Massaman curry is one of the most well known Thai dishes… but it’s not often my favorite dish… but then Grandma made it for me: http://migrationology.com/2014/09/grandmas-massaman-curry-ayutthaya/
So like I mentioned, Thai massaman curry is usually not my favorite dish in Thailand – mainly because it’s usually prepared quite sweet, and it’s also usually quite oily. However, it is one of the most famous dishes in Thailand, and a food that many people love – in fact – a few years back, CNN.com named it as one of the best Thai dishes, or foods, in the entire world!
But anyways, Ying and I were in Ayutthaya filming for the Thai food TV documentary, and one day we went over to Grandma’s house (it was the house of a Grandma of a friend of someone on our TV filming crew) – so it was really cool to be able to film, and eat, at a local home. Ayutthaya is not just a city, but it’s a province in Thailand, so we weren’t right in Ayutthaya town, but were about 30 km outside of the town in a smaller town known as Ban Phaen (บ้านแพน). As soon as we arrived, and I saw the view of the home overlooking the calm water, I was excited.
Our first step was to go to Ban Phaen Market (ตลาดบ้านแพน), which was just about a 10 minute walk from the house. I went along with Grandma’s daughter to the market to find all the ingredients we needed to make an authentic recipes for Thai massaman curry. Grandma, formerly sold massaman curry and other curries at the market in Ayutthaya, but she hadn’t sold in many years. She knew many original and authentic Ayutthaya recipes, included one for massaman chicken.
After buying all the ingredients and spices we needed for the chicken massaman curry recipe, we then headed back home and started cooking. The first step was to prepare the curry paste (เครื่องแกงมัสมั่น) – which included chopping and roasted a bunch of different spices and herbs like shallots, garlic, galangal, dry chili, kaffir lime peel, and fingerroot (among many more things which you’ll see in the video). Then we used those roasted ingredients to pound a beautiful massaman curry paste. Next, we boiled chicken with peanuts and simmered it on low heat. In the meantime, we took the massaman curry paste and cooked it along with thick coconut cream until it turned into a beautiful, almost gravy like, sauce. We then added the coconut paste mixture to the chicken, threw in a bunch more spices like Siam cardamom and bay leaves, and simmered the massaman curry (แกงมัสมั่นไก่).
Here’s something I didn’t know (and the reason there was already a full post of massaman chicken curry cooked and ready when we arrived in the morning): massaman is better the next day, and it should be cooked one day, left to set, and eaten the next day. So in order to film and eat all in one day, Grandma had cooked a pot the previous day, so we could eat it the same day.
On this day, not only did I have an amazing time and a local Thai cultural experience, but I definitely gained a new appreciation for Thai massaman curry. It’s a complex dish, one that’s often shortcutted these days, but if made correctly can be very delicious. Massaman curry (แกงมัสมั่นไก่) is a blend of cultures, a fusion of Thai ingredients and Persian / Middle Eastern spices, all blended together in a harmony.
Grandma made an authentic, no-shortcuts, recipe for massaman curry, an original Ayutthaya dish. It was so much better than just about every other massaman dish I had ever had previously – you just can hardly find the home-cooked quality at any restaurant as you would find at Grandma’s house.
It was a wonderful day, a great cultural experience, and marvelous food!
Thank you for watching this vlog, hope you enjoyed it.
The music in this video is all from AudioNetwork.com
Mark Wiens is an eater at: http://migrationology.com/blog & http://www.eatingthaifood.com/blog/
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What a beautiful home and kind family. Love grandma!
Indian food available in aayutthya.. Plz rply
Thank you so much. Awesome video. What's the name of the place, or the klong? So beautiful and peaceful, and no long-tail boat! I hope they keep it that way. I definitely going to visit this place on my next trip home (Bangkok).
The early days was so amateur but still great to watch you was born for this mark wiens ??
he has a BRUCE LEE kind of charm!
Awesome, so authentic. Thank You.
