result who buy preground. I use it mainly because it can really let me decide how fine i want the end product which can be important when it comes to fennel seeds for example. Ive also got into my head that whole spices stay fresher longer than ground, so I only grind what I need and let the rest stay potent longer. Might be wrong about that, im just a foodie not a chef.
The coconut cream was probably bought from a press at the market. Usually they are pressed fresh every morning and sold in these bags, minimal processing, so they don't keep for long. No coconut meat, it was all filtered though a cloth bag several times. The chunks are pure coconut fat that separated.
ua-cam.com/video/QtO1FcTgV0Y/v-deo.html A village shop in Phuket. He pressed it two times. The first run was the cream, then the second run was the coconut milk.
@@ChefJamesMakinson yup. we have rows of stalls of coconut press in wetmarkets where the seller breaks open a head of coconut for you, scrapes and grinds the meat and press the juice out in a few minutes. depending on how big the coconut is, it'll cost around $0.40-$0.50 per coconut.
I don't remember which channel it was on, but some food youtuber noted that making the paste in a mortar gets you a different kind of consistency than the food processor since the pestle and mortar method crushes and grinds the ingredients, a food processor mostly just hacks them to pieces.
I think I mentioned this in one of my videos as well you do get a different consistency because you're crushing the product instead of cutting it, you release more of the flavor
Brown rice is not uncommon in Thailand though. Health problems that come from eating habit are very common here. That's why some people shift from white rice to brown rice or riceberry rice to make their meal more nutritious.
@@caniblmolstr4503 In the Western world at least brown rice and white rice are the same rice varieties, it's just that the brown rice hasn't had it's bran coat removed like white rice has. If you take a grain of rice off the rice plant and remove the outer hull, that's brown rice. If you then remove the bran coat as well, now it's white rice. Same rice, just less processed than the white rice. It's healthier because the bran coat on the rice contains bran oil, which is very good for you, as well as some vitamins and minerals that are lost if you process the rice into white rice. It doesn't go nicely with every dish though because it has a different flavor and it also takes longer to cook because the bran coat is resistant to water so it takes longer for the water to penetrate into the rice.
@@chriswhinery925 OK. Here both are different varieties. Brown rice has a bigger coarser grain. While the white rice is sweeter and obviously less healthier. Then there the basmati rice for special occasions - long grained with a distinct smell with a wheatish flavour not sweet like the white rice but not flavourless like the brown either
@chef makinson: Plastics bag sealed by rubber band usually were indeed extremely common to store juice or liquid part of food in South East Asia. For juice and soft drinks, the plastic bag was largely replaced by conventional plastic/paper cup. But plastic bags are still very popular to store soy sauce, fish sauce, or the soup of soup noodle. Fish sauce and soy sauce was usually sold in a tiny plastic bags, obviously, while soup was served in much bigger ones. Untying the rubber band sealing can indeed be a pain in the a*s, sometime the seller tied the band too tight, consumer have no choice but to cut the rubber band, or even cut the bag itself.
@@ChefJamesMakinson it's an weirdly tricky thing. you need to find the "start" of the runner band to start the unraveling process then try to get enough of a grip to pull it off. but once you got that, it's done. half the time, you just cut the bag.
There's a chance the rubber band will fly off and hit you in the face. Also, if the plastic is thin, you can end up ripping it by mistake and spilling whatever it is. I'm clumsy.
The funny thing about the Jamie Oliver food processor thing is that I have a Jamie Oliver brand Pestle and Mortar, it's a huge stone one and I love it, It was a gift somewhere around 12-15 years ago, so before he made those videos lol.
One tip for making green curry. When You start cooking coconut milk until an oil appears on the surface, put curry paste. After two minutes, put palm sugar ( 1 tbs) immediately. Palm sugar killed the rawness of the paste. It’s an ancient tip tho. 😊
You should use coriander root. It brings a very unique flavour. The garlic-chilli-coriander root coarse paste is just heavenly. The moment it hits the oil, the smell just tells you good cooking is happening. ❤️
@@ChefJamesMakinson also, the paste should be made in mortar and pestle. The texture is best achieved there and not in any mixer grinder. Anyway, I am really enjoying your reaction videos!
This Weins video is old, his son is around 6. Weins has his own restaurant in Bangkok. Thailand uses several types of rice because of the diabetes problem, rice berry is becoming popular because glucose levels stay level. Rice berry is starting to become available in the US
2:50 In Thailand, we use lots. Many Thai menu use it for smell, also we mixed them with garlic and black pepper, pounding them together. The paste can use as marinated meat sauce. We call the paste as Sam kloe. 3:17 I think Thai pesto mortar style is quite difference from the western style. It's easier to use, but yes. It might take time and need strong arms. LOL 5:35 Thai paste recipe is a kind of secret for each family. Every shop that sell Thai paste, the taste are difference. Me as a Thai who don't make Thai paste by myself, I still can't find the right one for me. TT 16:44 The coconut milk was contained in plastic bag because it was bought from local wet market. It's easy to pack and cool it down. The shop in wet market always has machine for making fresh coconut milk from coconut meat. The taste and thickness of coconut milk is better than UHT coconut milk, but It will be bad super quick like a half day in Thailand weather. If wet market is near, we perfer buy fresh coconut milk. 19:33 Rice is common for green curry, but I wanna recommend to try green curry with fermented rice noodles call Kanom jeen. If you wanna know more about Thai menu, I recommend you to watch youtube channel "High zone kichen". The woman in there is known as the best traditional thai chef. Unfortunary, I think there is no English translation. PS I try my best to explain. I hope you understand my poor English. ^^
10:20 I grew up in a special children's home that had its own petting zoo and savanna. As part of our upbringing, we were exposed to the process of raising and butchering animals for food. From a young age, around 13 years old, I had the opportunity to participate in the process of butchering deer, chickens, and other animals. I vividly remember the experience of skinning a deer and carefully removing its organs. It required precision and skill to ensure that the meat was properly prepared for consumption. Additionally, I had the chance to witness the slaughter of chickens, where their heads were swiftly removed and the feathers were removed by dipping the bird in hot water. The water, heated to around 70 degrees Celsius, helped loosen the feathers, making them easier to pluck. Once the feathers were removed, the internal organs were carefully extracted. These experiences occurred over 20 years ago when I was just 13 years old. Growing up in an environment surrounded by farm animals provided me with unique opportunities to learn about different aspects of animal husbandry and food preparation. While these experiences may seem unconventional to some, they allowed me to gain a deep understanding of where our food comes from and the effort involved in its preparation. It taught me to appreciate the resources provided by animals and the importance of responsible and ethical practices in the food industry. In today's society, there is a growing emphasis on sustainable and humane farming practices. Many people strive to support local farmers who prioritize animal welfare and engage in ethical farming methods. This has led to an increased interest in understanding the origins of our food and making informed choices about the products we consume. By sharing my personal experiences, I hope to shed light on the diverse paths that can shape our perspectives on food. While my upbringing may have been unconventional, it instilled in me a deep respect for the process of raising and preparing animals for consumption. It serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness between humans and the food we consume, prompting us to make conscious choices that promote both our well-being and the welfare of the animals involved.
Amazing video as always sir. Glad that you are laughing more. Do laugh more, you don't have to hold back as it show more of your personality. Great learning from you as always. Thanks .
A few things I would do differently: - use only green chillies - heat the curry paste in the pan then add only coconut milk/cream instead of water - maybe cook chicken separately to reduce the cooking time for the curry paste.
@@thunderstrike101 Interesting. I grow Thai chiles, and I've never noticed a heat difference between red & green. Main difference (for me) is grassy flavor vs sweet. Same with other chile peppers.
Loving your videos! I love that even in your rections videos you share a lot of knowledge and experience. I highly recommend using the cilantro/corriander roots for Thai dishes if you can find them. There is so much more flavor in the root. We typically use the roots and stems, but just the stems are fine for those that can't find the roots or have grocery stores that don't sell the roots still attached.
