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If you’re serious about ethnic cooking, there comes a point where a mortar & pestle will become a critical part of your kitchen arsenal. The more you cook certain styles of food (Thai, Peranakan/Nyonya, Mexican, etc.), the more you will find that modern shortcuts – coffee grinders for spices, food processors for grinding pastes – remove a level of control in working ingredients and can actually negatively impact flavor.

Tossing spices and liquids into the Cuisinart is an afterthought. Pounding a rempah to be used in a curry is a deliberate act. You have to take the time to think about each ingredient as you add it to the mortar – you watch the texture change and smell the aroma develop as oils are released. With practice you learn how subtle changes in the way you pound and grind affect the final product.

I’ve been working without a decent mortar for a while now (my old one is garbage) and my frustration got the better of me. I finally found a granite mortar & pestle that I liked (not too deep and wide enough to be able to work with a decent amount of ingredients). I’ll go into more details about working with it in future posts – this post is about seasoning a new mortar.

Think of a granite mortar like a cast iron pan – you have to season it before you can use it. It’s not difficult  but it does take a little bit of time. The upside is that you get to spend a little time familiarizing yourself with the tool in the process.

Step 1

The first step is obvious – wash it out with plenty of water (like cast iron – NEVER use soap).

Step 2

Throw in a few cloves of garlic (peeled) and pound them into a paste. This is a good time to get a feel for how you are supposed to work with a mortar. Don’t start pounding the crap out of everything – you’ll have garlic everywhere – your hair, on your cabinets, floor, ceiling. Everywhere. Start off gentle. Hold the pestle at an angle and work your way around the bottom. Pay attention to the ingredient – it will tell you when to pound harder or more gently.

You are working toward a fine paste – get it up onto the sides of the mortar. You want to cover the entire inner surface. Once you have the whole surface covered – leave it. This sounds weird, but just let it sit on the counter (12-24 hours). You can cover it with plastic wrap to keep things out of it (and the aroma down), but leave it be.

Step 3

After the garlic as set for a while, wash the mortar and pestle again. Remember – water only. The garlic in mine had taken on a greenish hue. Don’t worry about it – just rinse it out really well. Now it’s time for rice. Take a little wet rice (uncooked) and add it to the mortar. Remember that part in step 2 where I said to be gentle? Now is where we see if you were paying attention. Gently begin to pound and grind the rice. If you’re careful you’ll only lose a few grains of rice. More likely you’ll lose quite a bit.

The idea is to work the wet rice into a fine paste, again coating the entire interior surface.

Take your time. Uncooked rice is hard, so it’s going to take a while to get it broken down. Don’t worry if you don’t feel like you’re doing it right. You get to do this again (and maybe again). Your first batch of rice will turn grey. What you’re doing here is grinding loose grit out of the mortar and the rice paste is picking it up.

Wash the mortar again (water only) and do another batch of rice. Repeat this process until the rice paste stays white. Remember this step, as this is how you will clean the mortar if you get food sticking to it or if you use a strong or heavily colored ingredient (like achiote).

Step 4

Getting closer. Rinse and dry the mortar, then add some coarse salt. I used sal grosso.

In this step you’re grinding – you want to work the salt around the mortar, grinding it as fine as possible.

Step 5

Rinse and dry the mortar again. Your mortar is now ready to use. You can grind a few other spices in at this point, but in my mind they don’t really stick around as “seasoning”.

These are white and black peppercorns. Remember that part about gentle? This is good practice for that. You need to coax the peppercorns to crack before you can really start working with them.

I’m not sure who had more fun at the first Si Fang Cai (Secret Supper) – me or the guests. The menu was based (mostly) on Asian hawker food – or “street” food.

The weather cooperated, allowing for drinks and cooking outdoors, before moving inside for an intimate dinner peppered with great conversation.

Hawker Menu

Cocktail
Basil Watermelon Caiparinha *

1st Course
Bulgogi Wan-ja with Tamarind Ssamjang (Korea)
Butabara Kushiyaki – Shio & Tare (Japan)
Xinjiang Chuanr (China)

2nd Course
Dan Dan Mein (China)

3rd Course
Gado Gado (Indonesia)

4th Course
Gang Ga-ree (Thailand)

Dessert
Turon w/Macapuno Fozen Custard (Philippines)

Beverages
Cha Yen (Thailand)

Beer
Tsingtao (China)
Chang, Singha (Thailand)
Kingfisher (India)
Kierin (Japan)

* The basil-watermelon caipirinha is from No Recipes.