น้ำพริกกะปิขาดมะเขือยาวทอดแต่ต้องชุบแป้งทอดเพราะว่าฝนว่าอร่อย
หรือยาพาราด้วยนะคะเป็นห่วงจากเพื่อนคนไทย
บอกแฟนคุณนะคะออกเดินทางพกยาสามัญประจำบ้านด้วยเช่นยาหม่อง
Love ur show:-)
So cool that your doing actual tv shows, I didnt realize that! Love how respectful and genuine you are with the host and her family, your spirit is so sweet and appreciative. Thank you for sharing who you are and what you enjoy doing Mark Weins. know you will never read this, but if you ever did you would find out that one of your avid viewers as watched dozens upon dozens of your videos because she has cancer and watching them has helped her find her ability to eat again. I am currently only 96.6 lbs (normally 130) but Im eating again and its very often while Im watching one of your episodes because something your eating looks so good I go make myself something that has at least some of the same flavor profiles (sweet, salty, sour, spicy, pungent, etc) I even recently found an asian produce store in the city where my Dr appts are and have been there shopping twice! I bought a whole tilapia that I brought home and grilled using asian spices (lemon , cilantro, chilis, salt, white pepper, and ginger) and pan seared prawns again with those spices. It was so delicious, I cant wait to try more!
is it possible to make a new Video with you to show us all steps?
Mark you are very polite and humble. Very good quality. I wish you all sucess in life both spiritually, physically and for your family. May almighty Will bless you with everything good
Kindly
Resmita
Morning glory……TMI mark lol.
it was so weird watching you do your head lean at a different angle loool
Thai people very kind
Mark that was a nice mix of action, culture and FOOOD alos get into showing how the food is made EXCELLENT
My grandmother had a sink like that when I was a child. I remember watching all the chickens pecking at the water for bits a pieces of food dropped through the sink down to the ground. it was so relaxing.
Mark, mind I ask, are you half Chinese or Thai? I heard you speaking other language/dialects?
Curry ?
Massaman gai can not be under estimated…truly one of the greatest dishes world wide…..actually it was voted the best world wide dish some years ago.
2018 and I am time travelling back to 2014 with mark lol
I know that it would be hard to do but maybe try and include or compile a selection of recipes from your favourite foods eaten Mark or make a book full of easy to follow recipes, as I am sure it would sell well I for one would buy it!♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Znothing ever beats mums cooking!♥️
✨⭐️?So Good ⭐️✨?Thai food ✨?✨?
shudders…..I hate the smell of 5:00 am. Love your channel. : )
Beautiful place I believe very delicious food. When I go back to Thailand I should ask for this type of curry massaman. I don't know if I can find in phuket or bangkok. I have really enjoyed watching your video thanks Mark ??
More cooking videos please!
Mark you look exactly like your grandma…. she's so cute …god bless you both …thanks for your wonderful work??
You are an natural Mark!, you, Ying and Micah MUST get your own tv show!!…??????
awesome
Mark is so sweet ??
Hai mark…i' m one off u fan..really2 love it..and all u video make me always hungry ..hope u always success in future ..god bless u and family … it awsome ..???
น่าไปร่วมแจมจังคับ
What a great video! You got to spend the whole day with that wonderful family, greatest invite ever! 🙂 All that food, too. How generous and what a meal, hey? I was thinking, though, like some of the other people who commented, I for sure couldn't have gotten down on the floor, and if somehow I could have, by some miracle, there's no way I would have gotten up! LOL Kudos to everyone involved! Many thanks for sharing and bringing a smile to my face and lots of others, too, for sure! 🙂
Bamboo Chicken in Bandarban,Bangladesh. amazing.
My family and I love watching your videos . May the Lord God richly bless you and your family . May you and Ying be blessed with more beautiful kids like Micah . Love from Trinidad and Tobago , West Indies .
so wonderful
I loved this vid x
Love that grandma cute granny <3
Right, I'm off to buy some finger root.
10:14 🙂
I love duck eggs that food looks so good
Why English on a Thai TV show? scratches head That makes me sad.
One of my favorite dishes
slowly catching up on your blogs Mark, Massaman is the curry I like the best in Thailand
Why is the water so murky? Is this ‘fresh’ vs. sea water?