Some of the best things to make with a mortar and pestle are a classic Mexican guacamole, a traditional Italian basil pesto, and authentic Southeast Asian pastes, such as Thai curry pastes and Cambodian herb and spice pastes, but there are so many more things you can prepare with a mortar and pestle, from dukkah to a papaya salad and more.
Our mortar and pestle is one of our most-used Asian cooking utensils in our kitchen in Cambodia. It’s easy to use, it will give your arms a workout, it cleans quickly and easily, and pounding with a pestle in a mortar is therapeutic – especially in contrast to blitzing something in a blender. In fact, we rarely use the blender and don’t even own a food processor.
In Siem Reap, we mainly use mortar and pestles for making Cambodian herb and spice pastes and Thai curry pastes, which we think is one of the things everyone should master to become a better cook. Terence uses a big granite mortar and pestle he bought way back in 2012 after we moved to Phnom Penh, while I’m fond of the beautiful hand-crafted KROK mortar and pestle, made to order in an artisanal village of mortar and pestle makers in Thailand.
Here in Australia, where I’m currently taking care of mum, I’ve been using an Italian marble mortar and pestle to make basil pesto for pastas and salads, as well as pound dried spices, nuts, seeds, herbs, and breadcrumbs for condiments such as dukkah, pangrattato, gremolata, and more. There are so many uses for a mortar and pestle.
This is our guide to things to make with a mortar and pestle, and our best mortar and pestle recipes. In this curry paste recipe post, you’ll find tips to how to use a mortar and pestle. For more cooking inspiration, do browse our recipes archive, where we have many hundreds of recipes. Click on the heart on the right side of any recipe and you can save the recipes you like in your own private account.
Things to Make with a Mortar and Pestle – Mortar and Pestle Recipes
Here are some things to make with a mortar and pestle and our best mortar and pestle recipes to make them. If you have more suggestions for condiments, pastes, sauces or dishes that can be made with a mortar and pestle, please leave them in the Comments section at the end of the post.
Middle Eastern Dukkah Recipe
One of my favourite things to make with a mortar and pestle is this easy dukkah recipe for the Middle Eastern nut, seed and spice blend from ancient Egypt that’s pictured in this post. Dukkah is fantastic with pita or sourdough bread and extra virgin olive oil.
Dip the bread into olive oil, then dip it into the dukkah – or sprinkle it over hummus and other mezze dips, soft-boiled eggs, Mediterranean salads, or roasted vegetables.
I adore this dukkah recipe. I love a mix of pounded hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, cashew nuts, and peanuts pounded with quintessential Middle Eastern spices, such as cumin, coriander and Aleppo pepper.
But the beauty of making your own dukkah, like any homemade condiments made from scratch, from our Japanese furikake to this Italian pangrattato, is that you can customise it to suit your taste, the cuisine you’re cooking or ingredients you have.
The Middle Eastern condiment has long been popular in Australia, for instance, where native Australian dukkah recipes feature indigenous ingredients, such as macadamias, lemon myrtle, saltbush, wattleseed, and pepper berries.
I use a spice funnel to transfer the dukkah to an air-tight jar. We use mason jars and clip-top Kilner jars. If you’re not using your dukkah regularly, store the jar in a cool dark cupboard or in your fridge.
Mexican Guacamole Recipe
One of the best things to make with a mortar and pestle is an authentic Mexican guacamole, a pre-Columbian dish which the Aztecs called āhuacamolli from ‘āhuacatl’ (avocado) and ‘molli’ (sauce/concoction) – mashed avocados with or without chopped tomatoes, onion and coriander.
Beginning with the Aztecs, the peoples of Mexico have traditionally used a Mexican mortar and pestle called a molcajete to pound the ingredients together for a guacamole. These days a fork is also used. When we interviewed chef Martha Ortiz of Dulce Patria restaurant in Mexico City, she said it was essential to make guacamole with a molcajete.
Marilau, the cooking instructor we did a Mexican cooking class with in San Miguel de Allende was adamant that a molcajete was not necessary for guacamole. She insisted that the molcajete should only be used for dry not wet ingredients. But then many Mexicans also make salsa in a molcajete…
As most readers outside Mexico probably won’t have a molcajete in their kitchen, our recipe calls for a fork, however, I’ve used my Krok mortar and pestle and it makes perfect guacamole. Definitely don’t use a blender. While guacamole should be creamy, it should be chunky not smooth, and retain some lumpy bits of avocado.
