There is a wide variety of special spices and herbs that are used in Thai cooking. Many of these spices add aroma, many add heat, and some are used to impart the four fundamental flavors sweet, bitter, sour and salty. Let's look at some of the most popular spices used in Thai cuisine and how they affect the dishes that they are used in. Here, at chingari-restaurant.com we want to offer you the best advice possible on the use of common spices and herbs used in Thai cooking.
Ga-Prow is a type of sweet basil which imparts a strong aroma and mildly sweet flavor to cooking. It is common in beef, chicken, and fish dishes and is a popular herb used in Thai cooking.
Thai min also called Saranae is very similar to the mint used in sauces throughout England. It is popularly used in vegetable dishes as a flavoring and is often paired with garlic or peppercorns.
Pepper refers to as Prik Thai comes in three main styles, white, black, and green. Pepper is commonly used in whole or cracked peppercorn form and I used not only in cooking, but also as a table condiment. Black peppercorns are very mild and are more aromatic than white. The green peppercorns offer a unique flavor that is strong, spicy and imparts a pungent aroma with woody undertones to the aroma of the dishes they are used in.
Chilies are a very common ingredient in Thai cooking. Chilies are used in a wide variety of ways including everything from curries to sauces and oils. Chilies vary in size and color, but they are all spicy and aromatic. In milder chilies are often used as a base note in traditional Thai cooking, but are often used as the entire flavor profile in westernization of Thai cuisine. In traditional Thai cooking, hotter chilies are used to add dimension and accent to dishes as well as the foundation of pastes used as condiments for table use.
Garlic is a foundational ingredient in almost all Thai cooking. The country is awash with the taste and smell of garlic. Thai cooking includes the use of garlic in almost all forms including chopped, ground, whole, roasted, garlic oil, smashed garlic and garlic plant leaves. Garlic is usually paired with Sesame or shallots.
Shallots are little red onions that impart a rich and deep flavor. They can be found in almost every Thai dinner in some form or degree. They can be roasted to provide a stronger flavor, which is sweet and tangy.
Sesame is often used in breads, desserts and oils. With Thai cooking you can find sesame in a wide variety of forms. They are used for different reasons like flavoring, texture, and appearance. The seeds themselves are white in color with black shells and offer a mildly sweet and dry flavor that gets stronger when roasted.
Among other popular spices and herbs used in Thai cooking the two most popular are surely Nutmeg and Lemon Grass. Nutmeg is commonly used to add a bitter and tangy note to curries, specifically Musaman Curry Paste, where it is used in conjunction with Mace, which is a non-chewable spice made from the orange outer covering of the nutmeg kernel. It is used to add an aromatic note to curries as well as color when it is finely ground.
These are just a few of the common herbs and spices used. These spices add dimension and layers to the dishes that they are used in. They should be used with thought and very carefully, but when they are used properly they can be powerful exciting.