I actually cried after I watched your video. I am a Thai chef and I have never seen the foreigners who have cooked Thai food and did so much research like you. You are absolutely right in every aspect of this impressive video. Thank you so much I am so grateful for your excellent work .
Max is definitely one the best history food RUclipsrs out there, along with Townsend. He puts a lot of work not only into the food but also the history behind that food. Aloha 😊🤙🏼👏🏼
I think the other issue with finding Thai recipes is them actually being written down. My mom and aunties always went by the eye method. "Mom, how much did you add?" "Oh this much!" Thanks mom... Thai family cooking ladies and gentlemen.
People in the modern industrial society need to have exact measurements of ingredients so they can have the exact dish anytime, anywhere, by anywho. This is good for workers that want, for example, a pasta fit with their image of a pasta easily. This also great if you're a restaurant/factory owner who want to sell the exactly same thing everytime someone buy that dish. People outside this society, be from Thailand, Italy, Kenya, Inca, etc., traditionally didn't see food that way. Each culture has their own way, but I think in places where food mainly intended for a family and cooked by the same person for decades, that person may not need any rigid measurements.
Not just Thai. My Great Grandmother used Great Grandpa's favorite cup as the standard measurement. So many of the dishes she made made almost double the amount they normally did. (He used a 16 oz cup, but a standard cup is 8 oz.) She had learned to cook from her mother in law, who had immigrated from Italy; and that's how her MIL knew how to cook. Now that I think about it, that would actually explain the vagueness of a lot of recipes Max finds. 🤔
"Rama II wrote a poem for his beloved Princess Bunrot, an avid cook; but instead of writing it directly to her, he couches it in that he's writing of his love of the different foods that she would cook." As a chef, that's honestly one of the most romantic things I've ever heard.
Well put it this way; the princess at the time was forbidden to Rama II, and it was an incest affair of sorts. To keep it hidden, he put his love message in a poem that should anyone read other than her would find just a normal man’s feelings to food.
มัสมั่นแกงแก้วตา หอมยี่หร่ารสร้อนแรง ชายใดได้กลิ่นแกง แรงอยากให้ใฝ่ฝันหา This piece of poem expresses the King Rama II's love for his loved one's Massaman curry.
There was a tradition to write "Nirat", a series of poems that explain poet's longing for lover/wife/wives back home. Poem upon each location must be dedicated to one wife/lover, comparing her beauty to the beauty of a landmark. So... 10 cities 10 poems for 10 wives. What a romantic gift. Just an idea for travel journal :)
Thai food has very strong taste because we always have it with rice. We didn't even call it as a meal, it is side dish or "kub kao". Many of the foreigner miss this point and find our food is too strong in the taste. Luckily, Massaman is so good even without rice. That's why this dish is so popular. Try the soup with rice. You will happy in every bite.
Thai kids in 90s had to recite this poem in class ad nauseum. It's a great tho. but it actually make me feel sick of some of these foods for a while (Thank that's no Kaphrao Rice back then. It's my fav. food don't want to get sick of it.) Actually this vid make me feel like Eating both Massaman Curry and Hinlay Curry. As newer version is lighter in color and have potatoes with it too. The original version color look like Hinlay Curry but with different ingredients
@@RaccoonGrrrl Potaoes in any coconut milk curry tastes heavenly. In south India we use loads of coconut and coconut milk in our curries and many other dishes. The dry spices are the same as Thai recipes, but the wet aromatic spices are minimal. So, our curries are flavorful, but not as aromatic as Thai curries. But, I grow galangal, lemon grass, kefir lime leaves (with great difficulty) and pandan leaves in my garden as I absolutely love Thai food and recipes.
Max is like the weather here, from one extreme to another. Last week, ice storms and boiled leather; this week, 60s and sunny with one of the most appetizing dishes I've seen in forever.
As a Thai who choose History as a major subject during university, loves to eat and cook, this video does bring a big smile to my face. The Massaman you made looks great. By the way, that Poem about food and sweets is called "กาพย์เห่ชมเครื่องคาวหวาน (Garp-hey-chom-krueng-cow-wan)" which means "A poem to admire savories and sweets" in Thai which is a classic Thai literature that is still being taught till today. Back in my highschool days, we learnt about this poem during Thai Literature period just before lunch break. That's torture. lol
So do I. It’s a torture when you have to read it when you’re hungry and the only thing that you’re allowed to eat is one or two bottles of drinking water. And you can’t run to the cafeteria until the end of the class. (Or if you managed to get there, the cook or the coupon clerk wouldn’t sell you the coupon or food until lunchtime.)
I truly appreciate how Max tries to credit original recipes and creators for their work and advocates for traditional cooking methods on these recipes. Absolutely fantastic!
I’ m thai and i have to accept that you know the history of massaman curry better than me😂. I’m so impressed that you mention the way we put the spices into motar and grind by hand not by the “blender” because it totally gives the different results of tase and texture. Love how you pronounce thai words, and also your vedio❤❤❤
I completely agree! Pounding all those ingredients into a paste is well worth the time and effort. Definitely not the same as using a blender or food processor!
I adore Massaman curry!! We lived there in 1967-1970, and had a lovely Thai friend who made it for us! Surach made it with beef. I even got to meet King Chulalongkorns sister. My school choir was led by a member of the royal family who took us to sing for the Princessess. ..we followed the Vienna's Boy Choir.
@LadyTigress, which reminds me of opera, which reminds me of Otello, Act I, Sc 1, Esultate: Esultate! L’orgoglio musulmano sepolto è in mar; nostra e del ciel è gloria! Dopo l’armi lo vinse l’uragano.
I GREW UP EATING THIS. Or a local version of this. My family makes it for big events. Edit: OMG the cooking technique I learned growing up is similar to this too! Cooking the curry paste was the longest and most exhausting part for me as a kid. I just didn't have the patience, there are modern day cheats, but I always return to this familial recipe.
When I was 15 my family moved to Malaysia for my father’s work. A whole world of flavours and dishes opened up to me and my sister and me would often end up in the kitchen as soon as our homework was done. We loved to learn from our housekeeper, who most days cooked for us. Over time we had different housekeepers and each of them taught us their recipes. Mom insisted on those ladies sticking to their cuisine. It was more budget-friendly and frankly, healthier as the ingredients were easier to get, fresher and the recipes better for that climate. We’d frequently go to Thailand as well and would seek out places to eat where local people would eat. Being enrolled at an international school meant having classmates from all over the world and at our friends we’d end up in the kitchen more often than not as well (teenage stomachs, LOL!) As a result most of my comfort foods hail from Asian cuisines, more particularly Southeast Asian cuisines. Now that Thai curries are a bit of a thing in Europe I often get the following: “Why can’t I make my curry taste like at the Thai/Malaysian/Indonesian restaurant?” Easy. Wake up your spices in the pan (dry pan or frying) Cook that curry for long enough Cook that coconut milk until the oil separates out Eat it on day 2 (or prepare early, let it cool, then re-heat) In all fairness, most people who have this complaint use a kit and/or move on to buying the ingredients that are mentioned/contained in those kits. Then they follow the instructions that used to be on one of those kits.
Thai concept of curry is almost like a stew. The true secret to Thai food is fresh ingredients, fresh lemongrass. You are on the right track by growing your own fresh galangal(Not dry powder,) and fresh coconuts cream (not from a can). For a royal Massaman curry, you can switch out cashew for peanut, and use Lemon zest to add a lighter note and a more complex sourness. Kudos for not recommending a blender.
I am Sri Lanka who grew up in Thailand. I was very excited when I heard about the ancient Thai curry called khaeng sinhong which is literally translated to Sinhalese curry. Fortunately I read Thai and I have attempted making it a few times at home here in New Zealand from recipes I have found online.
My best friend is Thai, and the first time I tasted curry was at her mom's house when we were kids. This lady could COOK. I got so spoiled, so when I have curry in restaurants now, it's just not the same. I wish I had the patience to make it like she did.
When he first tasted the curry, I thought Max was going to burst into happy tears. :D Well done once again, sir and great job promoting other creators!
Man, there is no greater feeling that spending several hours on a dish and it coming out so perfect and delicious, it really does make you want to cry! Of course there is the other half, when you spend hours on a dish and it tastes bad... then you also want to cry.
Most things online I avoid reading the comments, but for max’s videos I love reading the comments! Pretty much everyone is so kind and warm. It adds to the Tasting History experience to also learn from other viewers around the world 🤗
Seeing someone putting in the effort to cook traditional Thai food the original way, enjoying it the way it was intended, and learning about its history makes me super happy. So much better than some celebrity chefs who change things around to make it “their” way without acknowledging the dish’s roots!
Tips for making the curry paste from Thai Guy 1. layering your ingredients from hard to soft and then add the shrimp paste. For example, add galangal, lemon grass, and dry chilies first along with a little bit of salt to help draw out the moisture and friction. 2. don’t grind! You need to pound it the trick is to use the weight of the pestle to pound and use the momentum when it bounces up to draw it back don’t aim for the dead center of the mortar aim off to the side that way it’s both pounding and grinding at the same time and use spoon or spatula to scrape the paste from the side to the center.
My fondest memory of massaman curry was on the streets of Philadelphia, from a food truck parked on the University of Pennsylvania campus that served "Crying Tiger" massaman curry so spicy it made us sweat and cry. The line of hungry locals stretched a half block up the sidewalk. Aside from the intense black pepper and chilies the taste was as amazing as you described here.
