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Traditional Thai Iced tea recipe

This afternoon, I was swimming in the Hotel Polana and suddenly heard some people were speaking in Thai. I was in Thailand for 3 three and half years and have a weakness about this beautiful country. Then I saw two Thai guys are talking with each other about bribing a government official. I went close to them and say- "Mai Di" "bad idea". They were shocked and looked at me. I smiled and told them about my Thailand experience and I speak Thai. Thai people never expect any foreigner can speak their language well. My Thai is good, I even know local slang. So, we have decided to have launch together. Before meeting them, I had no idea that Maputo has Thai restaurants which I miss a lot. On the way to the Thai restaurant "Thai spice" (what a beautiful name) they told me they invested money with a local fishing company which export big tiger shrimp and lobster in Europe(got another opportunity to get some good shrimp and lobster-:) The whole time, conversation was in Thai and they were shocked and laughing with my Thai slang.

While I was checking the menu, I was little disappointed to see no Chai yen(Thai iced tea) but they have Chai Lon(hot tea but Twining tea bag). I was looking all over the menu if it was written some other pages. My Thai friend understood, I am looking for something. They asked me if I am looking for some special Thai dish. I said- Hell, yes-Thai iced tea. They start laughing and went to talk with the restaurant manager- who is mid 30's Thai woman, wearing a beautiful traditional Thai dress. The background traditional Thai instrumental music just made me so happy. My understanding is, the Thai community is very small here and they know each other. The manager came and apologies in English- "We are very sorry, we don't serve Thai iced tea. if I really want some Thai iced tea, they can make a Twining Ceylon OP with ice and milk." I understood my two new Thai friends didn't tell her about my Thai background. I strait told her in Thai- "you are offering me to change my name with yours. How can you compare Thai Iced tea with Ceylon iced tea." First she was shocked and burst with laughing and say -" they make Thai iced tea, only for themselves but they can make a change in my case because I speak Thai." I thought, I will take this chance in one step ahead. I asked her to teach me how to make Thai iced tea and sell some Thai Black tea from Changrai(Northern province in Thailand, border with China). It is very difficult to get Thai black tea which makes the authentic Thai iced tea. My Thai friend who used to supply me Thai black tea, last year he moved in Australia. In Thai culture if you asked something with good manner, they can never refuse. Thai people are very kind and love to take care of foreigners. They are very proud of their culture and country, unfortunately, many foreigners don't respect their custom and culture and talk only about their red district areas without knowing that Thailand has a very strong manufacturing based industry which brings billions of dollar also their number one industry. Her skin color was fair and yellow(real Thais are brown and flat face) that means- she was Chinese-Thai and drink Chinese tea. I also offered her- if she give me some Thai black tea, I will give her some 20 years old Pu-erh, Xihu Qiqiang LongJin Spring-2005 and top grade Tai Guan Yin. She looked at me and said- "deal with some Xihu longJin." I know it wasn't a win-win deal, according to the marketing term but I love Thai iced tea that much-:)

I had wonderful Thai food after long time. Lab Cai(the chicken salad), Tom Yun Kung(Thai spicy shrimp soup), Pad Thai(Noodles), Khanom Mu(Sweet and sour Pork), Ahan Thale(grilled sea food) etc. After swimming when you are hungry and if you have you favorite dishes, what else do you need in your life-:)

Anyway, I went to the kitchen and saw the whole process, how they make authentic Thai iced tea. Here it is- free traditional Thai iced tea recipe as a part of my gift to you from Mozambique( as a part because I will always share whatever I learn-:)

Som(the manager, BTW Som means orange. Thai people can have name like Mu(Pig), Kai(Chicken) etc. Don't ask me why-:) Som told me that most of the Thai Iced teas are fake because they use flavor. Thai iced tea recipe is very simple, all you need is- the real ingredients. Their are two types of Thai Iced tea- 1)for regular drink, another 2)for special day. Why special? Because of one extra ingredient they mix is- little almond milk. She also told me that some Thai iced tea also mix cinnamon and Cardamom but that is not authentic Thai recipe. Where you gonna get real Thai black tea? I don't know but I have found my way-:)

Ingredients:

Regular- Thai black tea steep five-seven minutes in water as black tea

200F (you don't have to be so sensitive about tea leafs amount. Just follow your taste- strong, medium or light). Pour the tea liquor on crashed ice( very small pieces, not cubes). Then don't use condensed or half-half milk, only evaporated milk. You can add sugar if you like. Mix it, That's it.

Special- Follow the same process just add some extra almond milk. that's it-:) She told me top Thai hotels make their iced tea with Almond milk.

In Friday, we work unit afternoon in Maputo. I spend my time with them from 1:30 PM until 9:30 PM, include free Thai dinner. They didn't want to take money from me. Som, also offered me her restaurant cook can teach me Thai cooking if I wish. Of course, I love to cook. I had wonderful a day.

Sometimes I wonder- I was in Thailand for three and half years but couldn't discover the traditional Thai iced tea recipe. Who knew after eleven years, I will find the recipe in Africa- Mozambique. Now I am thinking of the movie- "God must be crazy"-:) Have a wonderful weekend with tea and if you wish, maybe next time Thai cooking recipe-:) I am very happy today because I have found some generous Thai friends here. Ripon Maputo, Mozambique

Reply to
Ripon
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Hi Ripon, thank you for sharing your wonderful story! I love Thai food myself, especially Thom Ka Gai (coconut chicken soup) and green and red and massuman curries, yum yum!