Italian Basil Pesto Recipe
Pesto alla Genovese is another of the best things to make with a mortar and pestle and I don’t think anyone in Genoa, capital of the northern Italy province of Liguria, birthplace of basil pesto or pesto alla Genovese, will argue as to whether a mortar and pestle should be used. Italians are adamant it should be and a small marble mortar and pestle is traditionally used.
In our basil pesto gnocchi recipe we have both the official recipe for homemade pesto alla Genovese sauce that includes just seven ingredients – fresh Italian basil, extra virgin olive oil, Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Romano, sea salt, garlic, and pine nuts – and my tweaked version. Whichever you make, you might never buy a jar of pesto again.
Although trofie pasta is traditionally used with basil pesto in Italy, try our basil pesto gnocchi recipe, easily one of our best pasta recipes. If you’re a pesto lover, also try our recipe for basil pesto pasta with potatoes and green beans, which was actually the pesto dish I tried on that first trip to Genoa, only my recipe is made with fusilli instead of trofie.
And if, like us, you can’t always source Italian basil but have access to Asian basil, try my Southeast Asian pesto, which is still delicious and has a lot of great uses. But it’s not an Italian pesto, let alone a Genovese pesto.
French Olive Tapenade Recipe
This easy olive tapenade recipe is based on the traditional French tapenade recipe from southern France that’s made with only four ingredients – black olives, capers, anchovies, and olive oil. It’s quintessentially Mediterranean, which is why I love to use the juiciest olives from Kalamata, briny capers from Pantelleria, Ortiz salted anchovies from Spain, and grassy extra virgin olive oil from Valencia.
You could add garlic, herbs and spices, but this Mediterranean olive dip is absolutely delicious in its original form, eaten on fresh or toasted baguette slices, pintxos or crostini. Olive tapenade is not only incredibly delicious and versatile (just don’t tell your French friends if you’re adjusting their tapenade!), and it’s also ridiculously easy to make.
Olive tapenade has traditionally been made pounded in a mortar and pestle, however, these days it’s typically made in a food processor or blender – which doesn’t change the flavour in the way it does with basil pesto, and means you can make the tapenade within minutes.
Although it really doesn’t take long to make olive tapenade with a mortar and pestle and I prefer the rustic texture of the dip from pounding it in a mortar compared to blitzing it in a food processor.
Thai Curry Paste Recipe
A Thai curry paste is another one of the best things to make with a mortar and pestle and we recommend starting with this recipe for a Thai red curry paste called nam phrik gaeng daeng, which is the ‘mother paste’ for many Thai chefs. That post also has tips for how to use a mortar and pestle.
If you’re wondering why you should make a Thai curry paste from scratch when there are supermarket shelves full of curry pastes, well, why make ragu bolognese when it comes in a can? Terence’s view is that if you think that’s okay, he’ll trust you as much as he’ll trust someone who says they cook Asian food yet doesn’t own a mortar and pestle.
In our opinion, the only reason to buy a pre-made curry paste is because you can’t source all the ingredients, you’re cooking for one, don’t have time to cook, and just have to have a Thai curry. I know the feeling. I’ve bought jars of pastes here in Australia, as I can’t source all the ingredients and my mother doesn’t eat spicy food so I’m cooking for one. Commercial pastes certainly satisfy cravings, but they don’t taste like real curry pastes and are very salty.
If you can find the ingredients, then why not use a food processor or blender? Because blenders and food processors rip things apart, whereas a mortar and pestle pounds a paste until the ingredients come together. The texture is different and the taste is different. As chef David Thompson says in his Thai cooking tome Thai Food, making curry pastes in a mortar as pestle is “onerous and messy, but the result is quite superior”.
If the instructor of the cooking class you did on your holiday in Thailand told you that using a food processor to make a curry paste was okay, they were just being polite. The Thais are generally polite people and most Thais like to make people happy. That’s why tourist restaurants will make you an anodyne curry light on the chilli and heavy on coconut cream – they think that’s what you want.
