JeffH wrote:
> On Sep 6, 10:30 pm, " > wrote:
>> Jarrett Wrisley has an interesting story and an intriguing recipe for
>> the delicious fried chicken available on Bangkok streets he
>
> A question about the use of cilantro root/stems...
>
> I just pulled a bunch of plants that had gone to seed from the garden.
> I assume you'd want roots from the plants that go to seed since they
> would be larger than those pulled from plants that had not yet gone to
> seed. These roots were not very big, and very, very woody. I chewed on
> one a while and it was like chewing on a stick (but tasted better).
> Are the roots supposed to come from mature plants?
>
> Second question, which came after experiencing the roots - are the
> stems supposed to come from mature plants going to seed, or from the
> soft stems one finds in bunches of cilantro in the store? Again -
> these mature stems are very woody and have a hollow center in some
> cases.
>
> My thinking was that this was a traditional way to use up ingredients
> that would be otherwise wasted (roots/stems). And since one is going
> through the trouble of pounding it into a paste anyway, it's woodyness
> wouldn't be an issue other than the fact that you have a lot of
> pounding to do.
>
> Finally... is there any other method of making a curry like this
> rather than hand pounding? Would a food processor or vita-mix work?
>
> It would be easy for me to just substitue a couple bunches of cilantro
> from the store, but I'm interested in the idea behind the original
> recipe.
>
> -Jeff

I think you could get about 85% of the way with a food processor, but
you'd still need to pound the resulting mash for a bit to fully squeeze
the goodness out of it.