My mother was born in Bangkok, my father's side is Persian, and I have worked in a Jean-George Vongritchen restaurant, and I *absolutely love* that you taught people how to make real curry paste - Persian style in particular! (To be clear, I am not above using Mae Ploy at home when in a hurry - but the real from-scratch thing is a whole extra experience.) Please consider doing some historical Persian recipes if you can - particularly ones that show the effect of the silk road and it's cultural connectivity, such as how Uzbek and Uigher food have Chinese, Russian, and Tukric/Persianate elements. This is exactly where Khoresh meets Curry. I'm also a giant history geek. This is the singular most *me* thing that has ever happened in a cooking video, and I am in love. For viewers who are not Thai - a way to think of Thai curries is that you have the wet and the dry ingredients (which vary between curries) and thats how you start the paste, and at the end, there is what JGV calls "Thai Finishing Sauce" - fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice. It is to balance the salty, sweet, and sour. Root vegetable elements like garlic, ginger, and galangal, wet plant elements like kaffir or lemongrass, as well as dry spices like hot chilis, tumeric, cinnamon, star anise, etc, figure into the start. When you are finishing your Thai dish, whatever it is - you adjust the sweet, salty, and sour into balance using those three ingredients. Never table salt. Sorry vegans. You can use soya sauce if you are a vegan, but it wont taste the same. I hope that thought process helps people trying this recipe at home!
Be careful swapping out white or green cardamom with black cardamom! Black cardamom has a potent smoked flavor that is discernable even in small quantities. I think it's beautiful, but it could mess with the balance of spices here, I'd stick with green cardamom
Totally agree with you on that! The quantity he used was a lot. If the same quantity is replaced by either Indian cardamoms, green or black, it would overpower the entire dish, despite the many Thai aromatics used in it.
Yeeeesss. Curry is my absolute favorite food. It's always my answer to the question "If you had to eat only one thing for the rest of your life?". There's so many different types, styles, spicy, savory, sweet? It's so versatile you could never get tired of it.
That’s kind of like saying soup is your favorite food? It’s a whole category of dishes, not a singular thing. It’s definitely cheating on the “if you could only eat one food” question.
@@aidanwarren4980 oh, I'm well aware that it's cheating on the question, I won't deny that. 🤣 But I'd also argue that you totally CAN say that your favorite food is 'soup', if you need to be more specific than that it's just splitting hairs.
Max, I said it a couple of years ago and I'll say it again, I really appreciate the effort that you take to make the foreign language pronunciations. Your history is great and your food is great but it just goes to show that you really care about what you do.
This looks so beautiful. I never thought as an irish person I'd relate so hard to a thai history lesson - so much of early irish cuisine is also only written about by others because of lost history. Side note: in a different cooking video I saw the chef cut the meat in full meal portions, so that when shared, everyone could take the amount they wanted easily. Don't know but maybe that's what's meant by large cuts here.
Your Thai history summary is quite spot on. I personally love how you tried to pronounce the Thai names in local tongue accent and I may say, what a splendid job you did. ❤
This is an excellent dish. I once worked as a chef at a Thai restaurant and had the thrill to work with chefs from Thailand. The version we served was made with beef. It's a pretty labour intensive dish for sure, and while I did love the dish a lot, it can't dethrone my love for Kaeng Khiao Wan (Green Curry) and clear Tom Yum. The chefs really were chili heads and I embraced it. The dish I have best memories about was the lunches that weren't on the menu. We had a chili meat dish with sticky rice on the side, and the chefs taught me about the region of Isan, which is on a plateau and rather than Jasmine rice, eat sticky rice due to the growing conditions of the region being unable to support Jasmine rice, and the farmers needing more energy rich food to work in Isan's harsher climate.
I guess that dish called "Larb" with sticky rice or "Nam-Tok" with sticky rice. You've made me really hungry and have to go out now and find those Larb with sticky rice at 22.00. Lol Hello from Bangkok.😂😂😂
Max in last week's video must've been thinking ahead to this one, cause I'd probably be able to eat boiled shoelaces if I knew there was some Thai curry after.
One thing I learned from my elder Thai relatives is that aside from sowing and harvesting seasons, Thai people wake up at dawn to make breakfast, eat it in the morning, spend the entire morning making lunch, eat at noon and spend the entire afternoon making dinner, eat them than spend the evening prep the breakfast😂 That why most Thai foods are delicious. Our culture as the whole is obsessed with eating. P.s I appreciate that Max used mortar for the paste and warmed up coconut milk until the oil and cream separated. It’s called “Tak Mun” (oil breaking) and the important part of every cream curry here. The traditional curry supposed to have coconut oil floating on top and not being creamy like western cream soup, because the pure oil will bring out the aroma of the herbs and soaked it into everything else
As a long time Thai follower, it's super cool to see a Thai episode. It would be pretty interesting if you could do an episode on Thai desserts. Although Thai desserts are less famous compared to our savory dish, some of the desserts have a very interesting history especially ones created by Marie Guimar, a half Bengali-Japanese woman born in Ayutthaya who became known as the Queen of Thai desserts for the many dishes she invented. Although the fact is murky whether or not she actually invented the dessert (as many of her creations had Portugal influence), her desserts are tasty and her story is VERY dramatic and fascinating. Her life is one of a very high-high and a low-low that portrays the western-eastern power struggle in Southeast Asia as she was married to a Greek adventurer who became an official in the Thai court before he was bloodily executed as a part of the power struggle. Anyhow~ Always keen to see more episodes on whatever you are interested to make! Keep up the great work!
This is probably the coolest episode so far to me. To think your channel has such a widespread audience it includes the descendants of royals and royal's chefs, and now we can all learn about food from a primary source document in historic Thailand. Information and flavors that otherwise might have been lost to the ages. Thank you Rosalind and family for sharing these recipes with the world and for putting in the effort to preserve and pass on this beautiful piece of culture and history!! I will be purchasing the book!
As a Thai, this is a well-made แกงมัสมั่น! I eat it often, usually with chicken thigh and potato in it. Pork belly is also great in this curry. There is another curry dish called hung le curry (แกงฮังเล), a Northern Thailand dish inspired by Burmese cuisine. It is very similar to mussaman with the main difference being without coconut cream.
If that is so, I can also cook massaman curry with nearly identical ingredients with kaeng hang le? With kaeng hang le, according to Chef McDang and a few other Lanna cooks, I heard that it requires a soybean paste instead of shrimp paste, pickled garlic and tamarind juice (or santol rind to replace tamarind juice) are the main souring agents, where I saw one recipe of massaman curry using bitter orange, and it requires julienned ginger (which I rarely encounter in Central Thai food). I found this food interesting because these are very similar to rendang (as found in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines).
When my children were in primary school the parents of one of their friends had a Thai restaurant. I stopped in for lunch and the mom suggested. Massamam. I fell in love with not only Massamam but Thai cuisine in general (and that family too). Children are long grown and we have moved far away and everytime I make massamam I think of that lovely woman.
With how propagandized my country's history is taught, I love it every time I see a history video about Thailand. I always want to know a deeper, more factual history of Thailand.
I know what you mean because the stuff I heard about Thailand when I was younger was less flattering but I learned so much after college when I was studying Muay Thai for self defense but the instructor insisted on teaching us about culture and a little language and history and it was fascinating. I had not been taught any of that about Thailand and I have to say it did deepen our appreciation but my favorite part of this initiative of the instructor was that he got us dinner one night at a Thai restaurant owned and operated by a friend of his who was from Thailand and the food was amazing. So I am glad to see Max Miller focusing on Thai food for a video.
Thank you to the clip owner for bringing Thai food to share on social media. Every time we watch a video like this We feel flattered. Thank you very much.
I hope max will cook more old southeast asian recipe since its really interesting to see how the cuisine of southeast asia developed especially islands part of SEA like the phillipines,malaysia and indonesia. maybe an indonesian/something from the archipelago would be an interesting addition to the channel as indonesia has varrying regional dishes with complex history or perhaps maybe a dish from the majapahit empire
@@crowolf3862 That sounds like an awesome idea for a video. Another dish I think he could make and be an interesting topic would be the history of Satay or Pad Thai.
As an Indian growing up in America, I always got made fun of with the typical “curry muncher” line and other curry related offenses lol. It made me insecure about our food and I avoided it for the longest time. It wasn’t until later that I started appreciating the complexities, depth, and versatility of curries and now I love exploring all of them both from home and different places. This one looks beautiful ♥️
Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. I'm *really* glad you're embracing it now. I had Jamaican goat curry for the first time a few summers ago, and I was surprised at how much I loved it!