The reason we suggest starting with a red curry paste is because it gets used in numerous Thai dishes, starting with a Thai red curry, one of the more approachable curries – unlike a green curry, which is spicier. Try this Southern Thai beef panang curry recipe for phanaeng nua, Northern Thai gaeng hang lay moo recipe, and my Thai-inspired meatball curry recipe.
Cambodian Herb and Spice Paste Recipe
The Cambodian herb and spice paste called kroeung is one of the distinctive signature ingredients in Cambodia’s indigenous Khmer cuisine. Flavouring more than just curries, everything from soups to stir-fries (links to recipes in the post), the characteristics of a good kroeung are a source of immense pride for a good Cambodian cook.
With a base of lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime zest, turmeric, garlic, and shallots, Cambodian kroeungs have fresh herbaceous flavour notes, even when used in curries as heavy as the spicy Saraman curry. You’ll find more about each of the five kroeungs on the link above.
The base ingredients are common in Thai cooking also – not surprisingly considering the shared history of the two countries – but it’s the use of fresh turmeric in the standard base curry paste of Khmer cooking, a yellow Cambodian kroeung, that sets it apart.
The Cambodian herb and spice paste is pounded in a mortar and pestle from fresh ingredients and made fresh daily, both in the home and commercially. If we don’t have time to make it at home, there’s no reason to buy a jar of paste in Cambodia, we can buy it fresh from the local markets and supermarket.
Start by making the yellow kroeung recipe which you can use as a marinade for grilled beef skewers; in prahok k’tis, a Khmer dip made with prahok, minced pork, coconut milk, and pea eggplants; in fish amok (amok trei); and soups such as samlor machou kroeung sach ko, a beef soup with morning glory, which is why the paste is called kroeung samlor machou.
Cambodian Green Papaya Salad Recipe
If you’ve travelled to Southeast Asia then you would have spotted street food cooks making pounded salads in a massive mortar and pestle. This green papaya salad recipe makes one of those, Cambodia’s bok lahong or nhoam lahong, a fragrant, crunchy salad that’s a little funky, spicy, sour, salty, and a tad sweet.
Typically eaten as a late afternoon snack, this bespoke Cambodian salad is made to order, and has cousins in Laos (Tum Som), Thailand (Som Tum), and Vietnam (Gỏi Đủ Đủ). Cambodia’s bok lahong is a well-balanced salad and this is arguably what sets it apart from its bolder cousins, which are, respectively, a lot funkier, more fiery, and more fragrant.
The Cambodian green papaya salad is known as a ‘nhoam’ and a ‘bok’ in Khmer. A nhoam is a salad made with ingredients that are cooked, such as poached chicken, wok-fried prawns, barbecued pork, etc, while a p’lear is made with raw ingredients, such as raw beef or raw fish ‘cooked’ in a lime juice-based dressing like a ceviche or Italian carpaccio.
‘Bok’ refers to something made by being pounded or partly-pounded in a mortar and pestle – ‘bok’ is also the sound made by the pestle hitting the mortar, as in ‘bok, bok, bok, bok’ – and usually applies to papaya salads, as well as dips and relishes.
Wooden mortar and pestles are typically used for pounded salads such as these, as well as dips and relishes, as you want to soften them or bruise them, you don’t want to pound them to a paste. This papaya salad is fantastic with Cambodian barbecue dishes.
Thai Som Tam Recipe
This classic Thai som tam recipe makes the green papaya salad that you’ll eat on the streets of Thailand. Thailand’s take on the spicy salad originated in northeastern Thailand’s Isaan region, but now you’ll find this street food favourite all over Thailand, and right across northern Southeast Asia.
I adapted this classic green papaya salad from David Thompson’s Thai Street Food, although I’ve only adjusted the order of prepping the salad a little (I recommend making the dressing first so the flavours meld together), a couple of ingredient amounts (I like a lot more cherry tomatoes than David), along with instructions (I prefer some of the ingredients to be more lightly pounded so the salad isn’t too wet).
I don’t think those changes would horrify the chef, however, as som tam is very much a bespoke salad. There are infinite variations, not only from region to region, city to city, town to town, village to village, but also from cook to cook and customer to customer, because som tam is a salad that’s meant to be customised to your preferences and tastes.
