Los ingredientes básicos de la cocina tailandesa por Julie Brown

views the best pictures

Thai cuisine is a combination of a variety of styles of cuisine from different regions of Thailand. Normally it is famous for its strong spicy flavor, but actually Thai dishes should be the perfect balance of four fundamental tastes: hot, sour, salty and sweet.

There is a degree of complexity to the Thai cuisine that often as a mixture of flavors can be confused for the inexperienced Cook. However, using the right amount of each ingredient, a harmony of flavors can be achieved, so that each of the four tastes can be distinguished and complement each other perfectly.

Thai dishes tend to include a variety of herbs and spices that are now available in the oriental supermarket and some may even be in Western supermarkets. Leaves of Kaffir lime, known as ma gruud, provide a bitter, but aromatic taste of Thai cuisine and they are usually bruised and added to many Thai soups. Famous serve in Thailand s most popular soup dish; Tom Yum Goong.

As laurel leaves, lime leaves kaffir are not consumed but used to provide an aromatic afternote. They are often mixed with other herbs, roots and spices and used to add fragrance to Thai curry paste. Fresh or frozen and dried forms can be purchased.

Lemongrass (ta krai) also provides a bitter element to Thai cuisine. Often bought fresh, but it can also be frozen for your convenience. Lemon grass is used to inject a fragrance of bitter in a wide variety of Thai cuisine, including Thai curry pastes.

Bird s eye Chile (prik kee not) is another ingredient that is widely used in Asian cuisine. Indigenous peoples of Central and South America, the bird s eye Chile made his way to Southeast Asia through Spanish and Portuguese settlers and traders. It is characterized by its fiery heat and is often consumed raw in dishes such as khao kha mu (trotter of pork stew served with rice).

Roots as (krathiam) garlic and Ginger (King) provide a basis for many Thai dishes, deep flavor though traditionally Thai chefs prefer to use a more citrus root called galangal (kha). Galangal root is a basic ingredient for many Thai curries and soups, and due to its deep flavor blends well in spicy dishes.

Dried herbs are often used to provide an element of spice in Thai cuisine. White pepper (Thai pedant bhon) was traditionally used as the leading supplier of heat until the cool Chile was brought to Thailand, but continues to be used in a wide variety of dishes.

Peppers of the Earth, (na kee nu bonn) are simply a dry version of the Chile bird s eye. The drying process allows that stored for longer and often provides a serious heat to food.

Cumin (ye raa) is typically used to provide a bitter element to Thai cuisine. This is often sold in the form of seed, but can also be sold as a dust of the Earth.

(Nam pla) fish sauce is commonly used in many Thai dishes and is made from fermented fish. It provides taste salty and spicy and is used typically as a condiment. You can be added to food during cooking, but also they can be enjoyed as a crude condiment that can be added to the prepared dishes.

Pasta shrimp (kapi) is another staple in Thai food and fermentation shrimp of Earth and salt. Like fish sauce, it has a spicy aroma but is only used as an ingredient in cooking and you can not eat raw. Shrimp pasta provides a powerful flavour that exudes bitterness and salinity and is used in the famous Chile paste called nam phrik kapi.

Thai curry paste (kaeng khrueang) which translates to "curry ingredients", can be made fresh or purchased in most supermarkets. Most kaeng khrueang will be a mixture of Earth of fresh or dried spices, chiles and herbs and other ingredients such as shrimp paste.

Provide sweetness to foods are mainly used two ingredients; (Maphrao) coconut milk and Palm sugar (nam taan peep).

Palm sugar is a solid formed sweetener made from Palm SAP. Rich and sweet flavor has a sweetness that is more subtle than cane sugar and is more suitable for cooking spicy dishes. Although it is often used to sweeten Thai desserts, regularly used in tasty Thai dishes.

Coconut milk is creamy and sweet, and is especially popular in dishes that originate from the South of Thailand. Most famous used in Thai curry, coconut milk is added after spices and herbs to provide a creamy flavor and helps mix the complex aromas.