Pad thai and many other Southeast Asian dishes just wouldn't be the same without a few healthy spoonfuls of sweet-sour tamarind. For the most part, we use blocks of tamarind pulp when this ingredient is called for, and these require a little extra prep work before going into the pot. Here's what we do!
These blocks of tamarind pulp are the tamarind fruit pods stripped of the outer husk and compressed tightly together. Sometimes the seeds are removed, but we usually find a few errant seeds even in packages marked "seedless"! The pulp itself is very fibrous, so we need to soften it and push it through a fine-meshed strainer to separate the edible pulp from the strands of fiber.
First cut off the portion you need. It's not an exact science, but we usually find that a 6-ounce chunk (about 1 cup) will give us between 1/2 and 3/4 cup of pulp.
Next cover, the pulp with boiling water. You'll need about a cup of water for every cup of tamarind pulp. (Sorry - this is where the pictures become a bit...er...visually unappealing, if you catch our drift.)
Let the pulp sit for 15 - 20 minutes until softened. Use your fingers to mash it a little, and then push a bit at a time through a fine meshed strainer. We find that a spatula or small scraper is really helpful for this step. You're essentially rubbing the fibers against the strainer to separate the pulp from the fibers. The pulp falls through and the fibers stay behind.
In the end, you should have a bowl full of soft tamarind paste that is about the consistency of apple sauce. This is now ready to be used and can be stirred directly into your dish.
If you like the taste of straight tamarind, try soaking the leftover tamarind fibers in water for a refreshing drink or chewing on the fibers for a little snack! Also, save the water that was used to soak the tamarind. You can use it in your cooking in place of some of the water or broth, or you can dilute it in fizzy water for another take on tamarind juice!
Related: How to Open a Durian Fruit
(Images: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)
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i like the jarred stuff ... i think i've turned into a lazy person!
Thanks, in my area jarred tamarind paste seems to be unobtainable, and I've never been quite sure how to deal with the blocks, despite loving the flavour tamarind gives to so many dishes. Now I know!
a good use for tamarind paste, is for a sweet sauce (jeau) my mom always makes for me. its really good to dip southeast asian sticky rice in (not the japanese sticky rice stuff!). i dont know exact measurements, ive always eyeballed everything.
anyway,
mix 1 cup of the tamarind paste, 1 1/2 cup of coconut milk, and sugar (i like to put in 3/4 cup sugar, if thats too much sugar for you, than decrease the amount) into a stovepot and let it simmer for at least 30-45 min. make sure to stir every few minutes!
it should come out a light, caramel like color thats slightly thick and sticky.
mmm delicious! enjoy!
yikes malina, that sounds totally awesome. What brand of rice do I look for?
I love playing with tamarind! In my opinion you can use a LOT less tamarind per water (and stretch the block a lot farther) if, instead of pushing it through a sieve after a short soaking, you massage it by hand repeatedly. Here's my technique:
1. Pull off a golf-ball piece of the block and pull it apart a bit. Pour about 1/2 cup or a bit more boiling water over it & let sit as you prep other ingredients.
2. When water is cool enough to touch, begin squeezing the tamarind goo by hand through the water. Massage it and rub it with your fingers in the water. Continue this for several minutes. As you do it, the pulpy water will get thicker & thicker. Keep doing it until it is the consistency of a thick fruit nectar. You may need to add a bit more water as you go depending on how thick it gets, or possibly a small bit more tamarind. I find it gets really thick after a few minutes. You may think it won't, but just keep working it. The more you work it, the thicker it gets.
3. Get a trash receptacle ready nearby. Scoop up handfuls of the seedy, pitty, nectar-like stuff in your hand and make a loose fist. Squeeze it gently (if you squeeze fast and hard it will shoot the pulp across your kitchen and maker a lovely Jackson Pollack painting on your counter, appliances and backsplash). This will return the watery pulp to the bowl and leave you with a handful of seeds and hard pod bits. Throw this debris left in your hand away. Repeat this a few more times until the pulp is mostly free of debris.
4. At this point you can either push through a strainer to get out every single bit of debris. Or, if you did a really good job on clearing it of muck, just measure it and throw it in as it is. It kind of depends on how it is to be used and how well you cleaned it by hand. For curries, I just throw it in as it is. For sauces, or items like soups where the texture and clarity of it would be important, I strain it through a fine-mesh strainer one last time before measuring it out.
This technique is messy, but easy and low-tech, and most importantly, gets way more pulp liberated from the block than the "cleaner" technique described above. It is a bit of a hassle, but it's fun. And it's very frugal. I can get 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup thick pulpy liquid out of one golf-ball sized piece of block (not one cup as noted above).
Did I say it's like making mud-pies and way fun? Plus no strainers to clean up if you get really good at getting all the debris out.
Another fan of the jarred stuff here. I found it at an Indian/"International Foods" grocer. I'm pretty sure I've seen it at Wegman's, if anyone looking has those nearby.