I’ve got a gorgeous-looking cookbook called “Cradle of Flavor”, which focusses on Indonesian food. But I’m having trouble finding some ingredients. Has anyone seen any of these around:
pandanus leaves (used in Thai cooking too)
daun salam leaves
candlenuts
fresh or frozen curry leaves
fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves (I’ve seen dried for both these and curry leaves, but never fresh or frozen; I’m not sure how much of a difference it really makes, but I’ve seen a couple of cookbooks really insist that if you’ve only got dried, you shouldn’t even bother - which seems ridiculous to me, given how strong these taste even dried)
And for Thai/ Vietnamese food: Vietnamese cilantro/ coriander (also called Vietnamese mint, laksa leaf, daun kesom, daun laksa).
And used all over: banana leaves.
For others on similar hunts: I’ve occasionally found tempeh/ tempe at Indonesian shops around town, including the Taipei Main Station ones. It’s not reliably available, but it can freeze for six months. Galangal is reasonably easy to find in supermarkets like City Super and Carrefour. Kecap manis has shown up at Carrefour - one day I really need to just do a taste test with Taiwanese sweet soy sauce and see if they’re the same or not.
You can get frozen kaffir lime leaves in the grocery stores on huaxin street. They can’t compare to fresh in my opinion but if you have to have them they beat dried. I’ve never seen fresh ones here. I’m 99% sure I saw frozen pandanus leaves there today too.
I’ve grabbed sprigs of rosemary from a garden on campus before, but after reading the dangerous plants while hiking thread, there’s no way I’m grabbing something off a trail to cook.
Thanks for the tips… now I just have to figure out where Huaxin Street is. Any idea what the characters are for that? 華信？ 花心？
One of my imminent-for-a-year-or-so projects is to start growing herbs on my balcony. Mind you, I have no idea what actually comes from a small plant (basils and rosemary I suppose) and what comes from a tree - since kaffir lime involves a lime, I guess the plant is more than 30cm high.
Minor update: I found packaged dried daun salam (aka Indian bay leaves) in one of the Indonesian/ Filipino supermarkets below Taipei Main Station: if you’re walking from the red line to the new Q-Mall, this is the Indonesian grocery you’ll go by. It’s across from that odd underground stage and just before the… B2?.. Q-Mall entrance.
Can’t speak to the quality, given that this is the only daun salam I’ve ever used. I really need to get back to Southeast Asia and discover what these foods are supposed to “really” taste like, with good fresh ingredients. Not that Indonesia doesn’t have other attractions, but now that I’m actually interested in cooking I’d love to take a culinary course there.
Curiously, that same small grocery store is the only place I’ve found evaporated milk (and I don’t mean sweetened condensed milk).
Have you tried Trinity for the bay leaves? I’ve seen dried but not fresh or frozen ones; same for curry leaves.
Out of curiosity, how different is Vietnamese cilantro aka coriander from the locally available fresh stuff?
Personally, unless there’s a huge difference, I generally try to use the closest locally available stuff. I don’t go out of my way to get Kashmiri chili powder, for instance; I just toss in a bit of cayenne.
Well, I thought I was growing galangal this year, but turns out the guy who sold it to me didn’t know his rhizomes. It’s now got these nice red flowery things on it, which suggests it’s zingiber zerumbet. Doesn’t bloody taste like galangal, anyway (no, I didn’t check when I bought it … silly me).
So: can anybody recommend a Thai or Indo store where they might sell actual fresh galangal? Near to Danshui would be nice, near to an MRT line would be nearly as good.
And incidentally, I have fresh kaffir lime leaves, pandan, turmeric, and curry leaves if anyone needs them, but mostly in limited supply (a couple of small plants), so don’t ask for half a kilo.
Never seen it but would love to know! Wait I have gotten it in the supermarket in Breeze Center before. Maybe Jason’s too. And frozen in the Thai stores in Zhongho.
I can trade you rosemary or oregano for some tumeric. Would love some for a Khao Soi. Small change, I know, but best produce I can offer.
[quote=“Tempo Gain”]Never seen it but would love to know! Wait I have gotten it in the supermarket in Breeze Center before. Maybe Jason’s too. And frozen in the Thai stores in Zhonghe.
I can trade you rosemary or oregano for some tumeric. Would love some for a Khao Soi. Small change, I know, but best produce I can offer.[/quote]
No worries - I have rosemary and oregano
I’ll go and dig up a piece of turmeric tomorrow. I assume you don’t need a lot? I can easily put it in an envelope and post it, or I could meet you at an MRT station. PM me and let me know what you prefer. Thanks for the advice, I’ll check out the Breeze Centre!
As per CFImages’ post, I have occasionally seen it in the markets (that’s why I have plants now). But mine is fresh
There’s a SE Asian market right by Yongning MRT station, it’s the first store one the left hand side when you come out of exit 1. They have a lot of Thai, Vietnamese, and Indonesian stuff. I’ve seen frozen pandanus leaves as well as fresh galangal, green papaya, thai eggplant, lemongrass, jackfruit, and thai chilis to name a few. They also have some frozen meats like nam (sour preserved pork).
Poor, poor Finley!