Oh, terrible to hear you felt that way… so sorry you went through that! 💔 I love talking with people about their cultures and the foods they grew up with! 🎉
I'm Malaysian, but this video almost brought tears to my eyes because I once followed a Thai recipe of Massaman Curry Paste and albeit a few differences it was so indescribably delicious. And I just want to say that though it most probably is difficult to find (or read) sources on history other than America and Europe, I really appreciate this Thai video and the Japanese and Moroccan and Hawaiian videos because it shows how a lot of us still practice the same culinary skills and make our foods the same way to this day. To me it highlights that though innovation is important and sometimes needed and many great things have come since then, Asia and Africa and the Polynesian islands have managed to retain this part of our history and still produce meals similar to our ancestors and most importantly, just as delicious. Some of these methods have a lot of thought and experience behind it and are done for a reason (e.g. using a mortar and pestle, cooking the coconut cream until it splits, etc.), so it makes me feel really proud to watch them and see you react so positively (to the point of speechlessness) when you eat these foods. :)
I always come for the food and stay for the history ❤ This looks amazing to eat and it’s wonderful how Rosalind’s family were able to save and write down these recipes. It always pains me how much history has been lost because it was never written down or lost/destroyed
Same here.. The ppl that follow Max simply really appreciate him and all his efforts. They just have to express it.. I read as much as i watch the content. Both put a smile on my face! :)
There are a lot of historic Siamese recipes in existence because for generations there has been a tradition of self-publishing commemoratory funeral books to distribute at cremation ceremonies filled with tidbits about the lives of the deceased including recipes for favorite foods, especially if the deceased had been famous for her (or his) cooking. Copies of these books are preserved in the archives of the Buddhist temples where the funeral ceremonies took place. It is now something of a culinary revival trend to research these old books and recreate these old recipes. There are several top restaurants (some with Michelin stars) in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and elsewhere that specialize in this and have built their reputations on reviving Siamese gourmet culinary traditions. While the original old funeral books are not usually translated into English, the more famous and successful of the traditional revival restaurants have published cookbooks compiling the old cooking techniques and including updated recipes for their signature dishes. Besides this, there is a well known cookbook compiled by one of the senior women in the palace of King Rama II dating from about 1810 that includes many recipes for foods that were served in the palace. This book was translated into English in the early 1980s and published in a very popular two-volume Thai-English dual language version which is still quite readily available in any Thai bookstore that has a collection of Thai cookbooks. Most serious cooks in Thailand own a copy of this book. The book has a lot of recipes for small savory-sweet snack-like dishes that were (still are) popular for elegant, formal receptions and parties.
Do you have a name or anything else to go on trying to find this or a similar book? I live in a part of the world with no chance to find a Thai bookstore.
I'm Thai and for as far as I know, there is a very famous one (cremation cookbook) called 'Mae Krua Hua Pah' - แม่ครัวหัวป่าก์ (in Thai language). But I have no idea if it's available in English or any other language or not.
What a wonderful way to save cultural history. I am always confused when people refuse to share their recipes or only share the basics of a recipe, leaving out the 1 or two extra ingredients that make the dish special
My whole life I have always fancy a wok and Thai cooking just never had someone or something to get me of my bum and give it ago. I met my partner Christmas day and she has her Dad's old wok that iv been eyeing off. She come home yesterday with a mortar and pestle and all the fresh ingredients to make this dish I'm lucky to have my partner and lucky to of seen this video. I started at 6:45.pm and didn't finish to 12:30 am the house smells absolutely amazing it has been in the fridge overnight and ready to heat it up as my partner is due home from work soon. I'm very happy to have made this dish especially knowing the history to it awesome. I appreciate you putting it together and the lady that reached out to you to be able to put this all together thank you very very much. I can't wait to share the love
Oh my goodness, we usin' a Mee-maw's recipe, you know its gonna be good! So sweet! And so incredible about the family whose recipe you got to use! Like a sweet homage to the matriarch of this family, and, by extension, the whole culture. Real people doing real things and eating really good food. (:
Hello from a Thai fan! Masaman is the easy to eat curry. Sweet, nutty, aromatic and meaty! Recommend for anyone. Also the recipe is not different from the modern day. Just more hand made, less store bought. Now a day we bought curry paste. But self made always better. If you have time then goes for it.
Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines. I've often said that if I had my way, my final meal would be chicken larb and mango with sticky rice from a little Thai restaurant near my house. And apropos of absolutely nothing, that shirt makes your eyes look amazing! 😘
one of the things I truly love about Max Miller and this Show is the attention he pays to detail. From the extensive research he delves into regarding the history of each dish, to the detailed explanations of ingredients, the effort he makes to help others with technique, even his effort to make sure he is pronouncing things correctly. It is spectacular. As a student of Thai cuisine for many years, having studied in several places in Thailand, I am impressed with his presentation of such a complex cuisine and dish. Absolutely everything he mentions here is culinary gold. I used to cheat with making curry paste, using a food processor. I thought at the time the effort of mortar and pestle, which was how I had been taught, was too much. The effort is worth it! Mr. Miller, You have outdone yourself!
I don't know what I enjoy the most; this channel stimulates my passion for cooking while intriguing my desire to expand my knowledge on history. THANK YOU!!
I appreciate that you talked about cracking the coconut milk. That is an important step that many non-Thai cooks either overlook or avoid because they think that they are breaking the sauce.
I went to a Thai restaurant in Alaska in July and I KNEW that I needed to get Massaman Curry, and it didn't disappoint! It's SO complex but you can definitely especially taste the flavors of the lemongrass and coconut which are my two favorite flavor profiles in Thai Cuisine
I first had Massaman curry from a Thai restaurant called Thai Hut 2 in Lakewood Washington in 2009 when I was stationed at Ft. Lewis. I fell in love with the first bite, and it has been my favorite curry and one of my favorite foods ever since. I've had many different versions since then and have loved every one of them.
Thai curries they are so complex, a bit of effort but they are worth it. I was wondering if you could do an episode on Rendang curry, I know at one time it was voted the number one food in the world and I would love to know the history behind this dish. Really love your videos, you bring to to life the history of the dishes and I love the stories behind food. Such as how your social status was perceived by how you took your tea and was marked by the type of crockery you used. China as some of the best stories and tales behind their food. Can't wait for your next video.
The cooking method and appearance actually reminds me more of my favorite recipe for short ribs than the Massaman that I get at my favorite Thai restaurant. For the short ribs you essentially rub them with a paste made of red curry paste, shallots, garlic, cilantro and ginger and then braise them in coconut milk until tender and serve over white rice.
Lots of recipes taste better the next day. I simply love, as always, the History portion of your videos. I'm so glad one of your viewers sent you an original recipe from that era, it may be complicated to make but from your reaction it's worth it. Thanks for sharing.
I lived in Thailand for a few years. A friend of mine had a sister who owned a restaurant. She taught me how to cook pad ga pow (it's a stir fry with holy basil). It's still a staple part of my diet. I have to grow holy basil though, I can't find it anywhere in rural west Virginia lol, sometimes I use Thai basil but it has a different flavor.
I had to resort to italian basil when I lived in the east coast. I personally prefer it over sweet basil for pad ka prao. Maybe because the difference between holy basil and sweet basil, the taste and the aroma, are too clear on my thai mind.
@@avalerie4467 You can try. But if you aim to replicate the original dish, I doubt it would be the right choice since shiso's taste, aroma, and texture, are quite different. Shiso is in mint family, and raw mints taste better than the cooked ones. If you can find veggies in basil family, those are probably more suitable substitute.
You should do one on the history of Gumbo! I’m from Louisiana and this reminds me of our predilection for gumbo here. Perfect time of year for it since Mardi Gras is around the corner
@@1000nodLouisiana would have a war over gumbo or just about any of its prized dishes tbh, there’s a reason Louisiana produced shock troops during the civil war and also won their chunk of the war of 1812 (with reportedly some use of a local gator as an improvised cannon) they named a city after him, they also have a city named red stick which has a much creepier story behind it than you’d think.
I am so proud of my root and to see the delighted facial expression like you made when tasting it. Thai food is very interesting with so many taste within one bite. Thank you for making such an informative but entertaining clip of Thai food
Hello, your Thai's fan here! Been here for a years and a half now, it is amusing to see you tackle one of our famouse dish that is not Padthai lol. Excellent job on the history, quite eye opening even for the native like myself( I can't say much bc the history here gone through heavy cersorship for a "reason" , Ayuthaya included). Oh btw, Ayuthaya is name of one of the middle province in present day, full of ruins of temples and palaces. P.s. the size of the meat is correct, don't worry lol
Tonight was family groceries night. We usually go out to eat before shopping, and one of our favorite locations is a little Thai restaurant across from the store. Unfortunately, tonight we were so tired that we just made sandwiches. Then we come home and see THIS! Now I am so hungry! 😄But then I looked up the menu for the restaurant and realize there is Massaman right under our noses, and we haven't been exploring the options very well - so, next week, we're on a mission to do better. Thanks for the impetus! ❤️
Massaman curry is one of my go to "home alone" dinners! Admittedly using the little canned curry pastes, and not from scratch, but it is such a fulfilling bowl of warmth all the same! 🥰 Wonderful to learn more about my favourite curry!
As a Thai I’ve always made a simplified version of massaman curry with less spices because I’m lazy 🤣 This one looks absolutely delicious! Beautiful color too 🤩 I have to try this recipe!
@@OperaJH i am dutch... first off the amish are german, secondly both we and the germans have gone through a lot of culinary change since the amish left. So my best guess to a comparable cuisine is slavic, since that is what was eaten in the whole of europe before the 17th century (the time the amish left)
One thing that interests me is that a dish that the Persians carried to Thailand in the 1600s included peanuts, which weren't introduced into Africa and then Europe until the 1500s, when the Portuguese brought them over from from South America. Just underscores how universal the act of adopting new food ideas has always been.
I love it when you travel outside Western cuisine! More of these episodes coming soon, I hope! I find the cross pollination of food cultures fascinating. People forget that human populations were always moving and colliding and making wonderful food as a result. I wish we could trade more recipes instead of fighting or dominating. What a wonderful world that would be!
