Thai Brainstorming
- Thread starter Justaguy
- Start date
Just editing a post in the Piney Hab one and moving some of it here, it's kind of jumbled together and very A.D.D-ish but you get the idea... throw ideas out and see where it goes
I found a decent and pretty descriptive list online of popular Thai dishes and would agree with much of it... but real Thai goes well beyond that.
see: http://tgcmagazine.com/articles/329.shtml
To me I think I really like the the Lime/lemon flavours coming from the lemongrass, kaffir lime (leaves and zest) some also include regular or key lime too this gives the tang without vinegar... bit a little vinegar may be needed too the rice variety perhaps
and the there is the essential Basil and cilantro somewhat as well, I'm not sure what other spices or herbs are used though...
Then there are the roots and peppers, going with the ginger (or galanga root), green onion, garlic and of course the birds eye chillies... but I get you could include some naga jolokia to bring the heat up without overpowering it and changing the taste... the people in India use it in a lot of their foods and Thai has many of the same flavour profiles... the Piri Piri or African birds eye may have a similar taste but is closer in heat to habaneros.
Now that I think of it a bit more..it might be kind of tricky now that I think of it to come up with just one sauce or something that screams THAILAND!!... perhaps a duo? 1 more loose and tangy and herb infused sauce for lighter dishes and one more thick, nutty/coconutty and curryish... but the big question is how to get that into a sauce while keeping good heat and good flavor too?
Does anyone know if the Thai Bird's eye chili tastes about the same as the African Birds eye or Piri Piri? the Piri Piri is supposed to be about the same heat level as a habanero... and since Indian food is similar to a lot of thai dishes and uses nagas a lot some could be added to bring the heat without drastically changing the flavours too much in is own sauce...
I often use sauces like Melindas and such in other foods too, just for the heat to an otherwise good dish, but those sauces often have all sorts of other things so those ingredients would probably be what is changing the flavour of the food more so than the variety of pepper used... I try to pick sauces with complementary tastes to add but it sometimes changes the food too much
I find here in North America at Asian restaurants, they never believe westerners can take the heat... I've had some insanely hot dishes at Vietnamese and Thai people's places who had no concept of too hot... they ate hot habaneros like they were cherry tomatoes... so I know very hot Thai peppers are out there or at least hot varieties that work well with the Thai flavor profile.
I don't know what variety of pepper they used in their food but they were very HOT and the food tasted awesome... I couldn't eat much of it at the time as my tolerance was not as high as it is now... but I would be happy with something in the Piney Hab Extreme heat level or there about.... at least for a little while.
I found a decent and pretty descriptive list online of popular Thai dishes and would agree with much of it... but real Thai goes well beyond that.
see: http://tgcmagazine.com/articles/329.shtml
To me I think I really like the the Lime/lemon flavours coming from the lemongrass, kaffir lime (leaves and zest) some also include regular or key lime too this gives the tang without vinegar... bit a little vinegar may be needed too the rice variety perhaps
and the there is the essential Basil and cilantro somewhat as well, I'm not sure what other spices or herbs are used though...
Then there are the roots and peppers, going with the ginger (or galanga root), green onion, garlic and of course the birds eye chillies... but I get you could include some naga jolokia to bring the heat up without overpowering it and changing the taste... the people in India use it in a lot of their foods and Thai has many of the same flavour profiles... the Piri Piri or African birds eye may have a similar taste but is closer in heat to habaneros.
Now that I think of it a bit more..it might be kind of tricky now that I think of it to come up with just one sauce or something that screams THAILAND!!... perhaps a duo? 1 more loose and tangy and herb infused sauce for lighter dishes and one more thick, nutty/coconutty and curryish... but the big question is how to get that into a sauce while keeping good heat and good flavor too?
Does anyone know if the Thai Bird's eye chili tastes about the same as the African Birds eye or Piri Piri? the Piri Piri is supposed to be about the same heat level as a habanero... and since Indian food is similar to a lot of thai dishes and uses nagas a lot some could be added to bring the heat without drastically changing the flavours too much in is own sauce...
