Thai Chilli

Thai Chillies are just one of the five tastes of Thai food, Spicy, the other four are sweet, sour, bitter and salty. By combining all of these tastes in a meal, the Thai food is very flavorful and the aroma cannot be described.

The way the Thai Chilli is prepared can be from washing and using it whole as a garnish, to grind it up in a Thai granite mortal and pestle, making it into a paste.

On the scale of 1 to 10, the Thai chilli is an #8. On the Scoville chilli heat chart, they rank in at 50,000 to 100,000 units. For comparison, a Jalapeno pepper is a # 4 or 2,500 to 5,000 units.

The heat from a Thai chilli is very short lived. Once eaten it does not take long to dissipate in your mouth. However, it is still very very hot!

Thai Cooking In Ning’s Kitchen

Come here to learn how to cook  Authentic Thai Food

One of the biggest things you need to do in order to be able to prepare Authentic Thai Dishes is have the right ingredients to use. You can always go to your local Asian food market or order online. One of the best places we have found on the internet is efooddepot . They have Food from all the different Asian countries. Shipping is very reasonable.

The most important ingredient you will need is Fish Sauce.

You have to use this to get the real Thai taste.  Shown in the photo are two popular brands sold.  Squid Brand is made the slow way with no additives and The Three Crabs Brand has Fructose instead of sugar and Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein added to it to speed up the fermentation of the Fish Sauce.  Both have Anchovy Extract, salt and sugar.  Both taste excellent.

It’s beneficial to grow some of your own herbs.
The leaves and any fruit that may grow on the Kaffir Lime tree are very useful in Thai recipes.  If you live in a area that experiences a cold winter, the use of a grow light may be necessary.  The Kaffir Lime Tree should be kept in temperatures of 60°F or above.  It will grow very good in the summer months.

This is  Thai Basil or Cinnamon Basil.
This plant here is at the end of its life.  It is one we brought in from our garden. We will start new plants in February so that they get a good start before planting outside this spring.

One of the most important tools to use in Thai Cooking is a Mortar and Pestle.  It is used to smash or grind pepper, garlic and any other herb or spice you use.  The Mortar and Pestle pictured here is made of granite.  Do not get the clay version of this tool.  They will break very easy.  The clay version is used primarily to make salad and not meant to do heavy grinding.

Thai Vegetables used in Thai cooking.

Thailand has over 200 different kinds of vegetables grown there. Many are used in a verity of ways in Thai cooking. Thai cooking will use any where from the roots of some to the stems, leaves and shoots of young plants.

Plants that use the roots are Krachai, Ginger, Galanga, Turmeric, Daikon Radish, Taro Root, Boniato, Yucca Root, Lottus Root, Cilantro Root and Bean sprouts.

Stems used for cooking are Lemon Grass, Sugar Cain, Cilantro any of the Chives and Green onions.

Leaves used several types of Basils, Water Spinach, Mint, types of Broccoli, Types of cabbage, Bitter Melon Leaves, Kaffir Lime tree and Pea leaves. There are many kinds and this short list is some of the more common used.

Some of the seeds and seed pods used would be, Bitter Melon, Long Bean, Many kinds of Egg plant as Thai, Cherry and Purple Egg Plant, Squashes and Gourds and Pickling Cucumbers. Spice seeds used Thai Chili, fresh and dried. These give Thai food most of the heat. Also used are green black pepper seeds. This is un-dried peppercorn seeds.

Some flowers used are Thai Edible Flower, you can find these frozen imported from Thailand and Banana Flowers. Bamboo shoots are used in Thai curries, this can be found to in Asian stores. Banana leaves are used to for wrapping up food for steaming.

The lists above as mentioned are some common ones used that Ning uses. There are many more than mentioned here. Some can be found in Asian stores. There are always different combinations to use in many of the Thai dishes, so if you can not find a certain kind, you can substitute with an other of the same type.

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“Alley Kitchens” of Thailand

Written by Ning

In Thailand, it’s easy for you to find food to eat. From early in the morning till midnight. Whenever you feel hungry, just walk out from your hotel or house you will find everything that you want. Like fast food, but better. Everything is fresh. You will fill full for just less than one dollar. Just look to see how clean the back alley kitchen is. Watch them in operation for awhile, if all looks good, you will have some of the best Thai food ever.

When my husband and I go to Thailand, we always have our meals from alley kitchens or street food better than eat in the restaurant because It’s cheaper and yummy!! 

 

 

 

My husband loves to have noodles with chicken feet. He told me that he never had eaten chicken feet before. He wanted to try and  he loves it! Yes, for someone new to Thailand, you will find food that you have never seen before. Do not let that stop you from at least trying some. You just might be missing out on some thing very good.

 

 

Grilled Prawn on our way to Kanjanaburi….

When we go to travel  to the countryside, both sides on the way , lots of  food and fruits. Cheap and Fresh. If you have opportunity to go to Thailand, you should try street food…

Just remember to drink only bottled water, and check the seal before opening it to be sure it is fresh. Don’t use any ice either, unless it is the kind with the hole in the middle. this is bought from a government inspected ice house and should be good.

 

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Click here to visit Ning’s Kitchen for Authentic Thai recipes