A Thai here. I totally agree with the bone part. My mother she loves cooking with chicken thighs and any other part with bones and the problem is I always gets bone bits in my bite. But that ‘s how she loves it. Thai green curry is vary between household but the main cooking process is mostly the same. I personally cook a little different. And I’m from the central part of thailand. Also if this is beef green curry the process will be different too.
I was going to say that as a Korean, I don't mind any of the bone bits, because I don't eat those parts. But it drives my significant other crazy so I just cut the "traditional" method. But yes, if you're going to cut through the bone, then you definitely need to rinse several times.
the "help your mom in law" part remind me of my granny back when I started learning how to cook me: tried to help, ending doing it slowly and clumsily granny: so slow, step aside, just let me do it. Edit: also, in the old day before gas stove, we used small charcoal stove and everything is basically floor level. Old habit do die hard
Heeey Sir Makinson nice to see you again! I watched Mark Wiens for many years now and I always enjoyed his travelling around the World and trying all kinds of food! One of my favourite channels. This Thai Green Curry was made so perfectly. One of my brothers Chinese friends used to cook it very often and we came over to eat. Really miss that time! Bless you and have a nice day 😊
James, I'm so glad I found your channel. You're such a unique personality. I appreciate you being your genuine self and not trying to take on some fake persona. No offense to Uncle Roger! 😂
I have a small garden and all i grow are hot peppers, sweet basil, many different types of tomatoes, green onions, and a few strawberry bushes.... i eat like a king in the summers.
16:54 this is true actually haha, I'm Irish but my parents are Filipino so sometimes we take trips to the Philippines and you would be surprised how often 7up or Coca Cola or just drinks in general are given in clear plastic bags with straws lol
I like how products sold in plastic bags are less expensive. I recently bought a liter of hand sanitizer for $1.00 in a plastic bag. In a bottle, would set me back $10.00.
I'm so early to the video! Thai green curry is one of my favorite Thai foods, and I've never had one that tasted correctly (that is, for my own taste) outside Thailand. The lack of a few key ingredients just make such a big difference! You give such a chill energy in your reaction videos. Are you like this in a restaurant kitchen also, or are we missing out on Chef James loud/ furious/intense cooking action? 😂
I love your videos, Chef James! So far, I've only binged watch the reaction videos but will soon check the recipes soon. I appriciate the amount of information from you and Uncle Roger. It's like going in a mini culinary school already. Hope Uncle Roger reacts on some of your cooking videos (a collab would be 10x better). Stay safe, chef!
@@ChefJamesMakinson I think Uncle Roger calls out only those who fuck up like nephew Jamie Oliver. Him not noticing you means your recipe videos are on point! 👌🏼
After the JO video and your recommendation, I ordered the Mae Ploy from Amazon. It is good that you make these recommendations, especially for those of us who cook for one.
The coconut cream in plastic bag in Thailand is fresh coconut milk that unprocessed of pasteurise. It easy to spoil but taste more delicious and rich than pasteurise that can find in normal supermarkets. Btw the fresh one it more expensive and a little bit hard to find
Awesome content James. :-) I especially liked when you mentioned that I have not used that ingredient. I am mechanic by trade myself and I cant know or fix everything. 🙂We are only human. We all learn on the job. Again well done and a great learning experience watching the content.
I recommend you should try to use coriander roots. Thai foods use it a lot in many dishes such as ingredient for curry paste, marinated sauce, seafood sauce, grounded and stir-fried with meat, bake it with glass noodle and seafood and so on. I know that coriander roots is rare item to find in Europe. Mostly, western chefs always use stems or a lot of coriander leaves instead. But i guarantee that taste is different if you use coriander roots. It gives more flavor than using stem for sure.
So nice this popped up today for me to view. Been sad about being stuck where the "Thai restaurant" has sweet and sour chicken. There were only 2 ppl at the farmers market and one was a Thai lady with her producer being ignored. I got Thai eggplant, bitter melon and Thai basil.! When she found out what products I wanted like lemongrass and Thai chiles she's hooking me up next week! Oh yeah I got a galangal plant so I can grow my own😊
As an Asian l used to use a pastel and mortar when younger and blenders were not available. Now l use a blender instead for the convenience. My pounder sits comfortably in my cupboard happy and retired.
For the South East Asian, it is offensive to replace galangal with ginger. They are not interchangeable. Better skip the galangal if you cannot buy it. No. Don't use potato peeler on kaffir lime. The fruit has very bumpy skin. Knife is the best way to go. Place thick cloth under the mortar will sound less. Also, as the cloth helps absorb the tension from the pounding, it somewhat help saving the surface of the counter or wheresoever you pound your mortar on. For the herb that comes in dried grains, you can "grind" it with mortar and pestle. Thai stone mortar comes with somewhat heavy stone pestle. This makes it possible to use them for grinding by first pounding the grain into tiny bits before moving the pestle circularly around the inside of the mortar. A reason she did not pound dried grains separately because they would fly out of the mortar. The moisture from the lemongrass and garlic could somewhat help keeping peppercorn and cilantro seeds in place. But, by this method the grain is highly likely not finely crushed land tiny bits remain. You may note how thin the chicken they used. Such thin chicken was raised in free range. It had less fat and its meat was stiffer. The meat would be chewier after boiling. For the Thai, boiled dish - free range chicken, fried dish - closed farm chicken. Thai freshly squeezed coconut milk/cream always comes in plastic bag. The canned/ boxed coconut milk are processed and has some preservatives in it. It does not have the same flavor to fresh coconut milk. The fresh coconut milk spoils fast. Brown rice is not a different variety of rice. It is white rice with the brownish fibrous film intact. The fiber and the nutrient make brown rice more healthy. You can buy brown basmati or brown jasmine rice if you want to.
Yes but another thing you have to understand is that we cannot readily get all the ingredients in the West, now one thing is to show it on TV where you should have the correct ingredients to show people but another thing is for the average person making it at home, it doesn't mean I agree with it but that's how things are
@@ChefJamesMakinson First and foremost, you have to understand that ginger and galangal are not interchangeable. To teach that they are sounds so wrong to me. Just the imagination the flavor of Tomyam with ginger instead of galangal creeps me out. They are some Thai curry dishes without galangal. How about showing those recipes instead?
I found that when substituting thai basil, since i really can't get it anywhere, i go for regular basil, a bit of mint and some sage. Once you've worked out the ratios, it comes surprisingly close to the real deal.
You have a very smooth and soothing manner of speech, I like listening to your commentary very much. The kind of calm demeanor that comes with expertise and confidence.
Mark Weins is more of a food reviewer, than a cook himself, like he can cook, but he mostly travel the world to try new dishes and make content about them. he always smiles tho, and it can be weird sometimes, but cut him a slack, people have all kinds of weird social quirks, and usually the most charismatic people are the psychopaths.
coriander root is a pretty big deal. one of the most basic and popular rub/seasoning is garlic, black pepper, and coriander root pounded up. it may not be quite to the level of mirepoix but that trio an important starter. super hard to find nowadays, unfortunately. also, the coconut cream in the bag is most likely her getting the freshly made ones at the market. that's how we generally transport food.
It's not surprising you enjoyed this video, Chef James. Mark Wiens travels with his wife and child. Not only are they intrepid travelers, but also fearless eaters. He hires guides who lead his family through their gastronomic adventures, so there is always a ring of authenticity. I've never seen him turn down any food or drink!! He also shares some cultural information about the locations they visit. Did I mention he has boundless enthusiasm!! And he never stops smiling!! He obviously loves what he is doing. Chuck in Northern New England
Talking about coriander roots, it is one of ingredients (spices) we use the most in our dishes. One basic spices is ‘trio spices’ garlic, dried white pepper corn and coriander roots pound together using pestle and mortar, YES pound them do not use the food processor. By pounding, the aroma from the trio spices get out strong as we need them to be. The roots are also good for making clear base soup (of course together with mashed garlic and whole pepper corn). About pestle and mortar, in old time our grannies kitchen cooked in an old style kitchen where they sat on the floor and cooked all food with charcoal brasier. My grandma usually told me as a kid to pound all spices and paste, we simply put some cloth underneath to absorb the vibration from pounding. Most of Thai homes nowadays usually have 2 kitchens one for non Thai dishes and another one is specially build Thai kitchen with many venting/windows as Thai cookings provide lots of strong aroma and spicy smell. If you cannot imagine how, perhaps you fry fresh chili and garlic 😬😉.