I often use sauces like Melindas and such in other foods too, just for the heat to an otherwise good dish, but those sauces often have all sorts of other things so those ingredients would probably be what is changing the flavour of the food more so than the variety of pepper used... I try to pick sauces with complementary tastes to add but it sometimes changes the food too much
I find here in North America at Asian restaurants, they never believe westerners can take the heat... I've had some insanely hot dishes at Vietnamese and Thai people's places who had no concept of too hot... they ate hot habaneros like they were cherry tomatoes... so I know very hot Thai peppers are out there or at least hot varieties that work well with the Thai flavor profile.
I don't know what variety of pepper they used in their food but they were very HOT and the food tasted awesome... I couldn't eat much of it at the time as my tolerance was not as high as it is now... but I would be happy with something in the Piney Hab Extreme heat level or there about.... at least for a little while.
moved original comment here:
I love Thai! My only problem is that "Thai hot" at the local restaurants isn't that hot anymore. And none of them will believe me when I try to ask for "double Thai hot". Then I'll add something like Melinda's Naga to leftovers to bring up the heat, but it changes the Thai flavor somewhat.
So if you can make a Thai tasting hot sauce, I would be in heaven.
One of my favorite Thai dishes at our local places is basil chicken.
I'd say thai ingredients I like are:
thai peppers
basil
garlic
fish sauce
ginger
shallots
lemon grass
lime
touch of sugar
bell pepper for taste
for a hotter version, definitely something with more kick than just thai peppers.
The Wiki page was an interesting read about ingredients.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_cuisine
I love Thai! My only problem is that "Thai hot" at the local restaurants isn't that hot anymore. And none of them will believe me when I try to ask for "double Thai hot". Then I'll add something like Melinda's Naga to leftovers to bring up the heat, but it changes the Thai flavor somewhat.
So if you can make a Thai tasting hot sauce, I would be in heaven.
One of my favorite Thai dishes at our local places is basil chicken.
I'd say thai ingredients I like are:
thai peppers
basil
garlic
fish sauce
ginger
shallots
lemon grass
lime
touch of sugar
bell pepper for taste
for a hotter version, definitely something with more kick than just thai peppers.
The Wiki page was an interesting read about ingredients.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_cuisine
I have access to some green Thais now and next year will have Thai Fires in my garden again.
I have notice the friends and customers I have that are from the Thai region love their vinegar.
I am thinking some Thais, garlic, onion, white or balsamic vinegar(maybe both), ginger, Jimmy Nardello sweet peppers, some limes, and for more heat some Fatalli or Naga Morich or possibly Naga Jolokia(first 2 I have a few frozen still and the 3rd I have to check if I can still get in from Holland). The fish sauce is.....I don't know. Like I said I am going to make an effort to get some Thai food this weekend and that will help me put together a better desired profile.
I have notice the friends and customers I have that are from the Thai region love their vinegar.
I am thinking some Thais, garlic, onion, white or balsamic vinegar(maybe both), ginger, Jimmy Nardello sweet peppers, some limes, and for more heat some Fatalli or Naga Morich or possibly Naga Jolokia(first 2 I have a few frozen still and the 3rd I have to check if I can still get in from Holland). The fish sauce is.....I don't know. Like I said I am going to make an effort to get some Thai food this weekend and that will help me put together a better desired profile.
Fish sauce is the most foul stink, salty and not pleasant tasting stuff if you were to drink it by the spoonful... but in thai food it is essential...
I still have have 1/4 of a liter bottle of the stuff... I don't think it really ever goes bad... or well.. more off than it already is
I was told by Thai people here that "C0CK" brand (has a rooster on the bottle) is the best that we can get in stores here without going the specialty import route.
Not sure if "C0CK" brand is available in the states but of the other brands I tried before, it actually was pretty good in stir fries...
My friend gets a kick out of the fact that I have fishy "C0CK" sauce in my fridge....
Apparently there is a 3 crabs brand of fish sauce that is good too... I just haven't had it yet.
I still have have 1/4 of a liter bottle of the stuff... I don't think it really ever goes bad... or well.. more off than it already is
I was told by Thai people here that "C0CK" brand (has a rooster on the bottle) is the best that we can get in stores here without going the specialty import route.
