About Thai Ingredients

Title:
About Thai Ingredients

Yield:
1 Servings

Categories:
About,
Thai




Ingredients:




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 ~ -- Thai fish sauce, called nam pla. This amber-colored, odoriferous


 liquid - -- used in everything from stir-frys to sauces -- cooks down to a


 mellow undertone. Better brands are lighter colored and less pungent; Squid


 is a recommended brand.


 


 ~ -- Dried shrimp. Salty and intensely flavored, these are used primarily


 as a seasoning ingredient. Usually sold in 4-ounce packages, dried shrimp


 should be plump and resilient, retaining enough moisture to evidence a


 little "give" when squeezed.


 


 ~ -- Thai chili sauce, called sriracha. This is a sort of chili-garlic


 "catsup," fiery, flavorful and slightly sweet. Huy Fong Foods Inc., of


 Rosemead, Calif., makes an excellent sriracha, packaged in a clear plastic


 squeeze bottle with a drawing of a rooster on the front.


 


 ~ -- Holy basil. Thai cooking uses many different types of basil, and this


 type is intensely mint-flavored. Unless you grow it yourself, holy basil


 can be difficult to find; fresh mint makes a good substitute.


 


 ~ -- Thai "bird" peppers. These little hot peppers, usually green but


 sometimes red, pack a notoriously powerful punch and are not for sissies.


 Serrano peppers make a good substitute if Thai chilies are unavailable.


 


 ~ -- CHILIES-IN-VINEGAR SAUCE (Makes about 1/2 cup); hot and sour


 ingredient in soups and pad thai etc.


 


     1/2    cup distilled white vinegar


 


     1/2    tablespoon Thai fish sauce


 


 12 small Thai chilies, or 3 serrano chilies, finely sliced


 


 Combine all of the ingredients in a small serving bowl. Let stand for 30


 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.


 


 >Adapted from "True Thai --- The Modern Art of Thai Cooking" by Victor


 Sodsook with Theresa Volpe Laursen and Byron Laursen (William Morrow and


 Company Inc., New York, 1995). Reviewed by CURTIS GLENN, food columnist for


 the Courier in Cedar Rapids/Waterloo, IA. 6/


 


 Recipe by: Curtis Glenn, 6/03/97, Courier.com


 


 Posted to MC-Recipe Digest by KitPATh 
on Feb 16,


 1998