Using a Mortar & Pestle
It's slow going compared to a food processor and not always practical in a professional kitchen, but a mortar and pestle is the traditional tool for pounding aromatics in Thailand and Vietnam.
"If you buy only one thing for the Vietnamese kitchen, make it a mortar and pestle," writes Mai Pham in Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table. A food processor chops ingredients; the mortar and pestle shear them, releasing more flavors and aromatic oils. Dipping sauces and salad dressings made in a mortar have more intensity, says Pham, and that's especially important when they accompany bland foods like rice and rice noodles. She uses a mortar and pestle for all dipping sauces and curries served at her Lemon Grass restaurant in Sacramento, California. Thai cooks pound lemon grass, chiles, kaffir lime leaves, and other seasonings in a mortar for their aromatic curry pastes. Although Thais have adopted many modern cooking gadgets, few have given up their mortars. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your mortar:
- Buy the largest mortar you can find. You can always do small jobs in a large mortar, but the reverse isn't true. You want to have plenty of room in the mortar to keep ingredients from popping out.
- Stone mortars are best for grinding sturdy or fibrous ingredients like spices and lemon grass. Use a wooden mortar for soft ingredients like green papaya.
- Add ingredients one at a time and pound to a paste before adding more. Don't try to do too much volume at once.
- Dice or mince hard ingredients first.
- Place the mortar on a damp dishtowel at a height that is comfortable for you. You want to be able to put some of your body weight into the job.
- Pound up and down, pushing the ingredients into the center as needed. Concentrate on a pounding motion, not pressing or stirring.
- Pound dry ingredients before moist ones.