Chiang Mai Market Follow-up 16-Jul-2018

Chiang Mai Market Follow-up 16-Jul-2018 - Gaeng Khae – A Northern Thai Curry

Gaeng Khae is a Northern Thai soup-like curry that we really, really like. Yesterday, we bought veggies and curry paste to make gaeng khae. Today, we selected the meat for the curry; pork spareribs to help add flavor to the soup.

How did we discover gaeng khae? Years ago, we ordered it at our favorite restaurant, Kaeng Ron Ban Suan. We can't remember how we selected it since their menu has so many items on it. Maybe a waitress or friend told us? Anyway, we ordered it with chicken which, of course, came with bones. The red, soupy curry was loaded with so many different kinds of veggies-some of which we had no idea what they were! It didn’t matter though since everything in it was so good. We order this dish often at this restaurant, but now with pork to avoid the bones.

How did we discover we could make it? Years ago, the observant Hubby noticed what we call a “kit” of vegetables. We recognized some of the veggies so knew that this kit was for gaeng khea. So we bought the kit, wandered over to the curry paste shop and said “gaeng khae”. They gave us 10 baht’s worth of paste and we made it. It turned out great! This was at Maehia market which to this day is our favorite market.

So, yesterday, at Tanin market, we kind of knew what to do. Again, observant Hubby found the veggie kit.

We have made different curries from scratch by pounding ingredients to make the curry paste, but it sure is easier if someone else does that hard work for us! For this dish, we

1. fried the curry paste in a little oil for a little bit (it was spicy and made me cough a little)
2. added the spareribs to the paste, salted the ribs and stir-fried that for a bit
3. added water to cover the spareribs, covered the pot and simmered until tender
4. added the veggie kit until veggies were done.

It turned out to be very good. We had a condiment of fish sauce with chopped chilis to use as needed and ate this dish with Jasmine rice. However, if we were at a restaurant, we would order sticky rice (kao niaw), take a ball of sticky rice in our fingertips, dip it into the gaeng khae then pop it in our mouths. Yum!

If you are staying somewhere with kitchen equipment, make your own experiment and experience the Thai market. Pick up a dtom yum kit or some other interesting ingredient. It can be a fun or maddening experience!

CNX Pub: 2018-Jul-17 11:30 Places - Southeast Asia, Chiang Mai,
CNX Pub: 2018-Jul-17 11:30 Markets - Maehia, Tanin, Tops at Kad Suan Kaew
CNX Pub: 2018-Jul-17 11:30 Restaurants - Kaeng Ron Baan Suan Restaurant
CNX Pub: 2018-Jul-17 11:30 Food - Gaeng Khae