I don't know about plain Thai iced tea, but I know that the Thai iced tea that I seem to get in the restaurants in the States here and in the powdered form (for brewing, it's not instant, though you can find instant) has an orange color that I have been told was natural (!?) and it also has a strong flavor of star anise in it. And of course they do use the condensed milk. It makes me happy to hear that a person can make Thai iced tea with just regular tea and evaporated milk, as sometimes I find the "normal" Thai iced tea here in restaurants to be too sweet and too strong tasting, not of tea but of everything else. Sometiems I love it and sometimes it's just too much.

I think I have some recipes for green curry paste if you're interested in learning how to make it from scratch, just let me know. I'm not Thai, all my learning is from others, lol...

I know what you mean about them being generous, there is a restaurant locally here to me where the manager himself comes out to greet the customers and make sure that everything is jsut right for them, he is extremely courteous. I would love to visit Thailand someday...and I will. :)

Have fun!!

Melinda

Reply to
Melinda

Hello Melinda, your welcome. It is always fun to share travel experience. Yes, Thom Ka Gai is "Aroi Mak" "Very tasty". The orange color of Thai ice tea is natural- it is true. I think Thai black tea has her own distinctive pattern which makes this color when it get in touch with evaporated milk. The anise flavor is also natural. Thai black tea production is limited and consumes locally. I don't know anyone who actually export Thai black tea. This tea is even only available in some local Thai market, not huge super market like British Tesco, Japanese Sogo or French Carrefour in Bangkok. Once you have Thai iced in Thailand, you never get the same taste in any Thai restaurant in overseas.

Please, I would love have the green curry paste recipe. Don't worry, I know you are not a Thai-:) While I was around Washington DC area, I wasn't happy with any Thai restaurants because they were Americanize Thai food. There was only one restaurant calls- Sala Thai which one was quiet ok. Once in every year Thai Embassy in Washington DC organize huge Thai festival and I have tasted the real Thai food there. My another favorite Thai noodles soup is- Super spicy "Qui Theo"(flat noodles, meat balls, vegetables, animal organ, tons of fried garlic, unknown spices). This soup can have all the ingredients, meat and organ of live animals. You already know that I can eat anything-:) If you have this recipe, please forward it to me. What else do you have in your recipe collection? Thank you very much.

Ripon Maputo, Mozambique

Reply to
Ripon

Hi Ripon, hey I'm having trouble finding that recipe, give me about a week and I'll see if I can dig it up. I'll drop it to you in an E-mail, hope that works...

Melinda

Reply to
Melinda

Hey Melinda and Ripon and everybody, Melinda, please post that message here, or forward it tom me, as I would love to have it. Now all we need is a recipe for Thai Iced Coffee! I lived in Thaliand for two years and it was wonderful, esp. the food...... Chris

Reply to
Edgar Miller

A recipe similary to the one I used is here at Food TV:

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I'm not going to post it because of course it's not my recipe. I don't recal using black pepper in my paste, but to each their own. Some people use kaffir lime rind and juice instead of or in addition to the kaffir lime leaves. I tend to like the "fresh" part of the taste so if it were me I might add more lemongrass and coriander, but that's me. Play with it.

Melinda

Reply to
Melinda

Reply to
Darawen Littlestich

I'm not a fan of the green curry, but here is how I learned to make the red curry:

Ingredients:

2 tbs. coriander seeds 0.5 tsp caraway seeds 1.5 tbs. shrimp paste 3 tsp. black peppercorn 1 tsp dried black chilis 3 tsp fresh or dried kaffir line rind 1 stem lemon grass, chopped 5 cilantro roots 6 shallots 3 tsp chopped galangal or fresh ginger 8 cloves garlic, peeled 1 large fresh mild red chilli, without seeds 10 Thai Bird's Eye small chilis, or 1 to 3 fresh large hot chilis, seeded 3 tbs oil

Begin by heating the coriander and caraway seeds, the shrimp paste and pepper corns for a few minutes. When the mixture softens a bit, add the chili flakes and kaffir lime peel and cook a couple more minutes. Then transfer to a mortar and add all the other ingredients and grind the whole thing to a paste. You may be able to use a food processor for this but it works very well if done by hand. Grind to a fine paste, then store in refrigerator for as long as a month or so. May be frozen.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

To be honest, I don't think I have ever had _real_ Thai tea... the stuff I had in Thailand was pretty much identical to what Vasinee Foods and Chaokoh import into the US. I think Ripon has more of an in than I ever did.

If you want Thai tea powder, it's not all that hard to find.... but I do think the stuff that shows up on these shores may have some added anise and coloring. I know that Masim's Market in Washington DC carries it, and I can probably find someplace local to you if you are in the US.

--scott

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Reply to
Scott Dorsey

I buy my green curry paste in the 400g containers from Thailand for $2. I use to make my own curries and bake Indian breads but now it is just a trip to the store. Yum black salt and lime pickle.

Jim

Scott Dorsey wrote:

Reply to
Space Cowboy

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