MORTAR & PESTLE

Without any doubt this is the most significant kitchen gadget in Thai cooking. My right arm was sprained whilst at LCB from daily whisking but here in Bangkok, it is from pounding. It is an art form and the finesse involved comes from lots of practice over time. Aiming for perfection the ones we use at Wandee come from Angsila of the Chonburi Province in Eastern Thailand, near Pattaya. The granite is so strong the mortars will last forever, without chipping.

Yes, one can use a food processor but instead of being pounded, ingredients are sliced or shredded which of course does not yield the same curry paste, let alone the taste. Wandee demands that ingredients must be pounded in sequence as designed in the recipes, if the layering of tastes is to be achieved. I was a bit unconvinced until I pounded my 'virgin paste' and voila, you can really identify the layers. Take for example the Red Curry I did today, the sequence is : salt, white peppercorns, red spur chilies, kiffir lime skin, galangal, lemon grass, coriander root, garlic, shallots and lastly shrimp paste!

This story was told in class, in Thai, which I roughly translated as follows. Before you marry someone go to her home and ask her to make a curry. Listen for the sound of mortar & pestle. If there is a prolonged period of action she is hard at it, and you are gamed. If it is only intermittent she may be a bit lazy, so think again. If you can only hear the wimpy whining of the processor, forget it. Well, it makes perfect sense to me. Now not being chauvinistic, a woman contemplating the ring should ask her man to make a curry, and if he cannot, move on to the next guy.