I often made my own coconut milk with special tool but this is some interesting fact if you use too much water on the coconut meat it will fasten coconut milk to be spoiled, and touch from hand too if i plan to preserve the milk use the white cloth wrap coco meat inside and use wooden board on top of it and press
In India we use a flat large stone and grind our ingredients with a stone large enough to hold in both hands. No one need a pestle and mortar. Indeed the secret to making good shami kebabs is to grind the meat on this large stone. This does not cut up fibres and thus helps to bind the meat paste.
1. Coriander root 2. Garlic 3. Peppercorn These are 3 musketeer of ingredients we use in Thailand for make paste, soup or stork base. Like your video btw.
May Ploy is the staple at our home since we aren't living in a city. Wife used have me pound ingredients in mortar and it took forever. She's from Issaan, so I think it's spicier than most Thai food. When you go to temple and only food that has a lot left. Most likely green curry that will wake you up.
We eat lots of chiles in México, and Thai chiles are not usually too strong for us. Also yes, I'm not only used to get a chicken like that, but also, when I'm at my grandmother's I get to kill it, pluck the feathers, clean it and then butcher it... and I'm smiling and joking with my cousins while doing it 😄... I've never tried to make green thai curry, but I hope to try it someday. Great video and commentary, James!
I love Thai curry, both red and green. Sometimes i use just a homemade spice mix, other times i buy a Thai curry paste. When i do the latter, i still add extra of the ingredients i love most to intensify flavours, like: garlic, ginger, lemongrass, lime, coriander leaf, chilli, and salt. Either way, i then add the spices mix, with or without shop bought paste, to coconut cream, with whatever meat and choice of veg i'm using. Also, a lot of fish sauce too, i like my food salty lol.
In Asian family, when cooking, the first thing you should do it to put on a pot of rice in the rice cooker. That way, when you're done cooking, the rice is ready too. If you don't have rice, rice noodle is good with curry too. At least that's what I usually eat curry with. It's quite common in SE Asian countries to sell food/drink (with straw) in clear plastic bags as takeout. They don't use plastic or foam containers like in the U.S. And yeah, be careful of those spicy chili. Once I removed the seeds from a serrano chili, my hand got really hot afterward.
Dear Chef James, Hi! I'm new to your channel. I'm Joanne from Singapore 😊 That coconut first squeeze is awesome!. I'm assuming they still have a coconut stall in the market where you can request for skinned or unskinned grated coconut. They also sell pre-filled bags like the one Mark's mil has in the video. You can even ask for the very young coconut babies when they break open a coconut! Extremely rare to find such coconut stalls here in Singapore now 😢 I really love your style of reviewing videos, especially Uncle Roger's reviews of Jamie Olive Oil 😆👌 You are a wonderful chef! 😊💗 Looking forward to more videos 😊🙏❤️
Pounding seasonings in a stone mortar. If you know the techniques, it will be easy. And it doesn't take long time. This is done by adding hard and dry items that have been cut into small pieces. Pound it thoroughly first. Then add in one thing at a time. Every time you pound, use the right amount of force. The important thing must be pound on the food ingredients. Pounding will produce more aroma than grinding with a machine.
There is a traditional way of making coconut milk here where i come from. Its not blended coconut meat, but it is squeezed out of it. In this way the coconut milk doesn't split, doesn't need emulsifiers. I think the coconut milk in the video was made this way.
Anywhere North of Bangkok, they do not use coconut milk at all, always water based. The coconut milk in the bag, common when buying from the market (most likely fresh). Many items from the market comes the same way, including ready made meals (like a green curry).
Is very common in Asia to get fresh coconut milk straight away from the morning market. We get it fresh without any preservatives, base on the amount that she used approximately 1kg of coconut milk.
The cook knows her ingredient well. No need to add fish sauce because she knows well that shrimp paste she uses is salty enough and with strong fish smell. She also can make this fish sauce condiment called Prik nam pla if anyone wants to get a bit of fish sauce on the his or her own dish.
I remember we few friends wanted to make this during a picnic. We used pastel mortars and let's just say we were left with sore hands and back later on. The dish made it worth it tho, surprising that we could make it properly
We asian people we really love fresh cucunot milk the taste and the flavour is really really Very good and to let u know cucunot just around our house 🏠.. hoping this year going back to my place and have all this kind of food 🥑 I'm starving now 😂 u deserve millions of viewers .. stress free
there's fresh shrimp paste and there's fermented shrimp paste. and there is also salted and unsalted. if the one used is fermented, fish sauce will add stronger flavor that might not sit well with some people's palate.
Ive been through a number of your vids with uncle roger. You guys different approaches really make good contrast on your content. I wonder why u have so many views but few likes. Probably its how utube design like button not easily accessible when viewing content. Not unlike shorts. Great review btw
For the coconut milk that come in plastic bag, it come in this way because she get it fresh. In the morning market nearby my house they usually have the squeezing machine there and do it freshly.
2:44 Thai people always use that root to marinate meat for grilled or use it in soup and curry it’s have more oil and aroma like 10 times better than the same amount of stem
Please let me know if I'm way off base here but to aid in reducing time and effort, could you start by pounding the peppercorn but then pulse the rest in the processer to start breaking down the ingredients and finish pounding them in the morter and pestle to get the right consistency?
When I was a boy I was the one who pounds every ingredients my mom needs when cooking but for corn peppers a manual grinder is better. We use native chickens or heritage chickens but the best tasting fowl meat is free range ducks, followed by jungle fowl or what we call in Filipino Labuyo, then black skin fowl, then native chicken, then heritage chicken, then chicken used for fighting, then culls, hen layers, chicken sold in groceries is the last on the list. In general fowls that can consume crickets, grubs, and wide variety of fresh greens and fed twice a day with well balanced grains mix with fish and crushed shell mix are the tastiest.
Oh, if you think it's interesting to see the coconut milk in a plastic bag than you'll be amazed with our juices in a farmer's market, they also come in plastic bags like that, watermelon and guayaba are the best, no water and sugar added ❤
The mixture of coriander root, garlic and peppercorn is called 'triple buddy' in Thailand. There is now an instant powdered version of it which I guess you may be able to find it in Europe and the US.
One more thing that I'd like to share is that in Thai cuisine in order to make soup and curry we do not put fish sauce directly in the cooking pot cuz it's going to be fishy, that's why they use salt in this video. Fish sauce can be added later when the heat is turned off. Thai people love fish sauce, we can't live without it and put it in almost every dish, it's just exceptional in this case.
In Thai 20-70 years ago. Pounding sound can be hear by neighbor. If your daughter's pounding sound is lound and strong it's mean she might be a great cooker. She is proper to be someone's wife. And i eat brown rice mix with white rice because my dad has diabetes. Doctor suggest him to eat brown rice. We have to eat it whole family because we have 1 rice cooker. May be Mark's father in law has diabetes or his family is concern about health.
*Be sure to check out my Cooking Course, if you would like to LEARN more!* james-makinson-s-school.teachable.com/
no offense man, but you post a lot of reactions videos lately, the other quality content that you have gets lost in this entertaiment one that is easy to make and doesnt bring so much value like the other ones, maybe you should have made another channel for reactions videos.Otherwise good content!!
no one seems to watch the other videos.
Chef your channel still growing, maybe you can make content other than reaction again later.
@@whiteeagle4823 I will when people start watching my other videos more it make no sense making content that nobody wants to watch right now
You might be able to cheat some and use the food processor and a mortar and pestle. Or atleast help yourself out by mincing many of the ingredients up before you do the mortar and pestle. Nothing worst than trying to use a M&P with whole ingredients. If I was gonna do it with whole ingredients, I would give it a few mashes, and then add some course salt to help with the process. That would start bringing out the liquid from the ingredients, but also help in making it into a paste by acting as an abrasive.
