What am I missing? Thai sauce (3-21-14 new info)

Rymerpt

Rymerpt

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I have asked the owner of my favorite Thai resturant for the recipe for this amasing sauce,but he won't give it up. When I try to replicate it, from what I think I know, I fall short. I think its known as Naam pla prik. When I look it up the thai chilli count is five or so. NO, not even close to the heat. When I add more peppers I get it to where it has good heat, but there is still something lacking. Here is what I do:

Good fish sauce about two Tablespoons

Lime juice about four tablespoons

Twelve thai chillies

Three Habeneros (because the restuarant makes theirs hot & thai chillies are not making it hot enough)

Finely chopped green onion one bunch


So far what I have been making is good, but theirs is better and tastes a little different and is way hotter.

Please help. I love this stuff.

Thanks,

Rymerpt
 
what dish are u eating it with?
 
are u using a fresh lime or from bottle?
 
green onion?  are u sure that's what they put?
 
i bet you're missing the msg part...  lol
 
try taking a pic of the actual sauce.
 
that pic looks like it has parsley, or maybe cilantro.
 
what kind of fish sauce do u use?  sorry, i don't know names, can u show a pic of it?
 
what flavor are u missing?  sweet?  salty? garlic? ginger?
 
jojo said:
what dish are u eating it with?
 
are u using a fresh lime or from bottle?
 
green onion?  are u sure that's what they put?
 
i bet you're missing the msg part...  lol
 
try taking a pic of the actual sauce.
 
that pic looks like it has parsley, or maybe cilantro.
 
what kind of fish sauce do u use?  sorry, i don't know names, can u show a pic of it?
 
what flavor are u missing?  sweet?  salty? garlic? ginger?
Click to expand...
That is a picture of the actual sauce. All the ingrediants are chopped up so small its hard to tell what is in it. I'm just guessing with what I am useing.

Rymerpt
 
First, I don't see garlic or salt in your list. I bet there is plenty of garlic and the salt will help intensify the flavor.  I don't know how salty fish sauce is, so I would start small.  Like jojo said, it probably has cilantro.  
 
show us a pic of the fish sauce u are using...  this makes a big difference
 
skip the gree onion, add either shallots or thinly minced or crushed garlic
 
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Here is the fish sauce I use.

Bootsieb,
That site you gave has a pic that looks just like it. (Nampla prik)

Rymerpt
 
You are missing fresh garlic. I've seen some with brown sugar also. Now, the lime juice is used to counter the fishiness and to make it taste fresh. So find your balance, Squeeze limes in until the fishiness disappears and it is not too sour. If it's too sour, it means you used too much fish sauce and then had to use too much lime to counter. BUT you can counter the sour with brown sugar, if using. :)
 
That fish sauce is terrible.
 
Fish sauce is like soy sauce, there are good and bad ones.  The bad ones are ok in cooking but the in dips and sauces they are not ok.
 
Try and find this one
21013.jpg

 
My recipe for a Thai sauce follows:
 
Add each ingredient as they follow and taste as you go
 
Juice of one fresh lime and 1/4 of the lime as zest.
Dark palm sugar to balance but the sauce should be more sour than sweet.  If you can't find it use dark brown sugar (about 3/4 Tbs)
Fish sauce until it has quite a salty kick (about 1 Tbs)
Fresh crushed garlic (one clove)
Fresh black pepper (1/4 Tbs)
1/8 red onion VERY finely diced
1 stalk green onion finely cut.  Just the green part.
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
2-3 birds eye chillies finely chopped (don't use Habs as they will throw the flavour out)
(optional) 1 Tbs oven roasted peanuts, finely crushed.
 
P.s. this is a secret recipe so keep it to yourself
 
:D
 
Almost forgot, this is a sauce concentrate.  You can (lightly) thin it with water or fresh coconut juice.  I don't dilute it as i like it strong.
 
I've heard "3 Crabs" is good too.
 
I followed the recipe on that thai site Bootsieb posted. Closer, but to salty and not hot enough. I even boosted m chillies to 40. Recipe said 13. I use the regular thai chillies I get at the asian store. They seem to be the medium length variety. I wonder if the resurant uses the little birds eye. I have not been able to find any tiny birds eye. I also think the fish sauce issue may be the problem. I'll get the good stuff next time.

Rymerpt
 
Rymerpt if your using he long Thai Chili peppers, they're not that hot. The ones you want are the short Thai's they're like a Bird pepper, maybe 3/8 inch long and hot as a firecracker :)
 
I have a few seeds if you need.
 
Actually Tiparos is a pretty high quality fish sauce.  It's naturally fermented, unlike Three Crabs which contains hydrolyzed vegetable protein.  However Tiparos is stronger tasting than alot of other fish sauces, so use it sparingly.  Just because Three Crabs cost more doesn't mean its better.  
 
Thanks for that info TC. Yup, fish sauce should have 3 ingredients; fish, salt, water. It's fermented a year. Anything hydrolyzed is how they hide MSG.
 
Cat Hai (Vietnamese) sauce is supposed to be highly regarded, and their top of the line is the silky/nutritious squid version. They make 3 versions.
 
Apparently we can't get it in the US.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGEdxkADo1A
 
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