Ingredients For Thai Cooking
Source of Recipe
Temple of Thai
Recipe Introduction
Thai cooking ingredients may seem exotic to Western cooks, but with experimentation you will soon become familiar with these foreign flavors.
Recipe Link: http://www.templeofthai.com
Basil: European basil can be used as a substitue for all varieties if you can't find the Thai varieties. But Thai varieties are unique if you can locate them. If not try our ready-made basil chili pastes.
There are several types of basil used in Thai cuisine:
Holy basil("bai grapow") There are two types: a pale green or white type, and a red type, with purple reddish tinged leaves. Holy basil has a clove-like taste. Store wrapped in a paper towel inside a ziplock bag. Use it soon after buying. Available more readily in summer months, Bai graprow is difficult to find in the US. You may have more luck growing it yourself (see our links for seed sources).
Italian basil("bai rah")has smoother leaf, is darker green with purple stem with a more pronounced licorce flavor.
Lemon basil("bai menglah")has a lemony flavour with tiny leaves and is usually sprinkled over salads or used in soups. Used much less frequently than sweet basil in Thai cooking.
Thai or anise basil("bai horapha")tastes rather like anise, looks like sweet basil, and is used in red and green curries.
Thai chili peppers("prik kee noo")(dried and fresh): Southern Thai curry is typically made with whole small dried red chilies, stems removed, and seeds intact. If unavailable, try dried whole Mexican chilies, the hottest available, and soak in hot water to soften. Even easier to use and just as delicious, though different in flavor, is powdered/ground dried Thai red chilies. Two level tablespoons are equivalent to 10-15 dried chilies. Do not use chili powder. Shop for fresh Thai chilis online in our marketplace. Shop for dried chilies in our spice section.
Fresh "prik kee noo" can be used to make "nahm chuke", a spicy condiment and "tom yum goong ", a popular lemon-flavored hot and sour shrimp soup. If you like super hot Thai curry, add whole fresh chilies at the end of cooking. "Prik chee fah" is a larger sized chile pepper and not as spicy.
Cilantro ("pak chee"): The roots, stems, leaves, and seeds of this common popular herb are all used in Thai cooking.
The roots ("rahgk pak chee") are indeed the tiny end of the plant, which is often removed before it arrives in the Western market. Pounded in a mortar and pestle, the roots enhance curry pastes and soups. A paste for grilled meats can be made with the pulverized root, white pepper, and garlic. Sometimes difficult to find, try visiting a farmers market or substitute the stems.
Cilantro leaves are used extensively in Thai cooking for most salads and to garnish soups. The stems and leaves are eaten raw, along with other raw vegetables like baby eggplant, and other herbs and served with "nam prik".
Corinader seeds ("mellet pak chee") from Thailand are smaller than the seeds available in Western supermarkets and more stongly perfumed. Used extensively in various curry pastes , sauces, and marinades. Dry roast to bring out their perfume and flavors at the time of cooking. Visit our spices page to purchase Thai coriander seeds online.
Coconut milk ("nahm gah-tee") (fresh and canned): The milk is made from fresh coconut by adding just enough water to cover the grated meat, squeezing, and straining. The coconut meat is disgarded after all the juice is extracted. Fresh coconut milk is splendid indeed! The water inside of the coconut may be drank as a beverage or thrown away.
Coconut milk is also available canned. In the West it is difficult to find very fresh coconuts in the supermarket, therefore it is more practicle to use canned. Buy canned coconut milk online.
When using canned, follow the recipe directions whether to stir the contents or not. The heavier cream is on the top of the watery part. Unused portions freeze nicely in a ziplock bag. To use, break off a frozen chunk and pop into your curry or soup.
The use of coconut milk in cooking Thai cooking is a feature that the Thai have in common with other Southeast Asian and Pacific countries. Coconut milk has the quality of blending together and mellowing the flavors of the dishes in which it is used. Used as a liquid medium in meat and fish curries, it offsets the pungency of many of the stronger ingredients. A Westerner might consider coconut as the dairy substitute of Southeast Asia!
Curry paste ("kreung-geng") (fresh and canned): Made in a mortar and pestle by pounding together chilies, peeled garlic, lemon grass, fresh turmeric, sea salt, and shrimp paste(kapee). This is the basis of every Thai curry. Buy all these ingredient in our Curry Paste Kit .
Today in Thailand, most Thais prepare curry paste in a small electric blender. The mortar and pestle, many will argue, produces a far superior paste. Click here to read why from Kasma Loha-chit.
Prepared curry paste is also conveniently available canned. Use approximately 3 tablespoons per cup of liquid to prepare curry. Buy canned curry pastes here.
Fish sauce ("nam pla"): The most essential cooking ingredient for Thai food, this is Thailand's equivalent to soy sauce or table salt. Uncooked it has an unpleasant smell, but it adds a subtle flavor, for which there is no substitute. Small anchovy fish are fermented and the resulting liquid is strained and bottled.
Add a bit more fish sauce at the end of cooking to adjust to taste and cook a minute longer. This is perhaps the most important ingredient in Thai cooking, so give it a chance by all means. Shop for Thai fish sauce in our online Thai grocery.
Galangal root ("hea-uh kah"): This root is similar to ginger root, but more delicate in flavor and texture. Preferably fresh , but also available dried in slices or ground. The most popular Thai dish using fresh galangal is "dthom tay gy", chicken cooked in coconut milk. Dried pieces can be substituted. Galangal is known as "laos" in Indonesia and "lengkaus" in Malaysia. Shop for fresh galangal root.
Garlic ("gra-tium"): Key ingredient for curry, using 10-30 cloves. Also use in stir fry, first smashing the clove with the side of a heavy knife, before adding to hot oil. Stir once and then add the remaining ingredients called for in your stir-fry recipe. Sliced very thin you can also add fresh garlic to Thai beef salad.
Note that Thai garlic is less than half the size of American commercial type. That means you need to re-adjust the recipe if it was written in Thailand (see our cookbook department ). Also the outside skin is much thinner, so peeling is not as necessary as it is here in the US.
Grachai (lesser ginger), rhizome or "gra-chai": This root is of the same family as ginger and galangal, but is not as pungent and smaller. Sold fresh occassionally or dried ground it is sometimes labelled "kachai". Store fresh refrigerated in a ziplock bag.
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