Always appreciate being able to tell how Max views the dish he's eating through his facial expressions. This was definitely the "Holy shit, this is amazing" face.
I've never expected you to cover one of my favourite food here, I always love it when I see Thai history done by a foreigner, It always make me excited to see about other perspective on Thai history.
Man, I can only imagine how wonderful that dish was to prepare and eat. Much tastier than last week's leather dish. 😆With all the flavors and aromas dancing around in your kitchen, it must have been sensory bliss. I'm a huge fan of curries from all over the world. Even though the prep looked like a lot of work, from your reaction it looked like it was well worth the time and effort. Since I'm a cook from South Louisiana, I was wondering if you could one day do a tasting history on gumbo? It could be a traditional turn of the century Creole style or go back further and find a west African recipe. With February being Black History month, I thought a historical dive into a bowl of gumbo would honor the black men and women that brought their cuisine to America. Thank you again for another wonderful episode. Looking forward to the next one. Cheers
That's so awesome how fans of your videos have started sharing their own historical family recipes with you because of this channel, must be such an honor!
I love how so many have shared their expertise in culinary arts with you. They say music is a universal language. As well as math. I think food is also a universal language. Love you Max!
I just bought tickets for The King and I this summer in Dublin and was literally wondering about how much of it was historically accurate so this video could NOT have come at a better time! Plus it's my favourite curry of all time. I tried it at a random roadside restaurant in Phuket and was sold for life, so this video is just everything I LOVEEEEE, and with my favourite RUclipsr? Can safely say this is the highlight of my week, even though it's only Tuesday. Thank you Max 😊❤️
It’s the kind of thing that’s… not well received in Thailand. Possible that means it’s accurate and people are uncomfortable about the truth but far more likely that it’s just insultingly patronizing and incorrect.
@@Justanotherconsumer it's definitely the latter. Even if Thailand was accepting of that sort of thing, there are a lot of historical inaccuracies and bad portrayals of Thai culture, and that is in part due to Anna Leonowens herself. Modern historians believe she exaggerated and warped her accounts about Siam, as well as the importance of her role there. Most of all she even tried to hide her Anglo-Indian identity by claiming she was Welsh. It's really fascinating to look into how all of this came about. Edit: grammar
Tuesdays are long work days for me, and I’m usually soaked in dish water and leftover food by the end. Tasting History never fails to help me relax, and gives me something to look forward to when I’ve been having an especially bad day. Thank you so much for this, Max. 😊
I think I'm more excited about this recipe than anything else you've made. Having an actual authentic recipe for one of my favorite dishes is just so cool! I can't wait to make this. We have an excellent international farmer's market that sure has everything in the recipe. They might even have Siam cardamom. On payday I'm going shopping! The look on your face when tasted it leaves no doubt that it's worth the trouble. Very few things have inspired that much pleasure. I think I need that cookbook, too. No! I do not need that cookbook...but I'm going to buy it anyway.
You just need a different mortar. You need the wider rougher type, maybe even one of those that have the "roller" like they use to grind corn. Rubbing two rough stone surfaces together gives you what you need to get the paste from even the toughest ingredients, The bashing motion of the smooth mortar is enough for ginger and garlic but not really this. Also bigger means you can use more force, which is handy when you are in the middle ages and need to make powdered sugar. The right tool for the job.
@@elderberryjamz3654 In Indo cooking the rough mortar is essential (pre machines) and they were always grinding up whole onions with the chillies and everything to make the boemboe to fry. I don't think we had a smooth one until the '90's when just making some garlic in oil became popular. If you try that with a big rough mortar you can hardly get it out.
Massaman is one of my favorite food and your vid make me learn many new things. For me, a Thai who can’t eat spicy dish and hate coconut, Massaman has always been special to me. Big applaud to you who nailed almost every Thai words pronunciation, only some tones are off but overall is very clear and instantly understandable. Had never known cooking video could be this fun!
Here again is the link to where you can purchase Petals of the Champaka: www.petalsofthechampaka.com/shop
Is there a Thai version, or any plans to release one in the future?
Awesome, will check this out book right now ✔️
*crying at shipping costing more than the soft cover version*
@@jackbonhomie it has Thai and English in the book.
@@judetwee yeah, I’ve been spoiled with Amazon prime.
I actually cried after I watched your video. I am a Thai chef and I have never seen the foreigners who have cooked Thai food and did so much research like you. You are absolutely right in every aspect of this impressive video. Thank you so much I am so grateful for your excellent work .
Thank you for the words of support!
Max is definitely one the best history food RUclipsrs out there, along with Townsend.
He puts a lot of work not only into the food but also the history behind that food.
Aloha 😊🤙🏼👏🏼
Cry? Come on!
@@HowieHoward-ti3dxIf he said he cried then he cried 😭 Maybe he lives near the waterline? 🤣
I was touched by your comment, thank you for verifying the content about the video, it means a lot coming from a knowledgable Thai person.
I think the other issue with finding Thai recipes is them actually being written down. My mom and aunties always went by the eye method. "Mom, how much did you add?" "Oh this much!" Thanks mom... Thai family cooking ladies and gentlemen.
My grandmother was from the west indies and she did this as well, never missed with a dish a day in her life but no one knows how she made anything.
Traditional home cooking in a nutshell (though I don’t think actual nutshells are involved).
checks out. and now I do it to my mom! vengeance
People in the modern industrial society need to have exact measurements of ingredients so they can have the exact dish anytime, anywhere, by anywho. This is good for workers that want, for example, a pasta fit with their image of a pasta easily. This also great if you're a restaurant/factory owner who want to sell the exactly same thing everytime someone buy that dish. People outside this society, be from Thailand, Italy, Kenya, Inca, etc., traditionally didn't see food that way. Each culture has their own way, but I think in places where food mainly intended for a family and cooked by the same person for decades, that person may not need any rigid measurements.
Not just Thai. My Great Grandmother used Great Grandpa's favorite cup as the standard measurement. So many of the dishes she made made almost double the amount they normally did. (He used a 16 oz cup, but a standard cup is 8 oz.) She had learned to cook from her mother in law, who had immigrated from Italy; and that's how her MIL knew how to cook.
Now that I think about it, that would actually explain the vagueness of a lot of recipes Max finds. 🤔
MAJOR SHOUTOUT to Rosalind and her family on the book and sending my heartiest congratulations!
"Rama II wrote a poem for his beloved Princess Bunrot, an avid cook; but instead of writing it directly to her, he couches it in that he's writing of his love of the different foods that she would cook."
As a chef, that's honestly one of the most romantic things I've ever heard.
Well put it this way; the princess at the time was forbidden to Rama II, and it was an incest affair of sorts. To keep it hidden, he put his love message in a poem that should anyone read other than her would find just a normal man’s feelings to food.
มัสมั่นแกงแก้วตา หอมยี่หร่ารสร้อนแรง
ชายใดได้กลิ่นแกง แรงอยากให้ใฝ่ฝันหา
This piece of poem expresses the King Rama II's love for his loved one's Massaman curry.
There was a tradition to write "Nirat", a series of poems that explain poet's longing for lover/wife/wives back home. Poem upon each location must be dedicated to one wife/lover, comparing her beauty to the beauty of a landmark. So... 10 cities 10 poems for 10 wives. What a romantic gift. Just an idea for travel journal :)
@@divinelycursed768 อาจารย์บังคับให้ท่องตอนม.ต้น เบื่อมาก ๆ ตอนนั้น 555
ความสนใจตอนเด็กมันไม่ใช่อ่ะ
ถ้าตอนนี้ไม่แน่อาจชอบก็ได้ ตามอายุอ่ะนะ 😅😅
@@otikamporn ผมโชคดี เรียนออนไลน์ตอนนั้นเลยไม่ต้องท่อง 555 ตอนนี้จะม. ปลายละ
Thai food has very strong taste because we always have it with rice. We didn't even call it as a meal, it is side dish or "kub kao". Many of the foreigner miss this point and find our food is too strong in the taste. Luckily, Massaman is so good even without rice. That's why this dish is so popular.
Try the soup with rice. You will happy in every bite.
เคยเห็นฝรั่งสั่งผัดผักบุ้งมานั่งกินเปล่าแล้วทำหน้าเหยเก เพราะเค็มจัดมาแล้ว
ข้าวสิครับข้าววว
@@DarinendlesSผมชอบกินผัดผักบุ้งแกล้มเบียร์ 😂
@@DarinendlesS เรากินเปล่าๆนะ เพราะบางทีไม่อยากกินอะไรอิ่มท้องจากข้าวมากเกินไป
@@marketplacegurun4547 ผมไม่ได้หรอกถ้าไม่ทำกินเอง ร้านอาหารเค้าทำมาเพื่อเป็นกับข้าวอยู่ละ เค็มถึงหู
try it with bread instead of rice is still good too.
Rama 2 writing lovely poems to his princess about the food she cooks is relationship goals.
Thai kids in 90s had to recite this poem in class ad nauseum. It's a great tho. but it actually make me feel sick of some of these foods for a while (Thank that's no Kaphrao Rice back then. It's my fav. food don't want to get sick of it.) Actually this vid make me feel like Eating both Massaman Curry and Hinlay Curry. As newer version is lighter in color and have potatoes with it too. The original version color look like Hinlay Curry but with different ingredients
@@RaccoonGrrrllmao I am thinking if the future kid had to read my text to my girlfriend everyday what would it be like.
