So to illustrate my attitude towards my cooking: I usually am merciful with my
spice levels, as most Americans (myself included) are unable to handle the
inhuman levels of spice heat the average Thai person eats routinely. I once knew
a young woman who had been an exchange student over there and told me how the
family she stayed with had to drastically tone down their food for her to be
able to eat it and were perplexed and distressed at her inability to handle
their spice levels. However, there comes a time when a man's gotta throw
down.
To wit: a co-worker of mine last year and I were talking idly about food and I mentioned I made my own Thai food, made my own chilli paste, yaddayadda, and apparently this fellow fancied himself as having a high spice threshold. He proceeded to tell me of his homemade spaghetti sauce and how hot he made it, and when I warned him about how I strive to cook authentically, he snorted and spoke the words of his Undoing:
"Man, I could probably eat your curry, no problem!"
To which my response was a fiendish grin, an evil chuckle worthy of Gary Oldman's take on Count Dracula, and: "You just threw down the gauntlet, buddy!" Did I mention that where I'm from, you only call someone "buddy" if you're aggravated at them and fixing to whoop their butt? I was not aggravated, but I had a point to prove...
So anyway, the long and short of it is as follows: a week later I arrived at work with a box full of food I'd cooked up the night before. I made a Massaman curry for the folks who wanted not so spicy, and made it with my patented fried tofu as the protein ingredient as we had a vegetarian in the department at the time. This was served with red rice (great stuff, I must say) on the side. And I also made...The Green Curry from Heck! The tale of the tape is as follows:
2 heaping tablespoons of chilli paste
Lots of fresh basil and that wonderful Thai eggplant I love so much
Not one, not two, but SIX of those terrifying Thai green chill peppers--one is enough to take your head off! This infused overnight, I might add...
I got an idea of what it was like when I heard that our vegetarian tasted a bit of the curry sauce and instantly grew anime eyes, gasping in horror at what was assailing her tongue! That and another co-worker of mine who is from NOLA (who was expecting a baby at the time and her daughter will now probably grow up craving hot food
who ate it and told me "My stomach said more, but my mouth said
have mercy!". Ironically, I didn't even get to have any because the green
curry vanished at lightning speed!
Oh yes, the other fellow...he couldn't even get halfway through his portion he took! And his ego will not allow him to admit that my curry owned him. He tried to trump me by bringing in his spaghetti sauce, and while it was good, and it left my mouth tingling and glowing nicely, it was not that bad at all. He of course claimed he'd toned it down for most everyone else, but I don't know about that...
Yes, I was Pai Mei for a day and enjoyed it! But otherwise, I go easy on most folks in the spice realm...
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To wit: a co-worker of mine last year and I were talking idly about food and I mentioned I made my own Thai food, made my own chilli paste, yaddayadda, and apparently this fellow fancied himself as having a high spice threshold. He proceeded to tell me of his homemade spaghetti sauce and how hot he made it, and when I warned him about how I strive to cook authentically, he snorted and spoke the words of his Undoing:
"Man, I could probably eat your curry, no problem!"
To which my response was a fiendish grin, an evil chuckle worthy of Gary Oldman's take on Count Dracula, and: "You just threw down the gauntlet, buddy!" Did I mention that where I'm from, you only call someone "buddy" if you're aggravated at them and fixing to whoop their butt? I was not aggravated, but I had a point to prove...
So anyway, the long and short of it is as follows: a week later I arrived at work with a box full of food I'd cooked up the night before. I made a Massaman curry for the folks who wanted not so spicy, and made it with my patented fried tofu as the protein ingredient as we had a vegetarian in the department at the time. This was served with red rice (great stuff, I must say) on the side. And I also made...The Green Curry from Heck! The tale of the tape is as follows:
2 heaping tablespoons of chilli paste
Lots of fresh basil and that wonderful Thai eggplant I love so much
Not one, not two, but SIX of those terrifying Thai green chill peppers--one is enough to take your head off! This infused overnight, I might add...
I got an idea of what it was like when I heard that our vegetarian tasted a bit of the curry sauce and instantly grew anime eyes, gasping in horror at what was assailing her tongue! That and another co-worker of mine who is from NOLA (who was expecting a baby at the time and her daughter will now probably grow up craving hot food
who ate it and told me "My stomach said more, but my mouth said
have mercy!". Ironically, I didn't even get to have any because the green
curry vanished at lightning speed! Oh yes, the other fellow...he couldn't even get halfway through his portion he took! And his ego will not allow him to admit that my curry owned him. He tried to trump me by bringing in his spaghetti sauce, and while it was good, and it left my mouth tingling and glowing nicely, it was not that bad at all. He of course claimed he'd toned it down for most everyone else, but I don't know about that...
Yes, I was Pai Mei for a day and enjoyed it! But otherwise, I go easy on most folks in the spice realm...