This page is intended to describe my experiences with various spice mixtures to be used as a
basis for meals. For hysterical raisins it's called spice-pastes.php,
not spice-mixtures.php
Eaten on about 17 October 2018.
Extremely pedas, but nice and aromatic. The specified weight of 1.3 kg meat
seems to be too much, but it's probably correct.
Despite the name, this mixture comes from Pakistan. It contains far too much chili
for a biriani, so I aborted my
first attempt to use it on 10 September 2024.
The description “Thai Style Laksa” should be a warning. Laksa is Malaysian. I went into
more detail about this stuff on 1
September 2018. Bottom line: avoid.
I ate this one, another “Thai Laksa”, on 18 May 2017. Like the the Valcom product, it's not worth eating. It doesn't taste
like laksa, and to add insult to injury it's really only a single serving, making it very
expensive.
Yet another Thai “laksa”, from Por Kwan. I prepared it on 27 March 2022. I don't think I'll do so again. It has a strange, sour taste that
doesn't really match anything.
I ate this one in April 2019. It tastes very similar to Teans, but it had a lot of spice
sediment (insufficiently ground pepper?), so it's probably less desirable.
I tried this on 29 July 2020. Unlike most of the others, it's really only good for three portions.
But it tastes good—in particular, not so pedas—and I think I can make more of it.
I made it on 5 and 6 June 2022. It doesn't taste bad, but the portion sizes are irritating (about 1½
portions), and like the Katong Laksa (which it resembles up to a point), it's very
expensive. Interestingly, the address of the manufacturer is the same as for the Katong
Laksa (56 Senoko Drive Singapore), though the post code differs.
I made this on 23 September 2022. I had half expected it to be similar to the Katong laksa, but in
principle it's closer to the Tean's Gourmet paste. Unfortunately not as flavoursome, and it
also doesn't produce enough servings. It's rated at about 1200 g, which is either 4
servings of 300 g (too little) or 3 servings of 400 g (too much). It's very hot, so I
diluted it to 1280 g (4 320 g portions), which should be enough. I don't think I'll buy it
again.
I have eaten these on a number of occasions, notably on 10
October 2017, 2 May 2018 and 9 October 2021 but not really come to a good way of preparing them. They want to
make a total of 1800 g of broth (200 g paste and 1600 g water) for 6 portions, but that's
too little for me. It's also very pedas, so
maybe it's worth making 2 kg of broth and splitting it 5 ways. It might also be worth
freezing and removing some of the surface oil. On the positive side, it tastes good.
In late 2023 I bought a new batch of this paste. It doesn't taste as good; it seems to have
Fenugreek in it, which really
doesn't sit well. And it's still just as pedas.
This is the paste that I use in my phở recipe.
Per portion 40 g paste and 300 g water.
This paste is made in Thailand by Por Kwan, and I've found their other products to be
anything but authentic. It's quite possible that this paste is also not authentic, but I
like the taste. It's time to go to a good Vietnamese restaurant again.
I tried something with this on 16 June 2024. It really has nothing to do with Teriyaki, and I wasn't very satisfied with
the result, though there's hope that it can be of some use.
