If you regularly order dinner from your favourite Thai takeaway in Chingford, you’ll no doubt love the flavours of cuisine from this country. But have you ever thought about what it is that makes the dishes you order taste so different to those from other Asian nations?
We’re going to explore some of the main ingredients used in Thai cooking to help you understand what makes it taste so delicious.
One thing that crops up in a lot of Thai dishes is fish sauce. It’s used as seasoning and is made from fermenting fish with salt. Traditional Thai fish sauce should only contain anchovies, salt and water, Eating Well explains.
If you often eat Thai food you won’t have failed to notice that many of the dishes have a proper kick to them, delivered by chillies. Both fresh and dried chillies are used in Thai cooking, with fresh ones often added to stir-fries and sauces. It’s cayenne chillies that are most often used in curries.
Dried chillies, meanwhile, can be added to curry paste to give it a fiery kick, as well as to stir-fries if they need a bit more heat.
Black pepper is another way that Thai chefs add warmth to their food, with the website noting that this was actually how they brought heat to their dishes before the introduction of chillies to the region in the 16th century.
Limes are also commonly used in Thai cooking, and not only the juice. Lime leaves or zest can be added to introduce the light citrus fragrance of the fruit, while the juice is used to give “a tart lift to grilled meats, salads and fried rice”.
Although there’s a lot of heat in Thai dishes, this is often balanced out by the use of coconut milk. This brings balance to all kinds of meals, such as red and green curries.
When it comes to accompaniments to Thai dishes, rice is often the preferred choice. Sticky rice and jasmine rice are two of the most commonly used side dishes.
Real Simple also included both these varieties of rice in its list of essential ingredients for a traditional Thai feast.
Fresh herbs, including basil leaf, lemongrass, cilantro and Vietnamese coriander are some of the other ingredients used to give Thai dishes their distinctive flavours.
Once you start to become aware of the various ingredients used in Thai cooking, you can start to taste them more strongly when you’re enjoying your next Thai takeaway. Learning which flavours you are especially fond of can also help you to pick out new dishes to try.
It can be easy to stick to your tried-and-tested favourites, but if you can identify which of the flavours you particularly like, you can have a thorough read of your Thai takeaway menu and see if there are any other dishes that include these ingredients and that you therefore might want to try.
You never know, you could discover a new favourite Thai meal by being a little more adventurous.