If I was gonna cheat with the food processor I wouldnt do it more than a few quick blitzes. Much of the purpose of the M&P is to crush the ingredients to squeeze out the flavors so they can start to marry and mix, and with thai curry paste, It looks like you almost want to make a pulp. If I was to think of an analogy, it would be similar to how your teeth work to chew food, your front teeth are made for slicing and cutting food, like a food processor, while your molars are what is doing most of the chewing, like the M&P. So as with the teeth that is how I would approach making this paste, cut first, then mash and grind.
Thai person here. Just want to clarify the reason his MIL didn't add the fish sauce. From my understanding (of her accent) she is from the southern part of Thailand which is surrounded by the seas and the shrimp paste over there is VERY strong and pungent so adding the fish sauce would be an overkill. It would be so pungent that it would cover up the smell of the paste. So in Thai cooking if you already have a pungent base sometimes just only salt is preferred. Great commentary btw.
thank you for explaining that! Its always good to hear from a local.
@@ChefJamesMakinson it’s just a healthy version. Old people don’t like fish sauce in Thai Green curry because of fishy smell.
then put less?
@@raining_macondo as Jate said , Shrimp paste at Southern part of Thailand is really strong and fishy smell. But u can put a little bit of fish sauce if u like (me too).
Hey, I’m thai too. สวัสดีครับ
The coconut cream in plastic bag usually come freshly pressed from the market. There is a special machine to extract milk from freshly grated coconut. I guess you can only find this in South East Asia.
It is not emulsified.. It is pure 100% coconut milk with no water added. If it is kept chilled in fridge it can get clumpy and separate into cream on top and coconut whey at the bottom.
A good way to do it in the west: get a coconut from the grocery store, scrape out the coconut meat/white. If you have a juicer, put the meat in the juicer and it’ll spit close to coconut cream. If you only have a blender, then reduce that liquid over the stove to get rid of water, eventually it’ll be all coconut cream
yes, I live in Indonesia, and whenever I needed coconut milk for cooking, I went to the traditional store next to my house, and she will cut and grind it right away. Very fresh. Of course I can always buy the instant one, but if my maternal grandmother found out about it she will curse me straight from her tomb.
@Aidan Jane McIntosh she will beat u til the dead. I'm a Thai. My mom will eat any things that made with instant coconut milk even coconut milk by grinder is not satisfied her. Only one is me squeeze its my barehand
I'm suppose to say The best coconut milk is which squeezed by hand. U can squeeze it without water. I did it one time I can't feel my knuckles for days. BELIEVE ME don't its yourself😂😂😂
So the common way to make coconut milk is squeeze coconut with water(my hometown use boil water) or coconut water itself either way are no better one. My grandmother told me water for foods and coconut water for sweets
In conclusion I don't know scientistific name but it's about the more liquid will absorb the less liquid. For common sense machines have a lot more power than human, but homemade coconut milk always have more richness and aromatic
In the state of Kerala, South India, we usually use a cotton cloth to extract the coconut cream. It's 100% pure and sooo creamy
Just to clarify a few things
1. Brown rice can be Jasmine rice too as the hull still remained. I do prefer white Jasmine rice over brown one with my curry though.
2. Cooking the coconut milk first will make the curry smell better in my opinion but both ways can be done.
3. Thai people will not normally eat Basmati rice with Thai green curry because basmati rice smell does not quite agree with the green curry smell.
4. The other way is to cook the coconut milk first until it is reduce then fry the paste with it until fragrant then add in the meat to fry then add in water to boil and then add other vegetables. Fish sauce or salt can be added later on to get the taste right. Coconut milk can be added at the end to add sweetness or fatness to the curry before Thai basil and fresh chili added for garnishing at the end.
5. Some people prefer meat with bone in thinking that it added sweetness and like the bone cracked hence, the rough chopping. I prefer meat with no bone in my curry.
I’m Thai from Bangkok so the taste and cooking method is somewhat differed.
Bones are ok but bone fragments are not, for safety reasons. Fragments are usually sharp and can cut or puncture. Plus, they're small enough that they can wedge between the teeth and cause damage.
I prefer throw everything at once (except veg and garnishes) then cook them until set
Coconut milk is not same as coconut cream, shes using somd cream from the market its 100x better than any canned shit we get in the west.
I cooked it the fourth way, reducing the coconut milk then add the curry paste. My mum likes the bones in chicken, but I usually use boneless chicken thighs for my curries
I'm not Thai but the thing about basmati is spot on. Basmati rice has a very distinctive smell and taste it doesn't mix well with everything but works really well with other things.
Mark is the man. I lived in Thailand for 3 years and there are huge differences in regional foods . Fabulous people and food!
I love the balance between your composed, more serious feedback and Uncle Roger's extreme comedy... I love uncle roger and watched so many of his videos but you can't sit there and binge 6 hours worth, with you and him in a video, great mix, can watch 6+ hours a day. 10/10 would recommend.
Much appreciated!
Hahaha here's me a couple of hours later watching uncle James watch uncle Roger watch other chefs cook, and I'm not stopping at this video so I don't know how long I'll be sitting here. So the original comment isn't even exaggerated 😂😂😂
@@ihateusernamesgrrr glad i am not the only one binge watching all the reactors reacting to uncle roger reactions. lol
Yep agreed
I can easily watch six hours of Uncle Roger, but especially when mixed with reaction videos from others and collaborations with people like Auntie Liz and Esther and Uncle Guga.
As the person who always used by legendary grandmas to grate coconut when we had ceremonies, the coconut milk comes in 2 products we call 'head and tail' aka the cream and milk. The cream is the first batch of pressing grated coconut, it so thick sometimes it don't actually split as you can see in the plastic bag, we use as thickener and make curry rich. As for cooking, grandma also grate a little bit of brown tissue that stick to coconut shell as it make the cream more nutty, if they want to use for dessert dish they used only white part. The tail or milk is use for the volume of curry so that curry don't diluted as much by using only water. What Mark's mom curry is quite thin and she use only salt that maybe she cook in southern style.
Very interesting!
1) There are 2 styles of Thai green curry depends on the family preferences.
First is oily style, you put the coconut cream first and stir-fry the curry paste until the coconut oil comes out.
Second is milky style, you put the coconut later just like Mark's mother-in-law did in the video, and don't let the coconut oil separate off.
2) Using salt in curry soup is very Thai old school of cooking soup. My Thai mom prefers salt too when she cooks curry. Traditional Thais tend to make soup or curry in a big pot at once for whole family, even for several meals. Thus using fish sauce is the such a waste of ingredients because shrimp paste smell is much stronger than fish sauce and salt are much cheaper. It's more proper to use fish sauce as table seasoning than put a lot amount in to the pot.
3) Some Thais, also my Thai mom, add some chilli leaves in the paste, too. To give more greenish colour and to decrease amout of chillis in case she's cooking for young children who cannot handle strong hot spicy food.
Thank you very much for the explanation it's very interesting! it makes sense to make a lot for everyone less work.
Hi Sigi! I need to ask- are Thai green curries of this viscosity? I know Mark mentioned in his video that what they did was "thick and rich". I believe it was rich, but we tend to do ours thicker... is that common or am I influenced by American "gravy" that it coats the back of a spoon/each rice grain? TIA!!
Over here in South East Asia, it's very common to just go to a sundry store to buy coconut milk, so it's usually packed up in a plastic bag. Same goes for coconut flakes as well.
I would love to visit one day!
There is no store who sells this, its from market and its 100x better.
In the middle of nowhere in Thailand and Mark Weins is just chilling crying his eyes out from spice and smiling
Hey chef, really enjoyed your reaction videos. They are so educational and insightful. It's like having a teacher talk you through a video demonstration in class.
Also fun fact, in Thai cooking we use coriander root a lot especially in combination with garlic and pepper corn. Thais would call this combination "3 best friends" and would use it in many many Thai dishes from stir fry, soup, salads and marinades.
thank you very much and for the information! :)
I can confirm this ... The hardest thing to add in any dish is bitterness = Coriander does this extremely well. I personally would add a lot more than this.