@@RaccoonGrrrl Potaoes in any coconut milk curry tastes heavenly. In south India we use loads of coconut and coconut milk in our curries and many other dishes. The dry spices are the same as Thai recipes, but the wet aromatic spices are minimal. So, our curries are flavorful, but not as aromatic as Thai curries. But, I grow galangal, lemon grass, kefir lime leaves (with great difficulty) and pandan leaves in my garden as I absolutely love Thai food and recipes.
I later realized when I was in 12th grade that some sections of the poem have sexual metaphors in it represented by culinary words instead 😂
Max is like the weather here, from one extreme to another. Last week, ice storms and boiled leather; this week, 60s and sunny with one of the most appetizing dishes I've seen in forever.
I did find myself wondering whether currying the leather might have helped it in the edibility stakes :D
LOL! Yes you have that right. I hadn't even considered. Max is an extremist of the best kind.
@@neilbarnes3557 I'll be honest, I probably would eat a shoe if it was cooked in that curry paste.
This almost reads like a poem
As a Thai who choose History as a major subject during university, loves to eat and cook, this video does bring a big smile to my face.
The Massaman you made looks great.
By the way, that Poem about food and sweets is called "กาพย์เห่ชมเครื่องคาวหวาน (Garp-hey-chom-krueng-cow-wan)" which means "A poem to admire savories and sweets" in Thai which is a classic Thai literature that is still being taught till today.
Back in my highschool days, we learnt about this poem during Thai Literature period just before lunch break. That's torture. lol
I can hear the Thai version in my head when Max reads out the translated version lol
I remember study about that in grade 8
@@ramonjutaviriya5338 IKR 🤣
@@ramonjutaviriya5338 me too!!! LOL
So do I. It’s a torture when you have to read it when you’re hungry and the only thing that you’re allowed to eat is one or two bottles of drinking water. And you can’t run to the cafeteria until the end of the class. (Or if you managed to get there, the cook or the coupon clerk wouldn’t sell you the coupon or food until lunchtime.)
I truly appreciate how Max tries to credit original recipes and creators for their work and advocates for traditional cooking methods on these recipes. Absolutely fantastic!
I’ m thai and i have to accept that you know the history of massaman curry better than me😂. I’m so impressed that you mention the way we put the spices into motar and grind by hand not by the “blender” because it totally gives the different results of tase and texture.
Love how you pronounce thai words, and also your vedio❤❤❤
I completely agree! Pounding all those ingredients into a paste is well worth the time and effort. Definitely not the same as using a blender or food processor!
I adore Massaman curry!! We lived there in 1967-1970, and had a lovely Thai friend who made it for us! Surach made it with beef. I even got to meet King Chulalongkorns sister. My school choir was led by a member of the royal family who took us to sing for the Princessess. ..we followed the Vienna's Boy Choir.
@LadyTigress, which reminds me of opera, which reminds me of Otello, Act I, Sc 1, Esultate:
Esultate! L’orgoglio musulmano
sepolto è in mar; nostra e del ciel è gloria!
Dopo l’armi lo vinse l’uragano.
Such a fantastic memory! Thanks for sharing!
Wow! What great memories!
(Side note, I am very tired and initially misread that first date as 1679 🤣)
✨💖✨What an honor. How exciting.
You would make a great interviewee for Pete at Thairish Times channel - he's always interested in people with an interesting story or 2 to tell!
I GREW UP EATING THIS. Or a local version of this. My family makes it for big events.
Edit: OMG the cooking technique I learned growing up is similar to this too! Cooking the curry paste was the longest and most exhausting part for me as a kid. I just didn't have the patience, there are modern day cheats, but I always return to this familial recipe.
I had an aunt from Thailand who taught my mom to make this curry. To this day, it's the only curry my mom will touch.
That's really cool to see he made it accurately.
When I was 15 my family moved to Malaysia for my father’s work. A whole world of flavours and dishes opened up to me and my sister and me would often end up in the kitchen as soon as our homework was done. We loved to learn from our housekeeper, who most days cooked for us. Over time we had different housekeepers and each of them taught us their recipes. Mom insisted on those ladies sticking to their cuisine. It was more budget-friendly and frankly, healthier as the ingredients were easier to get, fresher and the recipes better for that climate. We’d frequently go to Thailand as well and would seek out places to eat where local people would eat. Being enrolled at an international school meant having classmates from all over the world and at our friends we’d end up in the kitchen more often than not as well (teenage stomachs, LOL!)
As a result most of my comfort foods hail from Asian cuisines, more particularly Southeast Asian cuisines.
Now that Thai curries are a bit of a thing in Europe I often get the following:
“Why can’t I make my curry taste like at the Thai/Malaysian/Indonesian restaurant?”
Easy.
Wake up your spices in the pan (dry pan or frying)
Cook that curry for long enough
Cook that coconut milk until the oil separates out
Eat it on day 2 (or prepare early, let it cool, then re-heat)
In all fairness, most people who have this complaint use a kit and/or move on to buying the ingredients that are mentioned/contained in those kits. Then they follow the instructions that used to be on one of those kits.
Slowking, the pose, the presence, the crown, 15/10 pokemon for this episode impeccable work Max
Slowpoke tail is a great delicacy.
Thai concept of curry is almost like a stew. The true secret to Thai food is fresh ingredients, fresh lemongrass. You are on the right track by growing your own fresh galangal(Not dry powder,) and fresh coconuts cream (not from a can). For a royal Massaman curry, you can switch out cashew for peanut, and use Lemon zest to add a lighter note and a more complex sourness. Kudos for not recommending a blender.
I am Sri Lanka who grew up in Thailand. I was very excited when I heard about the ancient Thai curry called khaeng sinhong which is literally translated to Sinhalese curry. Fortunately I read Thai and I have attempted making it a few times at home here in New Zealand from recipes I have found online.
My best friend is Thai, and the first time I tasted curry was at her mom's house when we were kids. This lady could COOK. I got so spoiled, so when I have curry in restaurants now, it's just not the same. I wish I had the patience to make it like she did.
definitely suggest asking her to teach you her recipe! it would be a good way to connect with your friend's family
When he first tasted the curry, I thought Max was going to burst into happy tears. :D Well done once again, sir and great job promoting other creators!
So he did look like he was almost tearing up, I thought it was just the camera lights or something that was giving that sheen in his eyes.
Man, there is no greater feeling that spending several hours on a dish and it coming out so perfect and delicious, it really does make you want to cry!
Of course there is the other half, when you spend hours on a dish and it tastes bad... then you also want to cry.
Most things online I avoid reading the comments, but for max’s videos I love reading the comments! Pretty much everyone is so kind and warm. It adds to the Tasting History experience to also learn from other viewers around the world 🤗
The best in class viewers
People will never fight when food is present! 😆*
*) Except Italians
Why is that?
@@tappajaav I assume that people interested in cooking and history are less likely to be toxic commenters
@@SetuwoKecik Thai too hahaha While mom was cooking and ask me or my dad help, the kitchen was battlefield.
Seeing someone putting in the effort to cook traditional Thai food the original way, enjoying it the way it was intended, and learning about its history makes me super happy. So much better than some celebrity chefs who change things around to make it “their” way without acknowledging the dish’s roots!
Tips for making the curry paste from Thai Guy 1. layering your ingredients from hard to soft and then add the shrimp paste. For example, add galangal, lemon grass, and dry chilies first along with a little bit of salt to help draw out the moisture and friction. 2. don’t grind! You need to pound it the trick is to use the weight of the pestle to pound and use the momentum when it bounces up to draw it back don’t aim for the dead center of the mortar aim off to the side that way it’s both pounding and grinding at the same time and use spoon or spatula to scrape the paste from the side to the center.
My fondest memory of massaman curry was on the streets of Philadelphia, from a food truck parked on the University of Pennsylvania campus that served "Crying Tiger" massaman curry so spicy it made us sweat and cry. The line of hungry locals stretched a half block up the sidewalk. Aside from the intense black pepper and chilies the taste was as amazing as you described here.
I dunno if it's the same truck but there's a Thai food truck on UPenn's campus now
@@biohazard724 that truck left in the early 90s. but if this sells a Crying Tiger dish it could be related.
As a spicy food, lover that sounds so enticing! "So spicy you will sweat and cry" sign me up 😍
@@ZhovtoBlakytniy The funny thing is that Massaman curry is considered a very mild curry in Thailand 😂
My mother was born in Bangkok, my father's side is Persian, and I have worked in a Jean-George Vongritchen restaurant, and I *absolutely love* that you taught people how to make real curry paste - Persian style in particular! (To be clear, I am not above using Mae Ploy at home when in a hurry - but the real from-scratch thing is a whole extra experience.) Please consider doing some historical Persian recipes if you can - particularly ones that show the effect of the silk road and it's cultural connectivity, such as how Uzbek and Uigher food have Chinese, Russian, and Tukric/Persianate elements. This is exactly where Khoresh meets Curry. I'm also a giant history geek. This is the singular most *me* thing that has ever happened in a cooking video, and I am in love.
