Thai Cooking
Tips on Thai cooking
- Get hold of fresh Thai ingredients
- Use the correct cooking utensils and cookware
- It's all about personal taste
Get hold of fresh Thai ingredients: To achieve a true authentic Thai taste, fresh ingredients are a must. Using dried substitutes for items such as kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal etc. will never compare to the taste infusions that fresh Thai ingredients provide. Items kept in the freezer are not too bad when it comes to authentic tastes, in case you can’t get hold of their fresh equivalents.
Use the correct cooking utensils and cookware: A stone or earthen pestle and mortar is essential for Thai cooking. They are used to grind spices and herbs. You can also use them to pound certain fresh ingredients such as lemongrass to alter the texture, making it easier to eat and also to make it more fragrant.
Thai sticky rice is a very common part of the typical Thai cuisine. Soak the sticky rice for a few hours and then cook it in the basket above the pan in the Thai sticky rice cooker.
The multipurpose Miracle knife is used to quickly prepare apples, carrots, mangos, etc. The sharp straight-edged blade easily peels, pares, and carves fruits and vegetables, with the rotating blade. The hollow handle is a convenient tool for coring cucumbers and other vegetables or fruits.
For peeling fruits and vegetables, a peeler is an essential kitchen item. Traditionally Thai mangos are peeled using this peeler. This then makes it easy to chop or slice the mango which is a major ingredient in many Thai salads.
It's all about personal taste: It’s all well and good following a Thai recipe which has been fine tuned to the writer’s tastes. However individual tastes differ as we all have our own preferences. To find a balance that suits follow the guidelines below:
If it’s too spicy – add some more coconut milk or sugar.
Not spicy enough – add some chilli sauce, or dried chillies.
If it’s too salty – add some lime juice or lemon juice.
If it isn’t salty enough – add fish sauce or Soya sauce (for vegetarians).