But make sure you thoroughly wash coriander root b/c u don't wanna be eating dirt
@@darkgatheringwfb5759 Everytime I grow coriander it ends up bolting anyway so looking forward to cooking with roots next summer! Better than tossing them in compost, ha. ❤️
In Thailand, we use the thing called Sam Kler meaning three friends which consists of coriander roots, garlic, and either white or black pepper, all pounding together. It's good for many things such as marinating meat, soup, or stir fried. There are paste, sauce and powder versions sold in the market in Thailand.
You nailed it👍3kler coriander roots,garlic and white pepper ขอบคุณค่ะ!
I use 3kler for my grilled/bbq chicken and eat it with sticky rice and som tum
Chef James has hit a jackpot with Uncle Roger reactions. His calm, polite demeanour contrasts well with Uncle Roger's loud reactions and dirty jokes.
I have friends who are chefs and I have met people who work in kitchens through them. Usually, chefs I have met are either loud mouthed, curse shooting people or calm and quiet like Chef James. I guess working in high stress environments are not for "normal" people.
Thank you! You should see me when I'm angry haha 🤣 yes the kitchen is a high stress environment and a lot of people break or become substance abusers.
@@ChefJamesMakinson Substance abuse is also, sadly, very prevalent. Mostly alcohol and cocaine.
Dude, I cannot imagine you angry and that is why I find the thought terrifying :)
I normally do not write comments but I really like your calm voice and your knowledgeable commentary. Right now I am binging all of your videos even though i should be sleeping by now but I enjoy them so much. I hope your channel keeps growing because I´ve already learned a lot while watching. Much love from germany :)
I'm glad you like them! thank you!!
Same, the only reason why I still watch Uncle Roger's videos is for great addition. Uncle Roger for entertainment and him for additional information.
About the coriander roots: In ancient Siam food was commonly used as medicine. Traditional healers would often send their patients to this or that food cart to get a specific dish. In the ancient naturopathy (Sart Bambatgay) one distinguishes between the healing properties of coriander roots and the rest of the plant. Although the leaves are more fragrant and provide more flavor, the roots are said to provide way more healing effect than the rest of the coriander plant, which may or may not be the reason she uses the roots.
Mark forgetting to tell us about rice was surely one of the highlights of that video LMAO
yeah it was! 😂
Lol
I actually liked how they showed the pounding process and that it actually TAKES TIME. When you edit cooking videos to look like everything happens instantly it creates a lot of false bad expectations.
That said, that's a LOT of pounding.
Yup, it's nice that it was kept in but a time lapse would've been much better. Granted it seems like he's only using a handheld rather than a tripod so it might've taken some time to get the angle right and keep the footage stable.
That’s how I felt, honestly. Like it’s keeping it more real
Good to see James showing a bit more emotion now
I used to be very camera shy! haha
Hey Jamie, I found out that tulsi leaf is a type of basil 30 years after .My grandma had it for religious purpose and we chew it for numbing our tooth pain but in Costa Rica they use it as basil. Wow blew my mind.
They use it in Thailand for cooking as well. It's called kaprao in Thailand.
Thanks for yet another great review, chef. You’re so polite, respectful and share wonderful tips along the way. I look forward to trying some of your recipes.
Oh and also, you have the most brilliant smile! I really do enjoy watching you crack up at some of Uncle Roger’s commentary 😂😂
thank you very much!
I don’t know why but it got funnier with your reactions in this video 😂 Great video chef and thank you for telling us what to use for substitutions. Because as a local, I sometimes have no idea what to use when I couldn’t find the authentic ingredients abroad.
5:45 Finally someone comments on the pestle and mortar thing. Uncle Roger (and others) sometimes make it sound like Europe has no knowledge of this literal Stone Age tool... But it does raise an interesting question: why is it rare in a modern Western kitchen? Perhaps because it is heavy, and things like pesto or mustard are rarely made at home nowadays?
People still use it at home but It's not practical to use in the pro kitchen. Like how we make Alioli here, in the restaurants we don't use a pestle and mortar to make it as we tend to make liters at a time.
People have all kinds of funny impressions about what Europeans did and didn't know and did and didn't do back then. Most probably think our ancestors lived in caves in the middle ages.
Swede here,
In professional kitchens I think it simply takes too much time and effort compared to some modern machinery.
In normal households I see the divide between those who like to do stuff themselves, who still use one for pestling spices and so on, and those who simply want a fast convenient result who buy preground.
I use it mainly because it can really let me decide how fine i want the end product which can be important when it comes to fennel seeds for example.
Ive also got into my head that whole spices stay fresher longer than ground, so I only grind what I need and let the rest stay potent longer. Might be wrong about that, im just a foodie not a chef.
The coconut cream was probably bought from a press at the market. Usually they are pressed fresh every morning and sold in these bags, minimal processing, so they don't keep for long. No coconut meat, it was all filtered though a cloth bag several times. The chunks are pure coconut fat that separated.
fresh?! that would be so nice to have! hopefully I can visit next year next year!
ua-cam.com/video/QtO1FcTgV0Y/v-deo.html
A village shop in Phuket. He pressed it two times. The first run was the cream, then the second run was the coconut milk.
@@ChefJamesMakinson yup. we have rows of stalls of coconut press in wetmarkets where the seller breaks open a head of coconut for you, scrapes and grinds the meat and press the juice out in a few minutes. depending on how big the coconut is, it'll cost around $0.40-$0.50 per coconut.
I don't remember which channel it was on, but some food youtuber noted that making the paste in a mortar gets you a different kind of consistency than the food processor since the pestle and mortar method crushes and grinds the ingredients, a food processor mostly just hacks them to pieces.
It may have been mentioned by others also, but Uncle Roger says this in his Jamie Oliver's Thai green curry video.
I think I mentioned this in one of my videos as well you do get a different consistency because you're crushing the product instead of cutting it, you release more of the flavor
Rewatch again
I love the combination of Uncle Roger's roasting words and your calm, detailed narration.
Hope to see your collab soon.
Thank you so much!! please let Uncle Roger know so he will accept!
Brown rice is not uncommon in Thailand though. Health problems that come from eating habit are very common here. That's why some people shift from white rice to brown rice or riceberry rice to make their meal more nutritious.
Strange the brown rice is more healthy... Maybe different from the thing we call brown rice here in kerala (it's a wild strain of rice)
@@caniblmolstr4503
What do you mean? Everyone knows Brown Rice is more healthy?
@@AdityaWaghmare op corrected her typo after my comment.
@@caniblmolstr4503 In the Western world at least brown rice and white rice are the same rice varieties, it's just that the brown rice hasn't had it's bran coat removed like white rice has. If you take a grain of rice off the rice plant and remove the outer hull, that's brown rice. If you then remove the bran coat as well, now it's white rice. Same rice, just less processed than the white rice.
It's healthier because the bran coat on the rice contains bran oil, which is very good for you, as well as some vitamins and minerals that are lost if you process the rice into white rice. It doesn't go nicely with every dish though because it has a different flavor and it also takes longer to cook because the bran coat is resistant to water so it takes longer for the water to penetrate into the rice.
@@chriswhinery925 OK. Here both are different varieties. Brown rice has a bigger coarser grain. While the white rice is sweeter and obviously less healthier. Then there the basmati rice for special occasions - long grained with a distinct smell with a wheatish flavour not sweet like the white rice but not flavourless like the brown either
@chef makinson: Plastics bag sealed by rubber band usually were indeed extremely common to store juice or liquid part of food in South East Asia.
For juice and soft drinks, the plastic bag was largely replaced by conventional plastic/paper cup. But plastic bags are still very popular to store soy sauce, fish sauce, or the soup of soup noodle. Fish sauce and soy sauce was usually sold in a tiny plastic bags, obviously, while soup was served in much bigger ones.
Untying the rubber band sealing can indeed be a pain in the a*s, sometime the seller tied the band too tight, consumer have no choice but to cut the rubber band, or even cut the bag itself.
I can imagen that they are not easy to Untie!
@@ChefJamesMakinson
it's an weirdly tricky thing. you need to find the "start" of the runner band to start the unraveling process then try to get enough of a grip to pull it off. but once you got that, it's done.
half the time, you just cut the bag.