For viewers who are not Thai - a way to think of Thai curries is that you have the wet and the dry ingredients (which vary between curries) and thats how you start the paste, and at the end, there is what JGV calls "Thai Finishing Sauce" - fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice. It is to balance the salty, sweet, and sour. Root vegetable elements like garlic, ginger, and galangal, wet plant elements like kaffir or lemongrass, as well as dry spices like hot chilis, tumeric, cinnamon, star anise, etc, figure into the start. When you are finishing your Thai dish, whatever it is - you adjust the sweet, salty, and sour into balance using those three ingredients. Never table salt. Sorry vegans. You can use soya sauce if you are a vegan, but it wont taste the same. I hope that thought process helps people trying this recipe at home!
Max has already done historical Persian recipes in previous episodes.
Vegan fish sauce is pretty good
@@soxpeewee I'll have to try it! Is there a brand you recommend?
@@awibs57 Healthy Boy brand Thin Soy Sauce is an excellent vegan substitute for fish sauce.
How interesting my mother is also Thai born in Bangkok and my father Persian. I don’t know the first thing about Persian cooking, however
Be careful swapping out white or green cardamom with black cardamom! Black cardamom has a potent smoked flavor that is discernable even in small quantities. I think it's beautiful, but it could mess with the balance of spices here, I'd stick with green cardamom
Totally agree with you on that! The quantity he used was a lot. If the same quantity is replaced by either Indian cardamoms, green or black, it would overpower the entire dish, despite the many Thai aromatics used in it.
My partner and I went to Thailand in 2015, where my partner had massaman curry.
He still talks about how delicious it was.
We all Thai have a class about King rama 2's food poet around grade 7 and it was the best class ever throughout 12 years of school, literally.
Yeeeesss. Curry is my absolute favorite food. It's always my answer to the question "If you had to eat only one thing for the rest of your life?". There's so many different types, styles, spicy, savory, sweet? It's so versatile you could never get tired of it.
That’s kind of like saying soup is your favorite food? It’s a whole category of dishes, not a singular thing. It’s definitely cheating on the “if you could only eat one food” question.
@@aidanwarren4980 oh, I'm well aware that it's cheating on the question, I won't deny that. 🤣 But I'd also argue that you totally CAN say that your favorite food is 'soup', if you need to be more specific than that it's just splitting hairs.
@@aidanwarren4980 I actually know a few people whose favorite food is soup. Anything from chili to miso.
@@taitano12 i can relate. zeus a mercy
YES. THIS! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Max, I said it a couple of years ago and I'll say it again, I really appreciate the effort that you take to make the foreign language pronunciations. Your history is great and your food is great but it just goes to show that you really care about what you do.
This looks so beautiful. I never thought as an irish person I'd relate so hard to a thai history lesson - so much of early irish cuisine is also only written about by others because of lost history. Side note: in a different cooking video I saw the chef cut the meat in full meal portions, so that when shared, everyone could take the amount they wanted easily. Don't know but maybe that's what's meant by large cuts here.
Thank you for spreading Thai food to the world. I am Thai. Thank you for knowing Massaman curry.🇹🇭🙏🏻
Your Thai history summary is quite spot on. I personally love how you tried to pronounce the Thai names in local tongue accent and I may say, what a splendid job you did. ❤
This is an excellent dish. I once worked as a chef at a Thai restaurant and had the thrill to work with chefs from Thailand. The version we served was made with beef. It's a pretty labour intensive dish for sure, and while I did love the dish a lot, it can't dethrone my love for Kaeng Khiao Wan (Green Curry) and clear Tom Yum. The chefs really were chili heads and I embraced it.
The dish I have best memories about was the lunches that weren't on the menu. We had a chili meat dish with sticky rice on the side, and the chefs taught me about the region of Isan, which is on a plateau and rather than Jasmine rice, eat sticky rice due to the growing conditions of the region being unable to support Jasmine rice, and the farmers needing more energy rich food to work in Isan's harsher climate.
I guess that dish called "Larb" with sticky rice or "Nam-Tok" with sticky rice.
You've made me really hungry and have to go out now and find those Larb with sticky rice at 22.00. Lol
Hello from Bangkok.😂😂😂
Hey @Boom12 I am just curious: Is the recipe of massaman curry you made different from the one Max does?
Max in last week's video must've been thinking ahead to this one, cause I'd probably be able to eat boiled shoelaces if I knew there was some Thai curry after.
One thing I learned from my elder Thai relatives is that aside from sowing and harvesting seasons, Thai people wake up at dawn to make breakfast, eat it in the morning, spend the entire morning making lunch, eat at noon and spend the entire afternoon making dinner, eat them than spend the evening prep the breakfast😂
That why most Thai foods are delicious. Our culture as the whole is obsessed with eating.
P.s I appreciate that Max used mortar for the paste and warmed up coconut milk until the oil and cream separated. It’s called “Tak Mun” (oil breaking) and the important part of every cream curry here. The traditional curry supposed to have coconut oil floating on top and not being creamy like western cream soup, because the pure oil will bring out the aroma of the herbs and soaked it into everything else
As a long time Thai follower, it's super cool to see a Thai episode. It would be pretty interesting if you could do an episode on Thai desserts. Although Thai desserts are less famous compared to our savory dish, some of the desserts have a very interesting history especially ones created by Marie Guimar, a half Bengali-Japanese woman born in Ayutthaya who became known as the Queen of Thai desserts for the many dishes she invented. Although the fact is murky whether or not she actually invented the dessert (as many of her creations had Portugal influence), her desserts are tasty and her story is VERY dramatic and fascinating. Her life is one of a very high-high and a low-low that portrays the western-eastern power struggle in Southeast Asia as she was married to a Greek adventurer who became an official in the Thai court before he was bloodily executed as a part of the power struggle.
Anyhow~ Always keen to see more episodes on whatever you are interested to make! Keep up the great work!
This sounds incredibly interesting!! Thank you for sharing this fascinating history.
This is probably the coolest episode so far to me. To think your channel has such a widespread audience it includes the descendants of royals and royal's chefs, and now we can all learn about food from a primary source document in historic Thailand. Information and flavors that otherwise might have been lost to the ages. Thank you Rosalind and family for sharing these recipes with the world and for putting in the effort to preserve and pass on this beautiful piece of culture and history!! I will be purchasing the book!
As a Thai, this is a well-made แกงมัสมั่น! I eat it often, usually with chicken thigh and potato in it. Pork belly is also great in this curry.
There is another curry dish called hung le curry (แกงฮังเล), a Northern Thailand dish inspired by Burmese cuisine. It is very similar to mussaman with the main difference being without coconut cream.
If that is so, I can also cook massaman curry with nearly identical ingredients with kaeng hang le? With kaeng hang le, according to Chef McDang and a few other Lanna cooks, I heard that it requires a soybean paste instead of shrimp paste, pickled garlic and tamarind juice (or santol rind to replace tamarind juice) are the main souring agents, where I saw one recipe of massaman curry using bitter orange, and it requires julienned ginger (which I rarely encounter in Central Thai food). I found this food interesting because these are very similar to rendang (as found in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines).
When my children were in primary school the parents of one of their friends had a Thai restaurant. I stopped in for lunch and the mom suggested. Massamam. I fell in love with not only Massamam but Thai cuisine in general (and that family too). Children are long grown and we have moved far away and everytime I make massamam I think of that lovely woman.
With how propagandized my country's history is taught, I love it every time I see a history video about Thailand. I always want to know a deeper, more factual history of Thailand.
I’d love to do a video on how the King and I got everything wrong… except the music. I love the music 😂
Are you from Thailand?
I know what you mean because the stuff I heard about Thailand when I was younger was less flattering but I learned so much after college when I was studying Muay Thai for self defense but the instructor insisted on teaching us about culture and a little language and history and it was fascinating. I had not been taught any of that about Thailand and I have to say it did deepen our appreciation but my favorite part of this initiative of the instructor was that he got us dinner one night at a Thai restaurant owned and operated by a friend of his who was from Thailand and the food was amazing. So I am glad to see Max Miller focusing on Thai food for a video.
@@FireflyOnTheMoon born and raised.
What country's history isn't propagandized?
I'm Thai who would like to say big THANK YOU to you for portraying Thai food in such an informative and elegant way.
Thank you to the clip owner for bringing Thai food to share on social media. Every time we watch a video like this We feel flattered. Thank you very much.
I hope max will cook more old southeast asian recipe since its really interesting to see how the cuisine of southeast asia developed especially islands part of SEA like the phillipines,malaysia and indonesia. maybe an indonesian/something from the archipelago would be an interesting addition to the channel as indonesia has varrying regional dishes with complex history or perhaps maybe a dish from the majapahit empire
Also hopes he does more with southeast Asian cuisine, it has a very interesting and rich history.
A rendang episode could be cool. Wiki says it has a long history
@@crowolf3862 That sounds like an awesome idea for a video. Another dish I think he could make and be an interesting topic would be the history of Satay or Pad Thai.
As an Indian growing up in America, I always got made fun of with the typical “curry muncher” line and other curry related offenses lol. It made me insecure about our food and I avoided it for the longest time. It wasn’t until later that I started appreciating the complexities, depth, and versatility of curries and now I love exploring all of them both from home and different places. This one looks beautiful ♥️
Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. I'm *really* glad you're embracing it now. I had Jamaican goat curry for the first time a few summers ago, and I was surprised at how much I loved it!
@@quirkyviper Omg yes I’ve been meaning to try Jamaican curry and the other variations in the Caribbean!