Korean Drummer

Vegitarian

Fruit Carving

Thai

Japanese

Bau Ga-Prow (Bangkok Cabin)

Dough Figures (Taiwan)

Steamed Banana Leaves

Shaolin sifu giving marching orders…

Just a random selection of photos from the last couple of months. Detailed posts may follow on some…

Taqueria Los Rayos

Get Coffee

Get Coffee

Beef Shanks

Pesto-stuffed Pork Chops with Caramelized Onions and Kale

Pho Bac

Sop Buntut – Waroeng Corner

Waroeng Corner

Oxtails

Warm weather is coming – no more practicing track stands in the basement!

FINALLY – mangosteens in the US! As far as I knew, I was going to have to wait for a return trip to Thailand. But no more – I found mangosteens (also known as Thai Fruit Crack) on Buford Highway (beware – at $6.99/lb, a small bag cost me $15). Mangosteens don’t have a long shelf life, so between shipping and quarantine the trip is hard on them. Couple that with the fact that it has been illegal to import them for years (fruit flies) and you can see why they are notoriously difficult come by.

Mangosteens are know as the “queen of fruits”. Considering that durian is the “king of fruits”, you’d be forgiven for thinking that mangosteens are skanks – but you’d be wrong.

Actually, go ahead and think that – more for me. In fact, I’m not going to write anything else – I’ve got fruit to eat.

There are as many places to get bahn mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) along Buford Highway as there are places to get pho, some better than others. Lee’s Bakery has long been considered among the best, with Saigon Deli following close behind. Nhu Y Deli is one to avoid. After trying Quốc Hương (in Asian Square – directly across from Saigon Deli) this weekend, it could be the new favorite.

I’ve been trying to figure out what it was that made the bahn mi thit heo nuong so appealing. Typically, it would be the grilled pork, but I really think in this case it’s the generous and liberal serving of vegetables (pickled daikon, carrots and cucumber). I’ve heard good things about the bahn mi ga here, so now I’ve got an excuse to go back – that, and they have a full menu of pho and bun dishes. Pricing is typical of the other Vietnamese shops – $2.50/sandwich, buy 5, get one free. One of the best deals in town.

Quốc Hương
5150 Buford Hwy NE
Doraville, GA 30340

To the best of my recollection, this is what was ordered – I think there were one or two other dishes, but I can’t recall:

• Satay Tofu – fried tofu with stuffed with cucumber and bean sprouts
• Pandan Ayam – chicken wings wrapped with pandanus leaves and deep fried
• Penang Kari Mee – lemongrass/coconut curry with chicken and tofu
• Beef Chow Fun – a milder version of char kway teow
• Hainanese Chicken Rice – I’ve written about this dish before here
• Nasi Lemak – coconut rice with cloves and pandanus, chili-anchovy chicken and fried egg
• Lady Finger Belacan – Okra with belacan (spicy shrimp paste)

(Again, no pictures – Penang is a bit dark and my phone’s camera just doesn’t do a good job in low light.)

Overall, the food was excellent, with generous portions. I do, however, think that some of those new to Malaysian food were a bit challenged by the use of belacan in a few of the dishes.

Penang
4897 Buford Highway
Suite 113
Chamblee, GA 30341

For some reason lot of people still seem to have hang ups about the ethnic markets along Buford Highway. Regardless, BFM is still one of my favorites. The sheer volume of produce, meats and fish that move through this place ensure that you can usually find almost any ingredient you can think of, fresh and of good quality.

Produce Section – huge and crowded

Seasonal – and not in a can

Miles of meat

You do need to be aware that the butchers produce the cuts demanded by their customers, so while you will find T-bones and pork chops – they’re good – but usually not of the best trim. If you’re looking for flanken short ribs, sukiyaki beef, tongue, offal, ox-tail – this is the place to go.

Man’s best friend – Pork Bellies. Time to make pork belly confit again (per Brian Polcyn). I’ve already got the pink salt. BFM sells lard too…

Live tilapia and flounder

Fishmonger (this is about 1/4 of the main fish counter)

The seafood section is massive here, and the selection is, as with all of the departments here, huge. Whole fish can be cleaned and dressed any way you need. Where else in town can you buy live sea squirts?

Sushi grade tuna and octopus

40+ feet of shrimp, clams, octopus, snails, conch, sea squirts, mussels, blue crab, crayfish, eels – you get the idea.

Whole snapper

Whole tilapia

Miles of sauces

Semas (a Mexican sweet bread) – there’s a bakery here as well.

Buford Highway Farmer’s Market
5600 Buford Highway
Doraville, GA 30340

Just checking something on the blog and noticed this as one of the search strings used to find eatbufordhighway.com. That’s gonna take a lot of pho…

Speaking of which, don’t forget to join us Wednesday, May 28 @ 7PM – Pho Dai Loi #2. See “Who Wants to Eat?”