There's a chance the rubber band will fly off and hit you in the face. Also, if the plastic is thin, you can end up ripping it by mistake and spilling whatever it is. I'm clumsy.
In my hometown in the Philippines we don't have canned coconut or coconut milk in bags they usually grind them on the spot.
The funny thing about the Jamie Oliver food processor thing is that I have a Jamie Oliver brand Pestle and Mortar, it's a huge stone one and I love it, It was a gift somewhere around 12-15 years ago, so before he made those videos lol.
One tip for making green curry. When You start cooking coconut milk until an oil appears on the surface, put curry paste. After two minutes, put palm sugar ( 1 tbs) immediately. Palm sugar killed the rawness of the paste. It’s an ancient tip tho. 😊
You should use coriander root. It brings a very unique flavour. The garlic-chilli-coriander root coarse paste is just heavenly. The moment it hits the oil, the smell just tells you good cooking is happening. ❤️
Thanks for the tip!
@@ChefJamesMakinson also, the paste should be made in mortar and pestle. The texture is best achieved there and not in any mixer grinder. Anyway, I am really enjoying your reaction videos!
Agree, there is so much flavour in cilantro root and stems.
@@heartaloft the aroma as well. ❤️
This Weins video is old, his son is around 6. Weins has his own restaurant in Bangkok. Thailand uses several types of rice because of the diabetes problem, rice berry is becoming popular because glucose levels stay level. Rice berry is starting to become available in the US
2:50 In Thailand, we use lots. Many Thai menu use it for smell, also we mixed them with garlic and black pepper, pounding them together. The paste can use as marinated meat sauce. We call the paste as Sam kloe.
3:17 I think Thai pesto mortar style is quite difference from the western style. It's easier to use, but yes. It might take time and need strong arms. LOL
5:35 Thai paste recipe is a kind of secret for each family. Every shop that sell Thai paste, the taste are difference. Me as a Thai who don't make Thai paste by myself, I still can't find the right one for me. TT
16:44 The coconut milk was contained in plastic bag because it was bought from local wet market. It's easy to pack and cool it down. The shop in wet market always has machine for making fresh coconut milk from coconut meat. The taste and thickness of coconut milk is better than UHT coconut milk, but It will be bad super quick like a half day in Thailand weather. If wet market is near, we perfer buy fresh coconut milk.
19:33 Rice is common for green curry, but I wanna recommend to try green curry with fermented rice noodles call Kanom jeen.
If you wanna know more about Thai menu, I recommend you to watch youtube channel "High zone kichen". The woman in there is known as the best traditional thai chef. Unfortunary, I think there is no English translation.
PS I try my best to explain. I hope you understand my poor English. ^^
10:20
I grew up in a special children's home that had its own petting zoo and savanna. As part of our upbringing, we were exposed to the process of raising and butchering animals for food. From a young age, around 13 years old, I had the opportunity to participate in the process of butchering deer, chickens, and other animals.
I vividly remember the experience of skinning a deer and carefully removing its organs. It required precision and skill to ensure that the meat was properly prepared for consumption. Additionally, I had the chance to witness the slaughter of chickens, where their heads were swiftly removed and the feathers were removed by dipping the bird in hot water. The water, heated to around 70 degrees Celsius, helped loosen the feathers, making them easier to pluck. Once the feathers were removed, the internal organs were carefully extracted.
These experiences occurred over 20 years ago when I was just 13 years old. Growing up in an environment surrounded by farm animals provided me with unique opportunities to learn about different aspects of animal husbandry and food preparation.
While these experiences may seem unconventional to some, they allowed me to gain a deep understanding of where our food comes from and the effort involved in its preparation. It taught me to appreciate the resources provided by animals and the importance of responsible and ethical practices in the food industry.
In today's society, there is a growing emphasis on sustainable and humane farming practices. Many people strive to support local farmers who prioritize animal welfare and engage in ethical farming methods. This has led to an increased interest in understanding the origins of our food and making informed choices about the products we consume.
By sharing my personal experiences, I hope to shed light on the diverse paths that can shape our perspectives on food. While my upbringing may have been unconventional, it instilled in me a deep respect for the process of raising and preparing animals for consumption. It serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness between humans and the food we consume, prompting us to make conscious choices that promote both our well-being and the welfare of the animals involved.
Amazing video as always sir. Glad that you are laughing more. Do laugh more, you don't have to hold back as it show more of your personality. Great learning from you as always. Thanks .
Thanks, will do!
He looks more handsome whenever he smiles or laugh
A few things I would do differently:
- use only green chillies
- heat the curry paste in the pan then add only coconut milk/cream instead of water
- maybe cook chicken separately to reduce the cooking time for the curry paste.
He uses a few red chillies to make it hotter because green ones aren't ripe and don't have as much spice as the red ones.
@@thunderstrike101 Interesting. I grow Thai chiles, and I've never noticed a heat difference between red & green. Main difference (for me) is grassy flavor vs sweet. Same with other chile peppers.
Loving your videos! I love that even in your rections videos you share a lot of knowledge and experience. I highly recommend using the cilantro/corriander roots for Thai dishes if you can find them. There is so much more flavor in the root. We typically use the roots and stems, but just the stems are fine for those that can't find the roots or have grocery stores that don't sell the roots still attached.
Thank you so much! I would love to try it!
I second this. I used to hate coriander roots,but after tasting it in one of the Thai dishes,I'm in love
A Thai here. I totally agree with the bone part. My mother she loves cooking with chicken thighs and any other part with bones and the problem is I always gets bone bits in my bite. But that ‘s how she loves it. Thai green curry is vary between household but the main cooking process is mostly the same. I personally cook a little different. And I’m from the central part of thailand.
Also if this is beef green curry the process will be different too.
I was going to say that as a Korean, I don't mind any of the bone bits, because I don't eat those parts. But it drives my significant other crazy so I just cut the "traditional" method. But yes, if you're going to cut through the bone, then you definitely need to rinse several times.
It's good to watch you laugh a lot in this video Chef James! Truly appreciate the tips and comments you shared about Thai Green Curry.
Thank you very much!
Mark is one of my favorite UA-camrs! After watching dozens of his videos I am convinced that Mark is always smiling, even when he’s in deep sleep.
the "help your mom in law" part remind me of my granny back when I started learning how to cook
me: tried to help, ending doing it slowly and clumsily
granny: so slow, step aside, just let me do it.
Edit: also, in the old day before gas stove, we used small charcoal stove and everything is basically floor level. Old habit do die hard
Heeey Sir Makinson nice to see you again! I watched Mark Wiens for many years now and I always enjoyed his travelling around the World and trying all kinds of food! One of my favourite channels. This Thai Green Curry was made so perfectly. One of my brothers Chinese friends used to cook it very often and we came over to eat. Really miss that time! Bless you and have a nice day 😊
Thank you very much! Have a great week!!
James, I'm so glad I found your channel. You're such a unique personality. I appreciate you being your genuine self and not trying to take on some fake persona. No offense to Uncle Roger! 😂
Thank you very much! I hope you enjoy the rest of my videos.
Another great break down Chef. I always appreciate that you tell people it's ok to use the ingredients you can get.
I have a small garden and all i grow are hot peppers, sweet basil, many different types of tomatoes, green onions, and a few strawberry bushes.... i eat like a king in the summers.
16:54 this is true actually haha, I'm Irish but my parents are Filipino so sometimes we take trips to the Philippines and you would be surprised how often 7up or Coca Cola or just drinks in general are given in clear plastic bags with straws lol
I like how products sold in plastic bags are less expensive. I recently bought a liter of hand sanitizer for $1.00 in a plastic bag. In a bottle, would set me back $10.00.
Just found your channel and I really appreciate your detailed explanations. Keep it up!
thank you very much!
I'm so early to the video! Thai green curry is one of my favorite Thai foods, and I've never had one that tasted correctly (that is, for my own taste) outside Thailand. The lack of a few key ingredients just make such a big difference!
