Thai · IV The Method
กะทิ (Kati): Coconut Cream and the Cracking Technique
I
Origin
Coconut cream (kati — กะทิ) is the defining fat of Thai curry cooking, but its role goes beyond richness — the process of "cracking" coconut cream (splitting the emulsion to render the coconut oil, which then fries the curry paste) is the foundational technique of Thai gaeng (curry) cookery. This technique, documented in detail by Thompson, is the single most important step that separates properly made Thai curry from the approximations of Western cooking.
II
Description
The complete coconut cream cracking technique and its applications.
III
The Thread
—Indian ghee-frying of spice pastes (same fat-carries-aromatics principle — different fat), Malay coconut cream curries (same cracking technique — direct parallel, Malaysia-Thailand shared culinary her
IV
Flavour Context
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Pillars V — VII
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