Make friends with people who travel to Thailand and have them bring you some of this:

https://www.templeofthai.com/food/fresh_curry_paste/

Asian markets will have this stuff and you can also order it online. I made a killer Thai curry with curry paste and tamarind paste ordered online.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not Thai but pho. There is no possible way to make it at home (which would take like 7 hours if done properly) and still taste as good as the place 7 minutes from me.

Same. The same way I never order certain foods at a restaurant because I know I can make it just as good at home, there’s certain foods I am never going to cook at home because there’s no way I’m doing it better than the Indian/Korean/Vietnamese/Thai place up the street. Not a chance. I’m gonna save myself the hassle and disappointment and order from the place that will do it right.

THANK YOU. I have both those lists too. Thai, Indian etc. is going on the takout list forever.

I took the Thai cooking course at L'Academie de Cuisine back in the 90s and still only go out to eat Thai. It was a fun class but not practical.

Anonymous wrote:Not Thai but pho. There is no possible way to make it at home (which would take like 7 hours if done properly) and still taste as good as the place 7 minutes from me.

Same. The same way I never order certain foods at a restaurant because I know I can make it just as good at home, there’s certain foods I am never going to cook at home because there’s no way I’m doing it better than the Indian/Korean/Vietnamese/Thai place up the street. Not a chance. I’m gonna save myself the hassle and disappointment and order from the place that will do it right.

Not Thai but pho. There is no possible way to make it at home (which would take like 7 hours if done properly) and still taste as good as the place 7 minutes from me.

For me it’s Indian food. I have some basic curries I can (and do!) make as a home staple but I almost always get korma when I eat out and every time I’ve tried to make it at home it’s just not as good. I probably could make most of the Indian breads I love… but I’m continuing to opt for keeping my local Indian restaurant in business. 😂

Anonymous wrote:I follow Hot Thai Kitchen and everything comes out great.

Thanks for the tip.

Did you use the crappy Thai kitchen curry paste they sell at regular grocery stores? That stuff is flavorless. You have to go to the Asian market to get the good stuff.

LOL and yes Pailin ^^ is great for authentic Thai.👍 Try her recipes, OP.

I follow Hot Thai Kitchen and everything comes out great.

South East Asian cuisine at home is a little frustrating and feels expensive if you don’t have certain pantry items and sauces already, but is straightforward after.

Are you able to get your hands on a good curry paste? I am no longer in the DMV, but keep a locally made Malaysian curry paste on hand that we all like. It doesn’t have any additives; regular supermarket curry pastes just don’t do it for me. We’ve used it for chicken curry, laksa, and I once added it to a big pot of collard greens.

Basil chicken/pork is another easy one that you can make better than most restaurants without too many ingredients.

You can also buy fish sauce on Amazon and I think even mainstream grocery stores these days. My wife has gotten her Thai curry recipe down pretty well that’s not that expensive but still doesn’t compare to take out.

You can buy fish sauce at HMart

Was craving that good coconut curry flavor. Came out so much worse (and more $$) than takeout. I know it's the fish sauce. Guess I'll keep outsourcing thai food!