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.

Gai Yang (BBQ Chicken with sticky rice)

You may well know that I’m a PITA about Thai food. I’ve pretty much given up on thinking that there is anything even passable as Thai in Atlanta. Years ago, a Thai friend pointed out that Thaicoon had a special Sunday “brunch” menu of actual Thai street food. Skeptical (go figure), I checked it out and found the food I had been missing.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I ventured back and discovered that they still offer the Sunday menu – a pretty large selection of “street food” and “authentic” Thai dishes that you just won’t find anywhere else. I’m still shocked that they don’t offer this type of food all the time. Even the waitress got excited when describing the dishes. All I can say is give Thaicoon a try on Sundays (special menu is here). Ask for the pandan tea as well.

Moo Krawp (Crispy pork belly with basil leaves)

Thai dumplings (หอยจ๊อ – translates as “Shell Jordan”?)

“Three Friends” – fish (smelt?), squid and crispy pork skin salad

Melon with tapioca pearls

Thaicoon & Sushi Bar
1799 Briarcliff Rd. Atlanta, GA 30306
(404) 817-9805

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…

Regular readers will know that I’m not much for the Thai food that we have available in Atlanta. This is nothing new with me. I never looked forward to visiting Thailand, mostly because I really didn’t care for what I had experienced as “Thai food”.  Little did I know how far off my assumptions were, and what an incredible country Thailand is (admittedly, not just because of the food).

One of my more memorable experiences was walking to the alley next to my hotel in Nakon Ratchisima one evening and buying fried chicken and fish and mangosteens from the improvised stalls. The woman selling the chicken was pretty frustrated that I wouldn’t buy a whole fried chicken. Little did I know – I should have gone all John Belushi on her and ordered two whole fried chickens.

So perhaps my ongoing bitterness (see here…) with Atlanta’s Thai food scene has been exacerbated by my unsatisfied craving for this type of simple, everyday cooking.

Now, thanks to Chez Pim, I’m sitting here at 10:30PM on the verge of chicken poisoning and seriously considering investing in a deep fryer. And I’m thinking it’s time for another piece.