Not sure if "C0CK" brand is available in the states but of the other brands I tried before, it actually was pretty good in stir fries...
My friend gets a kick out of the fact that I have fishy "C0CK" sauce in my fridge....
Apparently there is a 3 crabs brand of fish sauce that is good too... I just haven't had it yet.
Please edit the original post with some info. How can we reply to nothing?
Found another interesting site with Thai recipes...
http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/
I've noticed a lot of recipes use lime juice in place of vinegar or just use very minimal amounts of white vinegar... don't think balsamic would work or any of the heavier vinegars
On the same site as above they have a herbs and spices section that may be helpful as well..
http://www.realthairecipes.com/category/glossary/herbs-and-spices/
http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/
I've noticed a lot of recipes use lime juice in place of vinegar or just use very minimal amounts of white vinegar... don't think balsamic would work or any of the heavier vinegars
On the same site as above they have a herbs and spices section that may be helpful as well..
http://www.realthairecipes.com/category/glossary/herbs-and-spices/
Sriracha.
That's been done...
According to his post he wants to buy a hot sauce for Thai food. Well, I gave one answer. Sriracha style. Thai table sauce. Been done? Sure, but there's a reason it's on every table in Thailand.
That is more like Thai Ketchup though we're looking for something like your average hot sauce but encompasses the flavours of Thai food.
Okay try Thai Fuzion. THPA winner.
http://www.thaifuzion.com
http://www.thaifuzion.com
Could be a possibility but looks to be similar to a lot of dipping sauces and marinades...
More info:
Water, sugar, lime juice, cilantro, salt, sesame seed oil, Thai chili, seasonings, oyster extractives, vinegar, corn starch, wheat flour, caramel color, natural flavors.
Water, sugar, lime juice, cilantro, salt, sesame seed oil, Thai chili, seasonings, oyster extractives, vinegar, corn starch, wheat flour, caramel color, natural flavors.
Oh I love Thai food!
Two of my favorite sauces are A Taste of Thai Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce and Bee Sting "Thai Sting" Sweet Chili Sauce.
My husband who loves Thai food also likes Thai Monkey Hot Sauce.
He gets them delivered from some where along with all of his other Hot Sauces. PM me and I'll find out where and let you know.
Two of my favorite sauces are A Taste of Thai Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce and Bee Sting "Thai Sting" Sweet Chili Sauce.
My husband who loves Thai food also likes Thai Monkey Hot Sauce.
He gets them delivered from some where along with all of his other Hot Sauces. PM me and I'll find out where and let you know.
The best fish sauces available commercially are Golden Boy and Tra Chang.
There are some other good choices too Tra Chang is supposed to be very good but milder in flavor, more expensive than most but doesn't include a bunch of weird addatives like MSG or hydrolized plant proteins... I agree... where can you go in the world, look for Thai Fish Sauce and not see Golden Boy so it may be the way to go and keep the flavor the same from batch to batch.
Squid and Tiparos are other good brands, Squid brand is supposed to be stronger in flavor though.
From looking around it seems the 3 Crabs stuff is very nice tasting according to people and taste tests, but it has the added plant proteins so maybe not a good choice to use for people trying to avoid addatives... plus it looks like they ship the 3 crabs stuff to hong kong for processing... double yuck... if they have to ship whatever the product is to hong kong for processing... I think it is a good one to avoid, plus who knows what toxins are in their hydrolized plant protein they use.
Luckily I can shop locally here:
http://www.bangkokcentergrocery.com/
Are you jealous?
They have a ton of stuff, more than what's on that site.
http://www.bangkokcentergrocery.com/
Are you jealous?
They have a ton of stuff, more than what's on that site.
I know it is Vietnamese, but this talk has me thinking about making Pho. In fact, I just put some beef in a marinade for it right now. (Along with a huge porterhouse that I am going to grill. The marinade is very Thai inspired. Green onion, cilantro, Thai basil, olive oil, lime juice, garlic, ginger, Sriracha, fish sauce, and some of this new Peppadew cilantro seasoning that I found yesterday.