You give such a chill energy in your reaction videos. Are you like this in a restaurant kitchen also, or are we missing out on Chef James loud/ furious/intense cooking action? 😂
I'm at home so I'm more relaxed haha 😂
Because they dont put enough coconut milk ( in this video it is the right dose / in restaurant they try to save money they put maybe half of this)
I love your videos, Chef James! So far, I've only binged watch the reaction videos but will soon check the recipes soon.
I appriciate the amount of information from you and Uncle Roger. It's like going in a mini culinary school already.
Hope Uncle Roger reacts on some of your cooking videos (a collab would be 10x better). Stay safe, chef!
Thank you very much!! Yeah collab with him would be a lot of fun! I think I need more subscribers before he notices me! Haha
@@ChefJamesMakinson I think Uncle Roger calls out only those who fuck up like nephew Jamie Oliver. Him not noticing you means your recipe videos are on point! 👌🏼
He does have some positive video reviews, but I haven't made many Asian dishes either! :)
After the JO video and your recommendation, I ordered the Mae Ploy from Amazon.
It is good that you make these recommendations, especially for those of us who cook for one.
good to hear! :)
that does look like a good curry! thank you chef for the review!
My pleasure!!
The coconut cream in plastic bag in Thailand is fresh coconut milk that unprocessed of pasteurise. It easy to spoil but taste more delicious and rich than pasteurise that can find in normal supermarkets. Btw the fresh one it more expensive and a little bit hard to find
Awesome content James. :-) I especially liked when you mentioned that I have not used that ingredient. I am mechanic by trade myself and I cant know or fix everything. 🙂We are only human. We all learn on the job. Again well done and a great learning experience watching the content.
thank you! I try be honest, there to many types of food to know everything in the world! haha
@@ChefJamesMakinson very true ,a lifetime can be spent exploring the world of food, and still only scratch the surface. 😁
I recommend you should try to use coriander roots. Thai foods use it a lot in many dishes such as ingredient for curry paste, marinated sauce, seafood sauce, grounded and stir-fried with meat, bake it with glass noodle and seafood and so on. I know that coriander roots is rare item to find in Europe. Mostly, western chefs always use stems or a lot of coriander leaves instead. But i guarantee that taste is different if you use coriander roots. It gives more flavor than using stem for sure.
I will when I can get them!
So nice this popped up today for me to view. Been sad about being stuck where the "Thai restaurant" has sweet and sour chicken. There were only 2 ppl at the farmers market and one was a Thai lady with her producer being ignored. I got Thai eggplant, bitter melon and Thai basil.! When she found out what products I wanted like lemongrass and Thai chiles she's hooking me up next week! Oh yeah I got a galangal plant so I can grow my own😊
As an Asian l used to use a pastel and mortar when younger and blenders were not available. Now l use a blender instead for the convenience. My pounder sits comfortably in my cupboard happy and retired.
For the South East Asian, it is offensive to replace galangal with ginger. They are not interchangeable. Better skip the galangal if you cannot buy it.
No. Don't use potato peeler on kaffir lime. The fruit has very bumpy skin. Knife is the best way to go.
Place thick cloth under the mortar will sound less. Also, as the cloth helps absorb the tension from the pounding, it somewhat help saving the surface of the counter or wheresoever you pound your mortar on.
For the herb that comes in dried grains, you can "grind" it with mortar and pestle. Thai stone mortar comes with somewhat heavy stone pestle. This makes it possible to use them for grinding by first pounding the grain into tiny bits before moving the pestle circularly around the inside of the mortar. A reason she did not pound dried grains separately because they would fly out of the mortar. The moisture from the lemongrass and garlic could somewhat help keeping peppercorn and cilantro seeds in place. But, by this method the grain is highly likely not finely crushed land tiny bits remain.
You may note how thin the chicken they used. Such thin chicken was raised in free range. It had less fat and its meat was stiffer. The meat would be chewier after boiling. For the Thai, boiled dish - free range chicken, fried dish - closed farm chicken.
Thai freshly squeezed coconut milk/cream always comes in plastic bag. The canned/ boxed coconut milk are processed and has some preservatives in it. It does not have the same flavor to fresh coconut milk. The fresh coconut milk spoils fast.
Brown rice is not a different variety of rice. It is white rice with the brownish fibrous film intact. The fiber and the nutrient make brown rice more healthy. You can buy brown basmati or brown jasmine rice if you want to.
Yes but another thing you have to understand is that we cannot readily get all the ingredients in the West, now one thing is to show it on TV where you should have the correct ingredients to show people but another thing is for the average person making it at home, it doesn't mean I agree with it but that's how things are
@@ChefJamesMakinson First and foremost, you have to understand that ginger and galangal are not interchangeable. To teach that they are sounds so wrong to me. Just the imagination the flavor of Tomyam with ginger instead of galangal creeps me out.
They are some Thai curry dishes without galangal. How about showing those recipes instead?
She had added shrimp paste (belacan). Therefore, the fish sauce is optional.
I found that when substituting thai basil, since i really can't get it anywhere, i go for regular basil, a bit of mint and some sage. Once you've worked out the ratios, it comes surprisingly close to the real deal.
You have a very smooth and soothing manner of speech, I like listening to your commentary very much. The kind of calm demeanor that comes with expertise and confidence.
thank you!
I’ve only jsut discovered your channel and I’ve got to say I haven’t been able to stop watching! Keep up the awesome content!
Awesome! Thank you!
Hey man new to your channel. Love your reviews of uncle roger as well as your own cooking videos. Keep it up man. 👍
Thanks! Will do!
Thank you Chef James for another great reaction 💜💜💜
Mark Weins is more of a food reviewer, than a cook himself, like he can cook, but he mostly travel the world to try new dishes and make content about them.
he always smiles tho, and it can be weird sometimes, but cut him a slack, people have all kinds of weird social quirks, and usually the most charismatic people are the psychopaths.
coriander root is a pretty big deal. one of the most basic and popular rub/seasoning is garlic, black pepper, and coriander root pounded up. it may not be quite to the level of mirepoix but that trio an important starter. super hard to find nowadays, unfortunately.
also, the coconut cream in the bag is most likely her getting the freshly made ones at the market. that's how we generally transport food.
Mr. Wiens smile is so crazy. You would think he would lose it just one time...... no actually not :D
It's not surprising you enjoyed this video, Chef James. Mark Wiens travels with his wife and child. Not only are they intrepid travelers, but also fearless eaters. He hires guides who lead his family through their gastronomic adventures, so there is always a ring of authenticity. I've never seen him turn down any food or drink!! He also shares some cultural information about the locations they visit. Did I mention he has boundless enthusiasm!! And he never stops smiling!! He obviously loves what he is doing.
Chuck in Northern New England
I love traveling!
@@ChefJamesMakinson I did too when I was younger. Carpe diem! You never know what the future holds!!
Talking about coriander roots, it is one of ingredients (spices) we use the most in our dishes. One basic spices is ‘trio spices’ garlic, dried white pepper corn and coriander roots pound together using pestle and mortar, YES pound them do not use the food processor. By pounding, the aroma from the trio spices get out strong as we need them to be. The roots are also good for making clear base soup (of course together with mashed garlic and whole pepper corn).
About pestle and mortar, in old time our grannies kitchen cooked in an old style kitchen where they sat on the floor and cooked all food with charcoal brasier. My grandma usually told me as a kid to pound all spices and paste, we simply put some cloth underneath to absorb the vibration from pounding. Most of Thai homes nowadays usually have 2 kitchens one for non Thai dishes and another one is specially build Thai kitchen with many venting/windows as Thai cookings provide lots of strong aroma and spicy smell. If you cannot imagine how, perhaps you fry fresh chili and garlic 😬😉.
I often made my own coconut milk with special tool
but this is some interesting fact if you use too much water on the coconut meat it will fasten coconut milk to be spoiled, and touch from hand too
if i plan to preserve the milk use the white cloth wrap coco meat inside and use wooden board on top of it and press
In India we use a flat large stone and grind our ingredients with a stone large enough to hold in both hands. No one need a pestle and mortar. Indeed the secret to making good shami kebabs is to grind the meat on this large stone. This does not cut up fibres and thus helps to bind the meat paste.
