Shopping, shopping, shopping to turn up an ex-pat kitchen

[ChiFlyer]

22 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

Siamburi's on the Khao Talo may have what you're looking for.

Thanks - I just got talking to a couple of the guys down at the pool. They said that most if not all supermarkets carry anchovies, but for some reason they keep them over in the refrigerated section. At Villa Market they are next to the cheese area. I was looking for them over by the tuna, sardines, mackerel etc. area, which is where one would find them in the US. I was able to cancel my relatively expensive Lazada order in time.

If I come up with something on the anchovy paste, I will pass it on. I really like using the tubes for this and tomato paste as you can take what you want, cap it up, and put it in the fridge. That is what I buy in the US. 

[ChiFlyer]

I was at it again tonight. Fridays and Saturdays seem to have become my cooking nights. Usually the GF does 3 other nights and we go out for the other two. Kind of a pleasent routine we have settled into given what is going on in the rest of the world.

Anyway, tonight I made Chicken Panang with vegetables. Turned out really well. The GF declared it my new number 1. I definitely need to get some better cookware as I had to work the first stage of coating the ingredients with the red curry paste pretty hard to keep the paste from scorching. I will get around to picking up some better cookware after July 1st, when we move.

Here is a pic. I should have cut up the chicken pieces a little smaller.

And here is the simple recipe that was followed closely. Most of the ingredients were purchased at Makro on Sukhumvit.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/easy-chicken-curry-with-vegetables-recipe-2107356

 

 

[ChiFlyer]

I am at it again this weekend. I made a "Burmese Chicken Stir Fry". I thought it was very good. The Thai GF was turned off a little by the cumin smell that comes with it. I like using cumin. For some reason she is adverse to the smell. She says it reminds her of Indian food, which she does not like. I guess I will cut back on the cumin in the next attempt with this one. Might have to start looking for a new woman, as I really like cumin. And on top of that I find out that she has no idea who Michael Jordan is.

Anyway, here is a pic. Most ingredients were purchased at Villa Market.

And here is the recipe, which was closely followed.

https://saramoulton.com/2015/02/chinese-burmese-chili-chicken/

 

 

 

[james 71]

Like yourself I enjoy cooking ,what I do with the spices that come in a large container is share with a friend ,that way it's still pungent and it's half the price,I'm sure there's a few foodies on here who maybe up to share spices with you 

[ChiFlyer]

Had another go at home cooking tonight. I made Pasta Putanesca and it turned out really well I thought. I was surprised that the Thai GF liked it as well, as she is not usually big on pasta dishes. I am guessing that the anchovy and heavy garlic tastes swung her over. I use linguine instead of spaghetti for this dish, as this is a lighter sauce and those tend to cling better to ribbon pastas. Most ingredients were already in the cabinet.

Anyway, a couple of pics.

 

 

Here is the recipe that was closely followed. Martha Stewart no less. Since she has been hanging with Snoop Dog lately, I guess she is now hip.

https://www.marthastewart.com/349905/pasta-puttanesca

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

I am beginning to feel that I am getting some of my kitchen mojo back. I am looking forward to July 1st, when we move to a new condo with a much better kitchen including an oven. Been going through my recipes and looking at what I can bring into the dinner rotation. Coming up with a few ingredient challenges.

I did find Porcini mushrooms on Lazada for a not too horrible of a price. They do import them from the US, so it will be a few weeks before they are in my hands. This is an essential for my Chicken Marsala recipe.

Another ingredient that is popping up that I do not think I have seen in the stores is pancetta. This is a key to several of my Italian recipes. Has anyone seen it around? Some people refer to this as Italian bacon, but that is misleading IMO. It is more of a salt cured pork belly. I am thinking that I will try the basement of Central Festival first.

[ChiFlyer]

I was hunting around on the net and I found these guys.

http://www.primefoodservice.net/

Anyone ever use them?

They do have bone-in Pork Chops, Italian Sausage, and Beef steaks. No Pancetta, chuck roast, beef skirt steaks, or varieties of Italian sausage.

 

[Pheat]

45 minutes ago, ChiFlyer said:

. I am thinking that I will try the basement of Central Festival first.

Yep definitely sold here I have purchased before ,the prices are eye watering 555

[ChiFlyer]

38 minutes ago, Pheat said:

Yep definitely sold here I have purchased before ,the prices are eye watering 555

Gotta have my pancetta my man.

[Roadglide]

I will be following this thread...

[Soi7]

On 25/05/2020 at 00:33, ChiFlyer said:

Did you say pork ribs?

I love good pork ribs, but currently have no where to cook them. July 1st we move into a new condo with an oven. Most of my pork ribs recipes call for rubbing a powder into the ribs, warping the ribs in aluminum foil with a white wine based Liquid, slow cooking them, using the Liquid to create a sauce, paste the ribs with the sauce and finish them off under a broiler.

I have seen rib products around town, but then again not what I would call Baby Backs. I am from Chicago and we prefer those to Spare Ribs. Where do you buy your ribs and what choices are there?

 

On 25/05/2020 at 00:38, Cheetos said:

I usually purchase the pork ribs at the Foodland Supermarket inside Terminal 21. Seems very fresh. I marinate them with spicy Korean BBQ sauce and place in the air fryer. Delicious.

Hard to find a true rack of ribs here that are not full of shiners 

[ChiFlyer]

The GF really liked my Chicken Chow Mein recipe that I prepared tonight. I am not going to share this recipe because it is from a site (Cook's Country) that does not share this recipe on the net at this time. If anyone wants a copy, send me a PM and I will send back the pdf file that has the recipe.

