4.02.2014

Essential Thai Ingredients

In Thai cooking there are several ingredients that show up in nearly every dish. These ingredients are what make Thai cuisine so delicious and flavorful. Unfortunately, for us outside of Thailand, these  essential ingredients are not as common in our cooking, commonly known or available. Thankfully, especially those living in the West, there are still ways to find them at Asian Markets, large chains & online. It may take some time or be a small inconvenience to find them but trust me the time and trouble will be worth it in the kitchen. If you love Thai cuisine here are the special ingredients to stock up on!
 keffir lime & keffir lime leaves
The juice and peel are commonly used in curry paste & soups 

The leaves are used in soups much like we use bay leaves for flavoring

Galangal
Used in curry paste, hot and sour soup and coconut milk soup

Lemongrass
Used in Tom Yum and curry paste

Sweet Holy Basil
Often used with fish dishes

 Lemon Basil
Usually sprinkled over Thai salads & curries

Thai Basil
Used in Thai curries

Thai Ginseng 
Used with fish dishes

Turmeric
Used in yellow curries

Oyster Sauce
Used for flavoring in several Thai dishes

Thai Chili Paste
Thai's like their food with a kick! Used in most dishes

Fish Sauce
Used in everything from Pad Thai to Tom Yum Soup

Palm Sugar
Used to bring out flavor, make things sweeter and tone down the spicy

Palm Oil
Used in place of regular oil

Other less exotic seasoning ingredients commonly used in Thai cooking are cilantro or coriander, chillies, lime and soya sauce. post signature

1 comment :

Amanda @ Living in Another Language said...

I seriously thought for a good long minute that the Galangal was a chicken foot.

Go back and see for yourself.

Although I'm sure you've been offered worse in China, I still have yet to brave the chicken feet here. That being said, I wish I could find even 10% of these ingredients!

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