Very interesting! :)
1. Coriander root
2. Garlic
3. Peppercorn
These are 3 musketeer of ingredients we use in Thailand for make paste, soup or stork base.
Like your video btw.
May Ploy is the staple at our home since we aren't living in a city. Wife used have me pound ingredients in mortar and it took forever. She's from Issaan, so I think it's spicier than most Thai food. When you go to temple and only food that has a lot left. Most likely green curry that will wake you up.
We eat lots of chiles in México, and Thai chiles are not usually too strong for us. Also yes, I'm not only used to get a chicken like that, but also, when I'm at my grandmother's I get to kill it, pluck the feathers, clean it and then butcher it... and I'm smiling and joking with my cousins while doing it 😄... I've never tried to make green thai curry, but I hope to try it someday. Great video and commentary, James!
I love Thai curry, both red and green. Sometimes i use just a homemade spice mix, other times i buy a Thai curry paste. When i do the latter, i still add extra of the ingredients i love most to intensify flavours, like: garlic, ginger, lemongrass, lime, coriander leaf, chilli, and salt. Either way, i then add the spices mix, with or without shop bought paste, to coconut cream, with whatever meat and choice of veg i'm using. Also, a lot of fish sauce too, i like my food salty lol.
I think i need to buy some shrimp paste lol.
very nice! :)
🤣
In Asian family, when cooking, the first thing you should do it to put on a pot of rice in the rice cooker. That way, when you're done cooking, the rice is ready too.
If you don't have rice, rice noodle is good with curry too. At least that's what I usually eat curry with.
It's quite common in SE Asian countries to sell food/drink (with straw) in clear plastic bags as takeout. They don't use plastic or foam containers like in the U.S.
And yeah, be careful of those spicy chili. Once I removed the seeds from a serrano chili, my hand got really hot afterward.
Dear Chef James, Hi! I'm new to your channel. I'm Joanne from Singapore 😊 That coconut first squeeze is awesome!. I'm assuming they still have a coconut stall in the market where you can request for skinned or unskinned grated coconut. They also sell pre-filled bags like the one Mark's mil has in the video. You can even ask for the very young coconut babies when they break open a coconut! Extremely rare to find such coconut stalls here in Singapore now 😢 I really love your style of reviewing videos, especially Uncle Roger's reviews of Jamie Olive Oil 😆👌 You are a wonderful chef! 😊💗 Looking forward to more videos 😊🙏❤️
thank you so much!! I would love to be able to get fresh coconut milk like that!
Pounding seasonings in a stone mortar. If you know the techniques, it will be easy. And it doesn't take long time. This is done by adding hard and dry items that have been cut into small pieces. Pound it thoroughly first. Then add in one thing at a time. Every time you pound, use the right amount of force. The important thing must be pound on the food ingredients. Pounding will produce more aroma than grinding with a machine.
Belapuma Use food processor FIRST then FINISH OFF WITH PESTLE AND MORTAR, SAVE POUNDING for LATER~~~ 21:05
There is a traditional way of making coconut milk here where i come from. Its not blended coconut meat, but it is squeezed out of it. In this way the coconut milk doesn't split, doesn't need emulsifiers. I think the coconut milk in the video was made this way.
I'm sure it was!
Anywhere North of Bangkok, they do not use coconut milk at all, always water based.
The coconut milk in the bag, common when buying from the market (most likely fresh). Many items from the market comes the same way, including ready made meals (like a green curry).
Is very common in Asia to get fresh coconut milk straight away from the morning market. We get it fresh without any preservatives, base on the amount that she used approximately 1kg of coconut milk.
I would love to get that here!
@@ChefJamesMakinson please react to Uncle Roger getting roasted by Chef Wan since both are from Malaysia.
@@RJ-sd6uc please send me the link!
@@ChefJamesMakinson ua-cam.com/video/T1msUi94HkU/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/T1msUi94HkU/v-deo.html
Here you go, chef James.
Enjoy the laugh, sir.
The cook knows her ingredient well. No need to add fish sauce because she knows well that shrimp paste she uses is salty enough and with strong fish smell. She also can make this fish sauce condiment called Prik nam pla if anyone wants to get a bit of fish sauce on the his or her own dish.
We have found those pestle and mortars in the deserts south of Tucson. They are a little bigger though.
Many Thai people have a brown rice now a day. It’s healthy not a lot of processing. It’s an unpolished one. We called Khao Khlong.
I remember we few friends wanted to make this during a picnic. We used pastel mortars and let's just say we were left with sore hands and back later on. The dish made it worth it tho, surprising that we could make it properly
in Thailand very few serve brown rice in restaurants, however for home cooking many still ate them since it is believed to be more healthy
We asian people we really love fresh cucunot milk the taste and the flavour is really really Very good and to let u know cucunot just around our house 🏠.. hoping this year going back to my place and have all this kind of food 🥑 I'm starving now 😂 u deserve millions of viewers .. stress free
The Three Best Friends in Thai cooking are garlic, peper and coriendar root.
there's fresh shrimp paste and there's fermented shrimp paste. and there is also salted and unsalted. if the one used is fermented, fish sauce will add stronger flavor that might not sit well with some people's palate.
Another educational video Chef! Thanks as always! Uncle Roger is crazy right?🤣🤣🤣
Ive been through a number of your vids with uncle roger. You guys different approaches really make good contrast on your content. I wonder why u have so many views but few likes. Probably its how utube design like button not easily accessible when viewing content. Not unlike shorts.
Great review btw
Thank you!
For the coconut milk that come in plastic bag, it come in this way because she get it fresh. In the morning market nearby my house they usually have the squeezing machine there and do it freshly.
Galangal is one my most favourite herb, the aroma is awesome and yes I realised coriander roots are flavourful just like the green tops.
Serious worldwide culinary knowledge, the little tips are great
2:44 Thai people always use that root to marinate meat for grilled
or use it in soup and curry it’s have more oil and aroma like 10 times
better than the same amount of stem
Please let me know if I'm way off base here but to aid in reducing time and effort, could you start by pounding the peppercorn but then pulse the rest in the processer to start breaking down the ingredients and finish pounding them in the morter and pestle to get the right consistency?
When I was a boy I was the one who pounds every ingredients my mom needs when cooking but for corn peppers a manual grinder is better.
We use native chickens or heritage chickens but the best tasting fowl meat is free range ducks, followed by jungle fowl or what we call in Filipino Labuyo, then black skin fowl, then native chicken, then heritage chicken, then chicken used for fighting, then culls, hen layers, chicken sold in groceries is the last on the list.
In general fowls that can consume crickets, grubs, and wide variety of fresh greens and fed twice a day with well balanced grains mix with fish and crushed shell mix are the tastiest.
Oh, if you think it's interesting to see the coconut milk in a plastic bag than you'll be amazed with our juices in a farmer's market, they also come in plastic bags like that, watermelon and guayaba are the best, no water and sugar added ❤
Coriander root is the magic ingredient in Thai cuisine. It makes the food more flavourful, sort of natural msg.
The mixture of coriander root, garlic and peppercorn is called 'triple buddy' in Thailand. There is now an instant powdered version of it which I guess you may be able to find it in Europe and the US.
One more thing that I'd like to share is that in Thai cuisine in order to make soup and curry we do not put fish sauce directly in the cooking pot cuz it's going to be fishy, that's why they use salt in this video. Fish sauce can be added later when the heat is turned off. Thai people love fish sauce, we can't live without it and put it in almost every dish, it's just exceptional in this case.
Big Fan from Thailand. Just found your channel two days ago. Keep it up your good work. 😃
Thank you so much!!
In Thai 20-70 years ago. Pounding sound can be hear by neighbor. If your daughter's pounding sound is lound and strong it's mean she might be a great cooker. She is proper to be someone's wife.
And i eat brown rice mix with white rice because my dad has diabetes. Doctor suggest him to eat brown rice. We have to eat it whole family because we have 1 rice cooker. May be Mark's father in law has diabetes or his family is concern about health.