Tips For Cooking Authentic Thai Food

Like Thai food? Love to cook? maybe your first exertion did not turn out like in the picture or taste like at the restaurant. Well, do not give up on cooking Thai food. Some Thai dishes may seem difficult because of a long list of ingredients and instructions. Thai cooking is all about ingredients and preparation. In Thailand, freezing or canned food is not very common. Thais love fresh ingredients. Thailand is one of the lucky countries in the world that has abundant vegetables, exotic fruit, seafood, etc. There is a familiar verse in Thailand describing abundant food resources: "Nai Nam Mee Pla Nai Na Mee Khao" which means "In river, there is fish, in the field, there is rice." This narrative will start with some normal tips and then move in to exact tips for each food category.

Ingredients

Food And Dessert

Ingredients are the most important part of authentic Thai cooking. If you live in Thailand or in Southeast Asia, seeing fresh Thai ingredients is easy. But if you live somewhere else, seeing fresh ingredients can be difficult or troublesome especially for those who do not live in a city. If you decree to make Thai dishes, first invest a itsybitsy of your time getting to know the ingredients. Then find the nearest Asian grocery store. If you like, call to see if they carry ingredients you are seeing for. For instance, if you are seeing for "Winter Melon", not all Asian grocery shop carry it. If you prefer, buying online can safe you driving time. If you cannot find fresh ingredients, try freezing and canned foods. In my opinion, most freezing products are the next best thing to fresh food. For instance, stir-fried shredded ginger with pork has two main ingredients: shredded ginger and pork. Shredded ginger? Sounds like lots of work to use fresh ginger. One might try a jar or can, but the taste and aroma of the ginger are not the same as the fresh version. It is not difficult to make shredded ginger if you have the right peeler. Try your best to find fresh produce, as it will be a good start to cooking authentic Thai dishes.

Equipment

Thais use a wok and pot in most dishes with the irregularity of desserts. For desserts, it is not required but it is recommended to use a bronze wok (Ka Ta Thong Lueng). Other base equipment includes a mortar and pestle. In Thailand, gas stoves are the most commonly used. Galvanic stoves are uncommon and not very beloved because heat may not be distributed evenly. About the mortar and pestle, it depends on one's desire. If you are going to cook Thai dishes very often, a mortar and pestle can become handy in your kitchen. Otherwise, using typical kitchen tools like a knife and cutting board can achieve the same goal. Food processors or blenders are other choice when it comes to manufacture pastes.

Preparation

Preparation is also one of the keys to authentic Thai cooking. As mentioned above, Thai food focuses largely on ingredients and preparation. establishment in particular is primary to authentic Thai food. You may spend more time establishment ingredients than you precisely spend cooking. For instance, it may take about 30 minutes to put in order all ingredients for Tom Kha Gai but you only spend about 15 minutes cooking. A typical Thai supper consists of 4-5 group dishes. It may take up to 2 hours to put in order all ingredients, but only 1 hour to make. A few reasons effect About why Thais spend more time on preparation. Thais like their meat in bite size pieces. Fresh vegetables want time to wash, cut and maybe pad dry. Pounding spices and fresh herbs is also base for many dishes. Some desserts like Ta Go (sweet on the bottom layer with salty coconut topping in a pandanus basket) want lots of time in establishment starting from cleaning and cutting leaves and then manufacture baskets. Depending on the estimate of Ta Go you are making, it can take up to hours just to make those tiny baskets. Don't be discouraged by this because after preparation, the astounding dishes are right around the corner!

Cooking to Your Taste

The art of Thai cooking has located emphasis on the harmonious blending of assorted ingredients, particularly as the personel ingredients can vary by freshness and so on. Without harmony the taste and the dish fall short. The five elements of taste in Thai food are: sweet, salty, sour, spicy and bitter. When cooking Thai dishes, one may effect a recipe, but use it as a guideline when it comes to taste. Taste varies for each individual, sometimes in response to variables such as ingredient quality or occasion, and thus the tastes of the formula author may or may not reflect one's own taste. Following a formula is a good idea, but when it comes to taste effect your own preference. Know your ingredients and start adding flavorful items in small amounts. For instance, when it comes to curry pastes and fish sauce, some brands are saltier than others. Most Thai dishes can be fixed to some extent. If it is too sweet, adding a itsybitsy bit of fish sauce will fix the problem and vice versa. If it is too sour, add a itsybitsy bit of water; sugar or fish sauce will help.

