I want to crowdsource a recipe for yellow curry paste

[outRIAAge]

I'm a complete cooking fool, and don't eat out much because I can deconstruct recipes and make them better myself. Perhaps the single exception is the Chicken Curry Noodle Soup on the menu at Malay Satay Hut in Redmond. At $9 on the lunch menu, it is this Scotsman's Bucket Meal, the thing I want to taste last in life.

I've crashed and burned against it for years. I shamelessly pandered to the patriarch, but after years of begging, all he allowed was that he had the factory make his own curry paste, smug bastard that he is :-) It's a variation of Malaysian yellow curry paste, but oooooh does it ever go further...

I suspect I'm on a hopeless quest.

[CraigC]

I've looked at some of the recipes available on line. They use some of the same ingredients used in Thai cooking. Ginger, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, etc. Did the soup use coconut milk? Have you tried starting with a Thai yellow curry paste (homemade)?

[outRIAAge]

I've tried two different brands of yellow curry paste, but they were not remotely close. I've also tried making the paste a couple of times, getting no closer. (They were not wasted efforts: Curry chicken noodle made with fresh paste does not end up getting thrown away.)

I should have mentioned the soup is heavy on coconut milk and I suspect also carries a dose of coconut cream. For all I know, the secret may be a particular species of mealworms.

A quick note on Malay Satay Hut: It's a hilarious hole-in-the-wall dominated by a large karaoke screen and decorated by a ten year-old who was VERY into spaceships. It is my favourite restaurant. Hidden deep in the menu is a sub-cuisine that is slowly becoming extinct. Nonya cuisine was invented by the Malaysian wives of Chinese merchants. It is native to Singapore, and fantastic.

[GotGarlic]

I suspect you are, too Since none of us have tasted this dish, it's hard to make suggestions.

That said, I think CraigC was suggesting that you *start* with a commercial Thai curry paste and add other ingredients you think might also be in the soup.

[CraigC]

When you mention coconut cream, are you referring to the heavy, thick cream that I would scoop off the top of canned coconut milk? I always separate the two as the Thai coconut milk/cream based curry recipes call for the separation.

GG, I meant a homemade past, like the one I posted earlier.

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by CraigC

GG, I meant a homemade past, like the one I posted earlier.

Whoops. And you said so right there I think I need a nap.

[medtran49]

Malaysian yellow curry pastes seem to be pretty similar, though i did notice they varied in the oil they used, groundnut, candlenut, peanut, which of course is a kind of groundnut and probably easiest to find unless you live close to a very large Asian community. I'll have to look next time we make a trip to the Asian Superstore we have locally and see if they have either of the 2 noted above. I'd start out with a basic recipe from a reliable source and experiment from there.

[outRIAAge]

You are correct, sir. Park a can of coconut milk for a week or so to let it settle, then cut the top off and scoop the cream out.

A better source is (I can't remember the brand, ******) boxed coconut cream, and believe it or not, DRIED coconut cream is not bad.

Being a complete cooking fool with infinite free time on my hands, I successfully made coconut milk, tasted it, agreed it was better, then went back to buying it.

I'm realizing that this crowdsourcing attempt is doomed to failure.

[medtran49]

Originally Posted by outRIAAge

You are correct, sir. Park a can of coconut milk for a week or so to let it settle, then cut the top off and scoop the cream out.

A better source is (I can't remember the brand, ******) boxed coconut cream, and believe it or not, DRIED coconut cream is not bad.

Being a complete cooking fool with infinite free time on my hands, I successfully made coconut milk, tasted it, agreed it was better, then went back to buying it.

I'm realizing that this crowdsourcing attempt is doomed to failure.

Such a nice thing to say to people who are trying to help you. So sorry none of us have been able to help. Kind of hard to help, other than the very basics, when NONE of us have ever tasted what you are trying to replicate and you certainly aren't giving any particulars to go on....

And BTW, it certainly doesn't take the coconut milk/cream a WEEK to separate, maybe a few hours at most.

[outRIAAge]

Don't be silly. I only just got here, had no idea how large the site was, and thought there might be Redmond Microsofties here who knew what I was talking about.

Of course it's doomed to failure: how can you crowdsource something that nobody else has ever tasted? A simply daft idea. Let the thread die, but thanks for your good suggestions.