Most ingredients were from Villa Market.

A few pics.

 

[bangsaenguy]

Friendship also has anchovies, right side near the veggie section

[ChiFlyer]

Got some more compliments from the GF tonight. I made Cuban Pork Chops. I thought they turned out well.

Here is a pic.

 

This one is not that hard to make. Here is the link for the recipe.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/cuban-pork-chops-with-mojo-recipe-1947717

 

[jimboh]

On 12/06/2020 at 20:05, ChiFlyer said:

The GF really liked my Chicken Chow Mein recipe that I prepared tonight. I am not going to share this recipe because it is from a site (Cook's Country) that does not share this recipe on the net at this time. If anyone wants a copy, send me a PM and I will send back the pdf file that has the recipe.

I tried this recipe today, substituted the chicken for pork I got from street cart, and have to say, turned out really well.

Missus got some thicker noodles that the ones we usually use for Chow Mein.

[ChiFlyer]

On 17/06/2020 at 11:39, jimboh said:

I tried this recipe today, substituted the chicken for pork I got from street cart, and have to say, turned out really well.

Glad it went well for you.

Nice looking plates btw. When you get a minute, ask the Mrs. where she bought them. We are looking to upgrade our furnished rental stuff, little by little.

I think plates etc. are important as the eyes, probably after the nose, set the stage for the taste of the food.

[Jebb]

Loving this thread mate!

[ChiFlyer]

Hit a home run tonight.

I made Sichuan Pork in Garlic Sauce. The GF loved it and her niece who was over had two servings. A few pics.

In the pan

In the serving bowl

On the plate

The recipe. There is a formidable list of ingredients and a few substitutions were made. These were:

• I am not big on water chestnuts and I had some celery in the fridge so I substituted the celery for the crunch factor.
• I did not have Black Chinese Vinegar, so i went with the suggested substitution in the recipe. I also did not have balsamic vinegar for said substitution, so I used red wine vinegar and it worked well.
• For the Asian Garlic and red chile paste I used Sambal Olek. I am very fond of this ingredient and highly recommend it for this recipe. It is essential for the correct taste. I was able to find it on Lazada.
• The recipe takes about 90 minutes to prepare with over one hour of that going into prepping ingredients.

Sichuan stir-fried pork in garlic sauce.pdf

Most ingredients were bought at Villa Market.

[jimboh]

Where can a guy get Chinese rice wine in Pattaya? 

[ChiFlyer]

1 hour ago, jimboh said:

Where can a guy get Chinese rice wine in Pattaya? 

I am not sure.

I used the dry sherry substitute that they recommend in the recipe. That was typically what I used for this and other recipes back in the States. I bought the dry sherry at Villa Market.

[jimboh]

On 18/06/2020 at 23:31, ChiFlyer said:

Glad it went well for you.

Nice looking plates btw. When you get a minute, ask the Mrs. where she bought them. We are looking to upgrade our furnished rental stuff, little by little.

I think plates etc. are important as the eyes, probably after the nose, set the stage for the taste of the food.

Missus said she got plates that place behind old Big C, north Pattaya, opposite where Jim's burger place was. Was about 15 years ago.

[jimboh]

A dish I make for breakfast sometimes is Bhurji, its just a simple Indian scrambled egg, easy to make, flexiable, using ginger, onion, tomato, frozen peas, chili,  some left over potato, and some basic Indian spices, turmeric, grama masala etc.

 

[ChiFlyer]

I am a fuss bottom about my cookware. I had a very nice inventory of it in the US. I decided not to ship it here due to the cost related to the weight. I figured I could slowly rebuild here. Many of the prices that I am going to discuss will sound ridiculous to most people, but like I said I am a fuss bottom about this. I am currently interested in 3 categories.

Lodge Cast Iron

IMO Lodge makes the best cast iron products in the world. Americas Test Kitchen does studies on these things and that was their finding as well. Cast Iron is slow to heat, but retains heat longer than other materials. I could not ship it because it is quite heavy. I have found some in Villa Market and will probably buy a grill pan in the near future. They have them for 2500, which is about a 30% markup of the US price. They are also carried on Lazada at a 100% markup.

 

A Le Creuset or equivalent quality 6 qt Dutch Oven

This is also a cast iron product, but it is coated with enamel. A new one in the US goes for about $300. This is quality cookware that will last a life time. I see these items as being available on the internet at a reasonable price, but the shipping costs can double that. Lazada has a 4.5 qt one for 26,000. There has got to be a better way. I use this piece to do many Farang recipes, such as a Pot Roast, 40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken, Ropa Vieja, and many more.

 

An All Clad D5 Stainless Steel Set

This is the one that I really screwed up on by not paying the shipping costs from the US. It is not nearly as heavy as the cast iron stuff. This is expensive gear, but again it should last a life time. I saw a very nice set on Ubuy for 35,000 (that is a 10 piece set), but the Ubuy shipping and handling will easily double the cost. I view this type of equipment as necessary to cook anything that you intend to build a sauce with. Reason being is that you can not build much of a fond with non stick pans.

Anyway, I guess I am trying to solicit ideas for places to shop. I realize that these items do not fit well with Asian cooking, which makes them difficult to find.

[Jebb]

I found that for some reason cookware is very expensive in LOS and have managed to smuggle individual pieces on different trips in my luggage but not to the extent of cast iron 555.

[Soi7]

On 20/06/2020 at 12:07, jimboh said:

Missus said she got plates that place behind old Big C, north Pattaya, opposite where Jim's burger place was. Was about 15 years ago.

I got a few plates there as well very nice and only 11 Baht each for full sized dinner plates