The joke is on those stupid ignorant people who had no idea how wonderfully delicious curry is!
Oh, terrible to hear you felt that way… so sorry you went through that! 💔 I love talking with people about their cultures and the foods they grew up with! 🎉
@@quirkyviper that sounds great! Although I’m nervous about trying Jamaican food because people have told me it’s super super spicy!! 😮
Holy crap, Max, you’ve read my mind. For the last couple weeks, I’ve been on a curry kick and wondered about the history of curry - and here we are.
so impressed to see ppl respect and really deep learning about story behind it, glad to see you taste real flavor
I'm Malaysian, but this video almost brought tears to my eyes because I once followed a Thai recipe of Massaman Curry Paste and albeit a few differences it was so indescribably delicious. And I just want to say that though it most probably is difficult to find (or read) sources on history other than America and Europe, I really appreciate this Thai video and the Japanese and Moroccan and Hawaiian videos because it shows how a lot of us still practice the same culinary skills and make our foods the same way to this day. To me it highlights that though innovation is important and sometimes needed and many great things have come since then, Asia and Africa and the Polynesian islands have managed to retain this part of our history and still produce meals similar to our ancestors and most importantly, just as delicious. Some of these methods have a lot of thought and experience behind it and are done for a reason (e.g. using a mortar and pestle, cooking the coconut cream until it splits, etc.), so it makes me feel really proud to watch them and see you react so positively (to the point of speechlessness) when you eat these foods. :)
I cried
I always come for the food and stay for the history ❤ This looks amazing to eat and it’s wonderful how Rosalind’s family were able to save and write down these recipes. It always pains me how much history has been lost because it was never written down or lost/destroyed
Same here.. The ppl that follow Max simply really appreciate him and all his efforts. They just have to express it.. I read as much as i watch the content. Both put a smile on my face! :)
What a fantastic history of thai curries! I never knew just how many ingredients were involved but I certainly appreciate it more now
Definitely more than I expected too 😆
There are a lot of historic Siamese recipes in existence because for generations there has been a tradition of self-publishing commemoratory funeral books to distribute at cremation ceremonies filled with tidbits about the lives of the deceased including recipes for favorite foods, especially if the deceased had been famous for her (or his) cooking. Copies of these books are preserved in the archives of the Buddhist temples where the funeral ceremonies took place. It is now something of a culinary revival trend to research these old books and recreate these old recipes. There are several top restaurants (some with Michelin stars) in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and elsewhere that specialize in this and have built their reputations on reviving Siamese gourmet culinary traditions. While the original old funeral books are not usually translated into English, the more famous and successful of the traditional revival restaurants have published cookbooks compiling the old cooking techniques and including updated recipes for their signature dishes. Besides this, there is a well known cookbook compiled by one of the senior women in the palace of King Rama II dating from about 1810 that includes many recipes for foods that were served in the palace. This book was translated into English in the early 1980s and published in a very popular two-volume Thai-English dual language version which is still quite readily available in any Thai bookstore that has a collection of Thai cookbooks. Most serious cooks in Thailand own a copy of this book. The book has a lot of recipes for small savory-sweet snack-like dishes that were (still are) popular for elegant, formal receptions and parties.
How interesting is that ! Quite a novel idea...
Do you have a name or anything else to go on trying to find this or a similar book? I live in a part of the world with no chance to find a Thai bookstore.
What's the name of the book?
I'm Thai and for as far as I know, there is a very famous one (cremation cookbook) called 'Mae Krua Hua Pah' - แม่ครัวหัวป่าก์ (in Thai language). But I have no idea if it's available in English or any other language or not.
What a wonderful way to save cultural history. I am always confused when people refuse to share their recipes or only share the basics of a recipe, leaving out the 1 or two extra ingredients that make the dish special
My whole life I have always fancy a wok and Thai cooking just never had someone or something to get me of my bum and give it ago. I met my partner Christmas day and she has her Dad's old wok that iv been eyeing off. She come home yesterday with a mortar and pestle and all the fresh ingredients to make this dish I'm lucky to have my partner and lucky to of seen this video. I started at 6:45.pm and didn't finish to 12:30 am the house smells absolutely amazing it has been in the fridge overnight and ready to heat it up as my partner is due home from work soon. I'm very happy to have made this dish especially knowing the history to it awesome. I appreciate you putting it together and the lady that reached out to you to be able to put this all together thank you very very much. I can't wait to share the love
Oh my goodness, we usin' a Mee-maw's recipe, you know its gonna be good! So sweet! And so incredible about the family whose recipe you got to use! Like a sweet homage to the matriarch of this family, and, by extension, the whole culture. Real people doing real things and eating really good food. (:
As a native Thai, I appreciate you awesome video about Massaman. You should try eating it with bread, it's unbelivably yummy!
Hello from a Thai fan! Masaman is the easy to eat curry. Sweet, nutty, aromatic and meaty! Recommend for anyone. Also the recipe is not different from the modern day. Just more hand made, less store bought. Now a day we bought curry paste. But self made always better. If you have time then goes for it.
Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines. I've often said that if I had my way, my final meal would be chicken larb and mango with sticky rice from a little Thai restaurant near my house.
And apropos of absolutely nothing, that shirt makes your eyes look amazing! 😘
one of the things I truly love about Max Miller and this Show is the attention he pays to detail. From the extensive research he delves into regarding the history of each dish, to the detailed explanations of ingredients, the effort he makes to help others with technique, even his effort to make sure he is pronouncing things correctly. It is spectacular. As a student of Thai cuisine for many years, having studied in several places in Thailand, I am impressed with his presentation of such a complex cuisine and dish. Absolutely everything he mentions here is culinary gold. I used to cheat with making curry paste, using a food processor. I thought at the time the effort of mortar and pestle, which was how I had been taught, was too much. The effort is worth it! Mr. Miller, You have outdone yourself!
Thank you for putting so much effort into this. As a Thai subscriber who really loves Massaman curry, I am so excited.
I don't know what I enjoy the most; this channel stimulates my passion for cooking while intriguing my desire to expand my knowledge on history. THANK YOU!!
I appreciate that you talked about cracking the coconut milk. That is an important step that many non-Thai cooks either overlook or avoid because they think that they are breaking the sauce.
No words can describe how happy I am to see you cooking and diving into the history of my homeland, thank you tons Max!
It's so cool how one of your viewers was able to provide you with a historic Thai recipe finally! And nice of you to shout out her family's cookbook.
I went to a Thai restaurant in Alaska in July and I KNEW that I needed to get Massaman Curry, and it didn't disappoint! It's SO complex but you can definitely especially taste the flavors of the lemongrass and coconut which are my two favorite flavor profiles in Thai Cuisine
I first had Massaman curry from a Thai restaurant called Thai Hut 2 in Lakewood Washington in 2009 when I was stationed at Ft. Lewis. I fell in love with the first bite, and it has been my favorite curry and one of my favorite foods ever since. I've had many different versions since then and have loved every one of them.
Thai curries they are so complex, a bit of effort but they are worth it. I was wondering if you could do an episode on Rendang curry, I know at one time it was voted the number one food in the world and I would love to know the history behind this dish. Really love your videos, you bring to to life the history of the dishes and I love the stories behind food. Such as how your social status was perceived by how you took your tea and was marked by the type of crockery you used. China as some of the best stories and tales behind their food. Can't wait for your next video.
Massaman curry is such a sweet and savory dish. It reminds me of Japanese curry but there is a bit of coconut in the mix!
The cooking method and appearance actually reminds me more of my favorite recipe for short ribs than the Massaman that I get at my favorite Thai restaurant. For the short ribs you essentially rub them with a paste made of red curry paste, shallots, garlic, cilantro and ginger and then braise them in coconut milk until tender and serve over white rice.
I, too, make my massaman curry using boneless short ribs. It adds to the richness!
อาหารไทยคือที่สุด ซับซ้อนแต่อร่อยมากกกกก คุ้มค่ากับการทำ ❤❤❤ อาหารไทย ประณีตบรรจงและละเอียดอ่อนมากๆ ❤❤
I love the fact that you cover our food (Thai/Siamese) and also provide the extra history lesson.
Lots of recipes taste better the next day. I simply love, as always, the History portion of your videos. I'm so glad one of your viewers sent you an original recipe from that era, it may be complicated to make but from your reaction it's worth it. Thanks for sharing.
I lived in Thailand for a few years. A friend of mine had a sister who owned a restaurant. She taught me how to cook pad ga pow (it's a stir fry with holy basil). It's still a staple part of my diet. I have to grow holy basil though, I can't find it anywhere in rural west Virginia lol, sometimes I use Thai basil but it has a different flavor.
I had to resort to italian basil when I lived in the east coast. I personally prefer it over sweet basil for pad ka prao. Maybe because the difference between holy basil and sweet basil, the taste and the aroma, are too clear on my thai mind.
Would shisho work ?
@@avalerie4467 You can try. But if you aim to replicate the original dish, I doubt it would be the right choice since shiso's taste, aroma, and texture, are quite different. Shiso is in mint family, and raw mints taste better than the cooked ones.
If you can find veggies in basil family, those are probably more suitable substitute.
