Thai Ingredients
January 25, 2013
January 25, 2013
I have never used fresh whole peppercorns, thus the inclusion in this list. They are green in colour, grow in a cluster and are sliced in half or pieces from the cluster to be included in curries.
Kra-chai is part of the ginger family and thus has a similar flavour, although milder than ginger root. It gets it’s name from the “fingers” visible from the root. It is used in soups and to make curries. Ginger can be used if you can not source this ingredient.
Kha tastes similar to ginger but has a much milder flavour. It is used in curry pastes and soups. As with Finger Ginger, Galangal can be replaced with regular ginger. Replacing the ingredient with ginger will result in a stronger flavour. If substituting for ginger use less than the recipe calls for galangal.
This is another ingredient that I have used in an alternate form (powdered) but not fresh. Tumeric root has a similar look to a piece of ginger except that when the outer layer is removed it is yellow in colour. Fresh tumeric root is commonly used o make curry paste.
[…] in to attend a three hour class that included a quick trip to a street market stall to collect ingredients. I loved the class so much that I returned the following day to learn some more recipes. Prior […]
[…] February I did a series of posts on Thai food and some Thai recipes that I learnt at cooking school in Thailand over the Christmas period. […]
A great post – love the fresh ingredients used in Thailand and that you can just pop out to the markets to grab stuff before you get busy in the kitchen. I think the substitutes are important as sometimes it’s hard to find those ingredients here. I love the little eggplants…