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melvbot

I love making a big 'ol pot of beef stew. Tatties, carrot, onionetc but thers one thing missing, dumplings.
Does anyone know if you can buy suet in Thailand or are there any substitutes/altenatives ?

blackgang

I looked for suet and could not find any nor have I ever heard of any here.
But if I may be so bold as to ask, what do you need or use suet for in Dumplings, I am a Yank and take it you must be Brit. and we never use it.

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stroller

Scampy should know where to get suet, let's hope answering your question will fit with his attention-seeking agenda.

matsalleh

How about making yourself?
Suet is raw beef (or mutton) fat, especially the fat found around the loins and kidneys, and than made into tallow in a process called rendering, which involves melting and extended simmering, followed by straining, cooling and usually a repetition of the entire process.

Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without refrigeration.

Suet is essential to use in making the pastry for steamed steak and kidney pudding. The suet crust pastry lines a pudding bowl, the meat added and a lid of suet crust pastry tightly seals the meat. The pudding is then steamed for approximately four hours before serving in the bowl on the table. Suet pastry is soft in contrast to the crispness of shortcrust pastry. Its low melting point means that it is solid at room temperature but easily melts at moderate temperatures, such as in steaming.

stroller

Is tallow edible?
Serious question since I've only come across it as an industrial product and would not dream of using it for cooking.

kingwilly

hmmmmm, I'm getting hungry just reading that ! (and i only finished me dinner 10 mins ago!)

greens on the way!

melvbot

Think I'll ask my mum to send some over instead.

Ive seen a recipe using butter instead of suet but I dont think with stew it would sit very well.
My search continues ...

blackgang

I have never made dumplings with suet, I and my grandmother just make a kind of baking powder biscuit dough but just a little more liquid added to make a looser dough, then drop by spoonfuls into the boiling stew or chicken broth, cook for 10 minutes uncovered and 10 minutes covered. works well for me.

I do know that bear fat makes fine biscuits and pie crust but never used beef suet, and as for tallow, we never ate it but do use it for dressing work boots as it is good waterproofing and also good for Harness, Chaps, saddles and all leather tack around the barn.

stroller

A yeasty dough is just fine for me.

My granny used to make giant dumplings, not to be cooked with the stew, but in boiling water to go with it instead of potatoes.

melvbot

I'll have to give some plain ones a shot and do a bit of experimenting I think. Add a few herbs and see what comes out.

stroller

Herbs don't do well in dumplings.

Chopped onions are ok.

matsalleh

The original beef tallow is certainly edible - there is only one non edible sort that is made from Castor Oil which the fixed oil obtained from the seed of Ricinus communis Linn‚(Fam. Euphorbiaceae)

Gerbil

Most things made from castor beans are inedible, e.g. 'Ricin'