You should do one on the history of Gumbo! I’m from Louisiana and this reminds me of our predilection for gumbo here. Perfect time of year for it since Mardi Gras is around the corner
didn't you guys have a war over Gumbo
@@1000nodLouisiana would have a war over gumbo or just about any of its prized dishes tbh, there’s a reason Louisiana produced shock troops during the civil war and also won their chunk of the war of 1812 (with reportedly some use of a local gator as an improvised cannon) they named a city after him, they also have a city named red stick which has a much creepier story behind it than you’d think.
That's a great idea!
My favorite food ❤❤❤
@Roman von ungern-sternberg I was told Baton Rouge was named so because of the Tabasco peppers 🌶
8:05 fun fact, we still use that word today in Romania
I am so proud of my root and to see the delighted facial expression like you made when tasting it. Thai food is very interesting with so many taste within one bite. Thank you for making such an informative but entertaining clip of Thai food
What a difference from last week, going from eating leather to the curry of Kings!
AWW I'm Thai and Thanks for producing this incredible content, great Thai pronunciations.
Hello, your Thai's fan here! Been here for a years and a half now, it is amusing to see you tackle one of our famouse dish that is not Padthai lol. Excellent job on the history, quite eye opening even for the native like myself( I can't say much bc the history here gone through heavy cersorship for a "reason" , Ayuthaya included). Oh btw, Ayuthaya is name of one of the middle province in present day, full of ruins of temples and palaces.
P.s. the size of the meat is correct, don't worry lol
I don't think I've ever seen Max so passionate about a dish he's made before.
Thai curries will MAKE you passionate about food.
Tonight was family groceries night. We usually go out to eat before shopping, and one of our favorite locations is a little Thai restaurant across from the store. Unfortunately, tonight we were so tired that we just made sandwiches. Then we come home and see THIS! Now I am so hungry! 😄But then I looked up the menu for the restaurant and realize there is Massaman right under our noses, and we haven't been exploring the options very well - so, next week, we're on a mission to do better. Thanks for the impetus! ❤️
It was delicious, by the way. Will order again!
Massaman curry is one of my go to "home alone" dinners! Admittedly using the little canned curry pastes, and not from scratch, but it is such a fulfilling bowl of warmth all the same! 🥰 Wonderful to learn more about my favourite curry!
Canned curry paste is still awesome. I only wish they came in smaller cans!
The way these recipes have been handed down through a family is beautiful.
As a Thai I’ve always made a simplified version of massaman curry with less spices because I’m lazy 🤣 This one looks absolutely delicious! Beautiful color too 🤩 I have to try this recipe!
@15:53 "Flavortown" lol, I appreciate you couldn't stop yourself there!
An episode on Amish cuisine would be cool.
Im not amish but i can take an educated guess it is very simular to modern slavic cuisine
@@Burning_Dwarf maybe more Netherlands? Or even the Benelux areas? Since the Amish have a Dutch background…would be a great episode!
@@OperaJH
Actually, the Amish are German, not Dutch. It comes from the pronunciation of Deutschland (Germany.)
@@OperaJH i am dutch...
first off the amish are german, secondly both we and the germans have gone through a lot of culinary change since the amish left.
So my best guess to a comparable cuisine is slavic, since that is what was eaten in the whole of europe before the 17th century (the time the amish left)
@@lisaspikes4291 ah. Got it. Thanks! It was just the Slavic reference which threw me. German food doesn’t necessarily have Slavic roots.
I love the divergence from European cuisine! Please do MORE curry recipes! How about telling the story of how curry became popular in Japan??
I just watched this video while eating Japanese curry. 😂
One thing that interests me is that a dish that the Persians carried to Thailand in the 1600s included peanuts, which weren't introduced into Africa and then Europe until the 1500s, when the Portuguese brought them over from from South America. Just underscores how universal the act of adopting new food ideas has always been.
I love it when you travel outside Western cuisine! More of these episodes coming soon, I hope! I find the cross pollination of food cultures fascinating. People forget that human populations were always moving and colliding and making wonderful food as a result. I wish we could trade more recipes instead of fighting or dominating. What a wonderful world that would be!
Always appreciate being able to tell how Max views the dish he's eating through his facial expressions. This was definitely the "Holy shit, this is amazing" face.
I've never expected you to cover one of my favourite food here, I always love it when I see Thai history done by a foreigner, It always make me excited to see about other perspective on Thai history.
Man, I can only imagine how wonderful that dish was to prepare and eat. Much tastier than last week's leather dish. 😆With all the flavors and aromas dancing around in your kitchen, it must have been sensory bliss. I'm a huge fan of curries from all over the world. Even though the prep looked like a lot of work, from your reaction it looked like it was well worth the time and effort.
Since I'm a cook from South Louisiana, I was wondering if you could one day do a tasting history on gumbo? It could be a traditional turn of the century Creole style or go back further and find a west African recipe. With February being Black History month, I thought a historical dive into a bowl of gumbo would honor the black men and women that brought their cuisine to America.
Thank you again for another wonderful episode. Looking forward to the next one. Cheers
That's so awesome how fans of your videos have started sharing their own historical family recipes with you because of this channel, must be such an honor!
Oh, my. Max's reaction makes me want to taste some of this curry RIGHT NOW.
this not curry
I love how so many have shared their expertise in culinary arts with you. They say music is a universal language. As well as math. I think food is also a universal language. Love you Max!
I just bought tickets for The King and I this summer in Dublin and was literally wondering about how much of it was historically accurate so this video could NOT have come at a better time! Plus it's my favourite curry of all time. I tried it at a random roadside restaurant in Phuket and was sold for life, so this video is just everything I LOVEEEEE, and with my favourite RUclipsr? Can safely say this is the highlight of my week, even though it's only Tuesday. Thank you Max 😊❤️
It’s the kind of thing that’s… not well received in Thailand.
Possible that means it’s accurate and people are uncomfortable about the truth but far more likely that it’s just insultingly patronizing and incorrect.
The king and I are probably as close to Thai culture as the Mikado is to Japanese.
@@Justanotherconsumer it's definitely the latter. Even if Thailand was accepting of that sort of thing, there are a lot of historical inaccuracies and bad portrayals of Thai culture, and that is in part due to Anna Leonowens herself.
Modern historians believe she exaggerated and warped her accounts about Siam, as well as the importance of her role there. Most of all she even tried to hide her Anglo-Indian identity by claiming she was Welsh. It's really fascinating to look into how all of this came about.
Edit: grammar
@Justanotherconsumer It is banned here not not well received
Rava V is the same Prince Chulalongkorn from The King And I. (Although the story is largely fictionalized)
อร่อยที่สุดละ
คุณ ส่งสารขั้นตอนการทำได้ละเอียดมาก
เราชื่นชมและนับถือ
ตอนเด็กๆ วิชาภาษาไทย เรามีการเรียนกาพย์กลอนครับ และมีกาพย์เห่ชมเครื่องคาวหวานครับ ท่อนแรกร้องกันเพลินเลยครับ 😂😂
"มัสมั่นแกงแก้วตา
หอมยี่หร่ารสร้อนแรง
ชายใดได้กลืนแกง
แรงอยากให้ไฝ่ฝันหา "
(พระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว รัชกาลที่2 เป็นผู้แต่งครับ)
เดี๋ยวเขมรก็มาอ้าง😂
Tuesdays are long work days for me, and I’m usually soaked in dish water and leftover food by the end. Tasting History never fails to help me relax, and gives me something to look forward to when I’ve been having an especially bad day. Thank you so much for this, Max. 😊
I think I'm more excited about this recipe than anything else you've made. Having an actual authentic recipe for one of my favorite dishes is just so cool! I can't wait to make this. We have an excellent international farmer's market that sure has everything in the recipe. They might even have Siam cardamom. On payday I'm going shopping! The look on your face when tasted it leaves no doubt that it's worth the trouble. Very few things have inspired that much pleasure. I think I need that cookbook, too. No! I do not need that cookbook...but I'm going to buy it anyway.
Wow I m impressed with the history you provide and good pronunciation and making it from scratch!! ❤
ขอบคุณมากๆนะครับ ที่ได้ลองทำ"แกงมัสมัน" คุณทำได้น่ารับประทานมากๆ ครับ
ป.ล.นอกจากไว้ข้ามคืน 1 คืนให้รสขแงมัสมั่นกลมกล่อมแล้ว เวลารับประทาน หากรับประทานกับขนมปัง จะได้รสสัมผัสที่อร่อยอีกแบบครับ
I made this last night. It is delicious. You really, really need the galangal as it is a critical flavour in the recipe.
You just need a different mortar. You need the wider rougher type, maybe even one of those that have the "roller" like they use to grind corn. Rubbing two rough stone surfaces together gives you what you need to get the paste from even the toughest ingredients, The bashing motion of the smooth mortar is enough for ginger and garlic but not really this. Also bigger means you can use more force, which is handy when you are in the middle ages and need to make powdered sugar.
The right tool for the job.
Yeah a metate woulda made that paste like butter
@@elderberryjamz3654 In Indo cooking the rough mortar is essential (pre machines) and they were always grinding up whole onions with the chillies and everything to make the boemboe to fry. I don't think we had a smooth one until the '90's when just making some garlic in oil became popular. If you try that with a big rough mortar you can hardly get it out.
Massaman is one of my favorite food and your vid make me learn many new things. For me, a Thai who can’t eat spicy dish and hate coconut, Massaman has always been special to me.
Big applaud to you who nailed almost every Thai words pronunciation, only some tones are off but overall is very clear and instantly understandable. Had never known cooking video could be this fun!