Coconut Milk

Thai food and coconut milk practically always go together. Many dishes want Hua Ka Ti (first pressed coconut milk or creamy coconut milk) and/or Hang Ka Ti (second or third pressed milk or water-like coconut milk). To make fresh coconut milk, finely grated coconut meat is still steeped in warm water, not hot water. It is then squeezed until dry. The white fluid from the first press is called "Hua Ka Ti". Warm water is then added again to make the second and third pressed coconut milk, which is called "Hang Ka Ti." Finely grated coconut meat is commonly used about 3 times and then discarded. Freshly pressed coconut milk has a better taste and aroma than commercial coconut milk in a can.

If you use canned coconut milk, you will need to have a can at a cold temperature because cold temperatures help cut off the creamy coconut part and the water-like part. The creamy coconut milk will float to the top of the can. During hot weather, you may want to leave a can of coconut milk in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

Fried Rice

Good fried rice is not difficult to make. The most important part is the steamed rice. The rice should be cooked but firm, not mushy and soft. If steamed rice is soft and mushy, when it is stir-fried it will all stick together. Good rice in fried rice should be easy to break up and the grains should stay intact. So to make the steamed rice, make sure you use a itsybitsy less water than normal so that the rice is dryer than normal. Retention rice in a refrigerator for 2-3 days is other alternative, but if your rice is mushy and soft after those 2-3 days, the fried rice will also still clump together. Other keys to manufacture good fried rice are using a wok and high heat. Heat must be evenly distributed and consistently hot all thel time. A wok is recommended for manufacture fried rice but not required.

Curry

There are two main types of Thai curries: coconut-based and non-coconut based. Those which use coconut milk mostly have similar initial steps which consist of separating the coconut oil and mixing curry paste into coconut milk. These first 2 steps are keys to perfecting your curry dishes. For instance, if you are manufacture green curry, red curry, matsaman, or kaeng kari, the very first step is bringing Hua Ka Ti (first pressed milk or creamy coconut milk) to a boil until the oil starts to separate. You do not want to boil too long because you will break Hua Ka Ti and it will look like itsybitsy white balls. After adding curry paste into the coconut milk, stir until the green or red oil separates and floats to the top. Often stirring curry paste is required because you do not want to burn the paste. Curry paste may stick to a cooking spoon, so make sure to remove it from the spoon. During this process, if Hua Ka Ti is getting dry, add 3-4 tablespoons of Hua Ka Ti at a time to keep the curry paste from burning. After adding vegetables, do not overcook them.

Stir-fried

Most stir-fried dishes take a short time to cook, especially stir-fried vegetables. The main key to most stir-fired dishes is heat. Heat must be evenly distributed throughout the wok or pan. Most recipes will advise to heat up vegetable oil. In this step, one must make sure that the oil is hot and spread all over the wok (up to the side) or pan. In some dishes, after adding meat and/or vegetables, the pan or wok starts to get drier, so one may add a itsybitsy bit of water so that the food won't get burned. For vegetables, make sure they are not overcooked.

Desserts

Thai desserts are not too difficult to make. Some may be easier than others. Some want more patience and time than others. Many Thai desserts want one to use the same ingredients, and substitutes are not recommended. For instance, if Khanom Ta Go asks for mung bean flour, other flour substitutes ordinarily won't work well. Khanom Bua Loy requires sticky rice flour, and one may not use multipurpose flour or tapioca flour or some other types of flour. In some desserts like potato in ginger syrup, one can use mixed types of potatoes. Khanom Kaeng Buat can consist of taro, potato and/or pumpkin. When manufacture Thai desserts, read instructions carefully.

Ingredients and establishment are the keys to cooking authentic Thai food. Some of the first few dishes in particular may want patience. However, once you have gotten to know Thai ingredients more and more, you will find how easy it is to cook authentic Thai food. As for Thai desserts, some are very easy and easy to make and you can excellent them the first time you try. Some desserts may take custom and time to make positive skills. Do not be discouraged by formula directions or how gorgeous a picture of a dish might be. When you decree to cook authentic Thai food, procure up some friends and enjoy your cooking. Have fun!

Tips For Cooking Authentic Thai Food