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I need to find herbs/food stuff to make Thai food on a regular basis to eat at home. Basically what I need is an Asian Market if Puna or Hilo has one? Otherwise, could some of you good people put me in the right direction to find fresh Lemon Grass, Kiffar Lime leaves, Curry paste(red, green, brown, etc,etc..),galangal root, palm sugar. I will also need Mortar & pestle(stone variety), coconut shredder.
Pretty much all the other stuff I can find around town(Hilo) that I will need such as coconut milk, Chinese parsley & root, Nam pla(fish sauce).
Thai food is a cross of four different culinary cuisines from India, Indonesia,Malay, and Chinese. Fused together you get a taste of salty, sweet & sour, and very pungent aromas which make up Thai food.
The reason also for wanting a stone Morter & pastle is simple. I wanna make my own Curry paste when time permits me....nothing taste better! But so far I have only seen ones made of wood?
Help me out gang in finding these things and I promise one of these "Punaweb Pot lucks"you all have, I will bring some homemade Thai food when time permits(currently having home built in HPP) me!
mahalo-
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You can get a marble Morter & Pastle at Ross, I just bought one two weeks ago. I don't know the difference between the regular shredder and coconut shredder but they have a big selection of shredders too. There is a restaurant supply store on the bayfront, you can try them too. KTA has red/green curry paste as well as fish sauce. I am sure the others will help you with the rest of the stuff.
Aloha,
John S. Rabi, ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,PB
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
75-5870 Walua Road, Suite 101
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
(808)327-3185
Edited by - John S. Rabi on 03/08/2007 08:39:09
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There was an Asian food market in Hilo but it didn't last long as I knew it wouldn't. You would think it would have lasted since there are many Asians living here but you can't group all Asians together. The ones living here are mostly Japanese, Chinese and Filipino who have been here for generations. These people don't really go for exotic type foods that you mentioned. They just stick to buying the food in the local supermarket Asian food aisles.
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The Open Market in Hilo and Puna (Maku`u) has people who sell the shredders, green thai papaya (shredded and not shredded), and some of the thai herbs you might need. I was also so excited to find a vendor at the Hilo Open market who had fresh galangal. So sorry for being greedy but when I find galangal, I buy all of it and take it home and plant it in my garden but that was only twice and I'm hardly ever at the Hilo Open market. I love, love, love thai food. I will be willing to share a galangal root for your garden cause sharing is caring and the basis for growing our own food at our houses.
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John, bystander, & Momi thank you all for your response!
Marble Mortar & Pestle how cool is that? What are you using it mainly for John? Plus I will go spock out Ross too!
Momi, how well has the Galangal taken to your garden? Was it as easy as throwing "green onions" into the ground, or what?
As for shredders, I should ask my family to send me one. My father lives in Huahine, and he has a real cool one. It consist of a small wooden stool with a metal tongue attached to it. So all you do is sit and shred your coconuts into a small bowl. It's very practical, and I'm sure cheap too.
But mahalo to all of you for your thoughts and insights..
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The Hilo farmers market has most if not all of the fresh ingredients you're looking for. Then there is the TNT Seafood Imports & Asian Grocery on Bayfront that has all the bottled and canned requirements for making tasty Thai food and other Asian foods.
We now grow lemon grass and kiffar lime. And I now think will try the galangal.
Happy cooking.
Tom
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Aloha Beachboy,
That galangal is that easy to grow, if not easier then green onion. I hardly weed around it. lol. It's in the ginger family and does well in the tropics. I have a coconut grater from Ponpei. It is a family heirloom that was a gift to my father who traveled there years ago. I don't know if it will be good for shredding the papaya and carrots but it is a wonderful tool for the coconut. A like the marble mortar and pestle from Ross's for macerating garlic and Hawaiian herbs but for bigger things the bigger mortar and pestles I believe can be ordered through the internet. My friend got me a big mortar and pestle bowl from an asian store in Hilo but I have no idea where exactly he got it from. I think their is an asian store near panda travel. I don't know Hilo street and plaza names so thats all I can tell you about it. I don't know if they had thai things though. I just love going into that store just to browse. I usually walk out with a bunch of stuff. I think it is called the Oriental connection. They have various sized of steamers which attracted me to the store.
I'm currently looking for a kafir lime tree for sale. Anybody know where to get one? I might just have to try airlayering a friends if not.
Edited by - momi on 03/08/2007 11:04:42
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quote:
The Hilo farmers market has most if not all of the fresh ingredients you're looking for. Then there is the TNT Seafood Imports & Asian Grocery on Bayfront that has all the bottled and canned requirements for making tasty Thai food and other Asian foods.
We now grow lemon grass and kiffar lime. And I now think will try the galangal.
Happy cooking.
Tom
Tom,
It's great you're growing these somewhat exotic produce. I have grown 'Lemon Grass' before. I found for me the best results for Lemon Grass was almost 50-50 soil to sand combo...she grew like a weed in that enviornment!
In Honolulu I never thought about getting & growing a Kiffar Lime tree because the leaves were at every Asian Market I encountered. But it looks a bit different here in Puna/Hilo.
Tom where did you find a Kiffar Lime Tree and Lemon Grass to grow....if you don't mind me asking?
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I bought the kiffar lime tree at the Hilo farmers market for about $8. They don't have them there that often but also have seen them at the Garden Exchange. Also got the lemon grass at the farmers market just looked for some with roots.
Our lemon grass grows like a weed in pure cinder.
Tom
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Thanks Tom, I'll call the Garden Exchange before I go there.