To make this Thai som tam recipe, you will need an enormous mortar and pestle. I’ve seen som tam cooks use both wooden mortar and pestles and terracotta or clay mortar and pestles. We use a wooden mortar and pestle as we haven’t found a clay mortar and pestle that is large enough.
Thai Nam Prik Ong Recipe
This Thai nam prik ong recipe makes a spicy pork and tomato dip from Northern Thailand and is another one of the best things to make with a mortar and pestle. Nam prik ong is served with fresh and steamed vegetables, pork crackling, and sticky rice, which you roll between your fingers and dip into the bowl of nam prik.
This recipe makes one of our favourite nam priks, which are a family of Thai condiments that embrace everything from dips and relishes to salsas and dipping sauces. It’s also one of the most approachable of the Thai relishes and dips, not being as pungent or fiery as some.
Like the Khmers, when Thais have traditionally sat down to share a full meal of rice and accompaniments – referred to as ‘samrub’ in Thai, a loanword from the Old Khmer language ‘samrap’, which means ‘set menu’ – the spread typically included a salad or vegetables, perhaps a stir-fry or something deep-fried, a curry, a soup, and a nam prik.
This nam prik should be made in a granite mortar and pestle. You’ll need a mortar and pestle with at least a two cup capacity. You cannot make this nam prik in a food processor as there’s really not enough paste made to get the blades to work.
Thai Nam Prik Num Recipe
Our Thai nam prik num recipe makes a smoky green chilli dip that’s another of the best known Northern Thai specialties from Chiang Mai – so much so that it’s often called Chiang Mai chilli relish. Made from local chillies, it’s grilled on a barbecue with garlic and shallots and typically served with crunchy pork crackling and sticky rice.
It’s common for Thai visitors from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to return laden with containers of nam prik num – along with bags of crackling and Chiang Mai sausage – for their family and friends back home. We do the same whenever we can hop on a plane to Chiang Mai to do the same again.
To make nam prik num, local chillies are grilled on a barbecue with garlic and shallots. We use eco-friendly coconut shell charcoal BBQ briquettes for our traditional clay brazier, as they do not smoke and ash as much as traditional charcoal, and they will stay hot enough to cook with for a couple of hours.
They’re then pounded together in a mortar and pestle. As with nam prik ong, you’re going to need a good mortar and pestle that can hold up to two cups of paste.
Cambodian Cucumber Salad Recipe
Our Cambodian cucumber salad recipe for nhoam trasak makes a fantastic filling salad that you can eat year-round. Traditionally shared in Cambodia, where, like most salads, it’s eaten family-style with rice and an array of other dishes, you can easily serve this as a satisfying single-bowl meal for lunch or dinner.
When you’re using dried shrimp, always soak it a little first, then when you’re ready to combine your salad, dry it off thoroughly, and pound it in your mortar and pestle. Cambodians don’t treat the salad dressing ingredients separately, they’ll just throw them all into the mortar with the rest of the ingredients and pound them together or combine them.
However, if you’re new to Cambodian cooking or you’re serving guests who are, it’s best to create a separate dressing so, firstly, you can ensure that it’s balanced and to your taste, and to the taste of your guests, and, secondly, so you have some control.
You’ll need to pound the smoked dried fish (trey cha-er), which you should find in an Asian market or Asian supermarket. Look for the small dried smoked fish that are in the image above. It’s best to use a wooden mortar and pestle for the fish.
Cambodian Green Mango Salad and Smoked Fish Recipe
This green mango salad with smoked fish recipe makes Cambodia’s nhoam svay trei chhae, an aromatic salad full of texture and flavour, thanks to the raw fruit and vegetables, crispy smoked fish, dried shrimp, crunchy peanuts, and a classic Cambodian dressing of fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, birds eye chillies, and palm sugar.
While most Cambodian cooks will pound this whole salad in a mortar and pestle, I prefer the raw veg and fruit crunchy and firm, and for the salad to have some shape. Click through to the post and you’ll see what I mean. What I do use the mortar and pestle for is to pound the smoked fish, as well as the peanuts.
A granite mortar and pestle will do that job, but if you’re going to pound the whole salad you’ll want to use a big Wooden mortar and pestles, as you would with green papaya salads.
Do let us know if you make any of our mortar and pestle recipes, as we love to hear how our recipes turn out for you.
