The new machine again.
I want to develop a Thai recipe for Chicken and Fuzzy Melon. Problem: it needed Thai Red Curry Paste **, and I was out of it. The recipe used paste from a can, but that isn't available around here. So, time to make a new batch of Thai Red Curry Paste
This has always been tedious. There's a large amount of hard, fibrous, uncooperative ingredients, mainly Galangal and lots of Lemon Grass. To cut down pounding in the big stone mortar, after chopping fine, I'd pre-prep in the mini-prep processor (Not enough of it for a big processor). Still a lot of pounding, and never got quite the paste texture I'd like.
So, this time I decided to try the new Indian Mixie. Using the smallest can, I just put the chopped ingredients in the can and ran it. within a few seconds it was all reduced to a fine green powder. It also did a better job with the spices than the spice grinder - in several seconds.
Of course when I put in a lot of chopped Garlic, Shallots, and Shrimp Paste, it was quite sticky, so I had to stop and scrape down the sides after every 3 seconds of running. Scraping down the sides is dead easy due to the geometry of the can. 4 cycles and it was all paste - in less than a minute.
And the thing is very easy to clean. So, a nice paste texture in a fraction of the time it used to take, and a whole lot less pounding work.
** Trader Joe's (and similar) "Thai Red Curry Sauce" is entirely unsuitable for real Thai recipes - and the Trader Joe's products I've sampled are almost totally devoid of real Thai flavor and texture. Kikkoman brand actually tried, with some success, but with all dried and processed ingredients. That product is still usable only in modified recipes.
This has always been tedious. There's a large amount of hard, fibrous, uncooperative ingredients, mainly Galangal and lots of Lemon Grass. To cut down pounding in the big stone mortar, after chopping fine, I'd pre-prep in the mini-prep processor (Not enough of it for a big processor). Still a lot of pounding, and never got quite the paste texture I'd like.
So, this time I decided to try the new Indian Mixie. Using the smallest can, I just put the chopped ingredients in the can and ran it. within a few seconds it was all reduced to a fine green powder. It also did a better job with the spices than the spice grinder - in several seconds.
Of course when I put in a lot of chopped Garlic, Shallots, and Shrimp Paste, it was quite sticky, so I had to stop and scrape down the sides after every 3 seconds of running. Scraping down the sides is dead easy due to the geometry of the can. 4 cycles and it was all paste - in less than a minute.
And the thing is very easy to clean. So, a nice paste texture in a fraction of the time it used to take, and a whole lot less pounding work.
** Trader Joe's (and similar) "Thai Red Curry Sauce" is entirely unsuitable for real Thai recipes - and the Trader Joe's products I've sampled are almost totally devoid of real Thai flavor and texture. Kikkoman brand actually tried, with some success, but with all dried and processed ingredients. That product is still usable only in modified recipes.