Popular Thai Herbs


The overall character of Thai food, just the same as any regional food, is governed by the most common herbs and spices used in its preparation. What makes Thai food so tasty is the fact the there are such a wide range of inexpensive, and easily obtained herbs and spices to be found in Thailand. Below we will take a look at the three most commonly used of them, which definitely help to form that great Thai taste.

Lemongrass – A very hard grass stalk, with a strong taste of lemon. Thai people add Lemongrass to a dish either smashed down to a paste form in a mortar and pestle, finely chopped, or on 3-6 centimeter lengths. Note that the third form is not eaten, it is simply there to add flavor, leave it in the dish when eating.

Basil – An immensely popular herb across the whole of Thailand. Thai basil is a little different than the basil we find in the western world. The leaves are much larger, and the plants are busier. Also, the taste is not quite so strong. Thai folks will use handfuls of basil when cooking, whereas we would only use a few leaves in the West.

Kaffir Lime Leaves – A whole range of soups, curries, friend dishes and sauces, all feature Kaffir Lime Leaves. Leaves are tossed into the dish, and are used to add flavor. The leaves are never eaten, and are simply left in the serving dish.

So there we have it, 3 of Thailand’s most popular herbs, every chef keen to try their hand at Thai food will need to keep these stocked.

Popular posts from this blog

New Rick Stein Thai Recipe Added

Image
Rick Stein's Beef Massaman Curry In Rick's own words : "I found this curry at the hotel I was staying at during filming, the Royal Orchid Sheraton on the Chao Phraya river in the centre of Bangkok. The Thai restaurant there, called Thara Thong, was unexpectedly good, and I say this because you don’t usually expect to find a really good restaurant in a giant hotel catering for international conferences. The chef was very much a home-style cook specializing in royal Thai cuisine, albeit with a no-nonsense head-chef demeanour about her. The mussaman curry is the Thai version of the Muslim curries of northern India, made really special by the use of fish sauce, shrimp paste, lemongrass and palm sugar, but the element I find beguiling is the black cardamom, which gives the curry a delightfully smoky flavour." View this delicious recipe ...
Read more

Another Rick Stein Recipe Added

Image
Rick Stein's Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe In Rick's own words : "This chicken rice, like babi guling, the slow-roasted pig from Bali, is a dish I would cross continents for. It appears in various forms all over the Far East, especially Malaysia and Singapore. There are people who wouldn’t let a day go by without a plate of chicken rice, and I can perfectly understand why. It’s the moistness of the chicken that gets to you; that and the texture of the rice, made silky by first being fried in some of the chicken fat from the cavity of the bird." View this delicious recipe ...
Read more

Tom Yum (Thai Soup) Recipe

Image
Tom Yum  can be considered the national dish of Thailand. It is eaten everywhere by every person, and is a firm favourite with tourists as well. Tom Yum is usually ordered with shrimp (Tom Yum Kung) but can also be made with other types of seafood, chicken, pork, or even tofu. The soup is thin, and has a hot and sour flavour. It is eaten with rice, and will often be accompanied by a variety of side dishes. One of the most popular side dishes ordered with Tom Yum Kung is Tod Num Kung (friend shrimp cakes), which are then dipped into the soup itself and eaten. Tom Yum shares almost all ingredients with Tom Kha, another popular Thai soup dish, although unlike  Tom Kha , Tom Yam does not have coconut milk added to the soup to thicken it and give it a creamier taste. Herbs and spices added to the broth include chilli, fish sauce, galangal, kaffir lime and lemon grass, and these each add to the distinctive Tom Yum flavour in their own way. The real trick to making the best
Read more