About this ingredient
Draft reference. This study is part of the cookbook’s foundations and is still being checked. Local names and cultural notes in particular are the author’s working text, pending verification, rather than settled fact.
- Where it is used
- All eleven; especially mainland and maritime souring agent
- Flavour and aroma
- Tart, fruity, faintly caramel; a rounded sourness gentler than citrus.
- How it is used
- Pulp soaked and strained into a souring paste for sour curries, asam laksa, sinigang and dressings. Young pods and leaves also used.
- How to select
- Buy seedless pulp blocks (moist, dark, pliable) or ready paste. Avoid dried-out, pale blocks.
- Storage
- Blocks keep months in a cupboard; strained concentrate refrigerates for weeks or freezes.
- Substitutions
- Lime juice plus a touch of brown sugar for brightness (less depth); dried tamarind slices (asam gelugor) differ.
- Allergens
- None common.
Names and contextPending verification
The two fields below are drafted and not yet confirmed. They are shown because they are useful, and labelled because they are not final.
- Local names
- Thai: makham; Malay/Indo: asam jawa; Viet: me; Filipino: sampalok
- Cultural notes
- Tamarind souring distinguishes many dishes from vinegar- or lime-soured ones; specify which sour a recipe intends.
The Complete Edition
Tamarind in the book
This study is one of twenty-seven that open The Southeast Asian Table, before the eleven country chapters and the hundred recipes they carry.
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