North Americanized Thai, in any case - I have no illusions that Thai Express is particularly authentic, but it’s near my bank, so when I decided to try Thai, it was convenient. I assume it’s either authentic enough, or at least consistent enough across different Americanized places that these questions are meaningful. >_>
OK, so…first question. The dish I had was beef and a few vegetables over rice - I was wondering about the identity of one of them. Onions I recognized, carrots I recognized, green pepper I recognized, but the last one, I originally thought was yellow pepper, but looking closer I realized it didn’t have the ‘gradient’ colour that peppers have - deep colour at the outside fading to almost white inside. It had a similar texture to carrot - a bit floppy for the thinner cut ones, but also crunchy. I can’t comment on the flavour beyond ‘it wasn’t very strong’, because any flavour it had was overwhelmed by the sauce.
Second question - I was interested in trying one of the curry dishes, but was confused a little. What, other than the obvious ‘colour’, is the difference between red and green curry? The restaurant lists them as the same spice level, so I assume there’s not a big difference in heat. But, is one sweeter, or more tangy, or maybe ‘grassy’, or, you know, whatever?
Hmm. Could be. Most of the pictures of bamboo shoots I’m finding are a bit less bright yellow than these were, but there are some that are in the same colour range.
#2: Red curry is (dried) red peppers and green curry is (fresh) green peppers (in general). And yeah, if you just explain that you’ve never had either, they’ll prolly let you try a few spoonfuls.
Bonus: Golden curry is just a milder version, made with fewer (or no) peppers. It is comprised mostly of curry powder, which is a mixture of spices including paprika, cumin, turmeric, etc.
Huh…Mango, huh? Would have thought I’d recognize the flavour of mango (I love mango eaten on its own, or as juice)…guess the sauce was REALLY overpowering it.
And it sounds like red curry is more to my taste, but I’ll see if I can get a sample next time I’m there.
Sounds like golden curry is pretty much the same thing as Indian curry? (Which I am familiar with.)
Yes and no. Golden curry is typically associated with Japan but yes, some Indian curries are also mild and golden colored; these are known as korma curries IME.
Well, there are hundreds of Indian curries, at least - but yes, the “yellow” curry you get at Americanized Thai restaurants is similar to the “curry powder”-based curry you get at Americanized Indian restaurants.
In my experience, maybe kinda sorta but not really. That said, there are a lot of versions of it. Thai curries have a particular flavor to them imparted by the use of galangal, kaffir/makrut* limes leaves, lemongrass, and shrimp paste (not necessarily all of those, but most of them. That’s what, in my mind, forms the basic flavor palette of a Thai curry. So if you’re vegetarian, be aware that a lot of Thai food includes shrimp paste in it, so you have to ask to be sure it’s vegetarian.) And often cooked in coconut milk/cream, which some Indian curries do (not the ones I usually have, but coconut is certainly used in different parts of India), but the coconut flavor is very pronounced to me in your basic run-of-the-mill strip mall Thai restaurant. (And I also find a lot of these curries to have a good deal of sweetness to them [imparted usually by palm sugar] that I don’t find in most Indian food, minus dishes from the Gujarat area, where jaggery is commonly used.) Many yellow curries will also add “Indian-style” curry powder to it, others will just use turmeric alone or in conjunction with one or two other spices found in Indian curries for the color.
Flavorwise, for red vs green, I consider red to have a deeper, slightly fruitier, taste to it because of the red peppers (often, as said, made with soaked dried red chiles, but sometimes fresh). Green curries have a fresher, grassier, sharper flavor to them. It’s somewhat like red salsa vs green salsa at a taqueria. Green curries will also sometimes contain Thai basil leaves in them.
*Kaffir/makrut limes – this is the same thing, and most everywhere I’ve bought it, it’s still known as kaffir limes, but kaffir is a wildly offensive word in some/many English-speaking parts of the world (akin to calling something “nigger limes”), so there has been some push to adopt the non-controversial name makrut limes.
I also find the coconut favor more prominent in Thai curries. I can’t stand coconut or coconut milk alone or in most things, but the way it blends into curries is (usually) acceptable to me.
And yeah, gotta ask about shrimp/fish paste in any curry, just like you gotta ask if there is lard in the refried beans or tortillas.
Red curry is red because the chili powder used is red (meaning red chilies.) Green curry is green because it uses coriander roots and yes, green chilies.
Red curry is not typically made with chili powder. It is made typically with reconstituted red chiles. Here is a typical recipe.
Coriander root is not green. It’s a beige-white color. See here for a good recipe and also what coriander roots look like. The green from green curry comes from the green chiles, and somewhat from the other green ingredients, like makrut lime peels, lemongrass, and sometimes basil leaves. Most these ingredients are also used in red curry, but the red chiles dominate the color.
Yeah, most of the Indian food I cook and eat around here does not contain any coconut – tends to be Northern styles of Indian food. I couldn’t stand a lot of Thai curries at first because the one Thai place I occasionally ate at in college went overboard on the coconut and sugar, but then I found places with a much better balance, and then I discovered things like sour curries and “dry curries” (like phat phrik khing) which didn’t have anything to do with coconut.
Still, my baseline Thai dish is (holy) basil chicken (which at most places in the US that I’ve been to is not made with holy basil, but with Thai sweet basil or even Italian basil in some circumstances.) Simple dish with a great mix of hot, pungent, herbal, salt, umami, fish sauce (though you can do it with just soy, if you wanted to, but that fish sauce or shrimp paste flavor is so central to me for a lot of Thai food.)
Sour curry is the stuff with super-extra tamarind, right? I think I had that once at a place in NYC.
I’ve had a few dry curry-type dishes; I liked the taste but disliked all the oil.
And yeah, when I want curry specifically, I’ll go to an Indian place. Unless I’m just dying for some particular green curry dish, that is; then I go to a Thai place.
Bamboo shoots must be throughly cooked (usually boiled) because they’re poisonous in their raw state*. Which means they don’t retain much crunch at all and what crunch there is is because of the fiberous nature. And it has strong woody flavor even if thinly sliced.
If you’re going to eat bamboo shoot, fresh (as with most vegetables) is best. Next is prepared. These are usually from Japan and fairly expensive. Canned is a last choice, but try different brands as they taste different.
*Raw bamboo shoots contain cyanogenic glycosides, natural toxins also contained in cassava.[1] The toxins must be destroyed by thorough cooking and for this reason fresh bamboo shoots are often boiled before being used in other ways. The toxins are also destroyed in the canning process.
I wouldn’t necessarily say “super-extra tamarind” (depends on the recipe–there’s at least a couple of kinds depending on the Thai region.) but it is usually tamarind water or paste that it is soured with. The versions I’ve had have always been served with fish/seafood, and have been fairly soupy.
Oh, and there’s also jungle curries, which are coconut-less, from the north part of Thailand, and they also tend to be on the soupier side.