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Thai cuisine in one of the best in
the world. Made with fresh ingredients, Thai food is
aromatic, tasty, healty and full of interesting
textures. Its aromas and tastes are largely a result of
the unique herbs and spices used. Surprisingly, it is
not the number of herbs and spices used but the
intelligent combination or blending of tastes that makes
Thai food so distinctive and wonderful.
Thai
food, like Chinese food, is often stir fried or steamed
in a wok. With stir-frying, the ingredients are
flash-fried and sometimes cook even as it is brought to
the table to be served. This way, the goodness and
vitamins of the ingredients are not destroyed and the
dishes make for a healtheir or more nutritious meal.
Steamed ingredients must also be very fresh, especially
meats or seafood, and this is another hallmark of Thail
food.
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Common names:
For Ocimum
americanum
English: American basil,
hoary basil, lemon basil, lime basil, Thai basil,
Thai lemon basil
Thai: maenglak
(central Thailand), kom ko khao (northern Thailand), tu
(general)
For Ocimum basilicum
English: basil, common basil,
garden basil, Roman basil, sweet basil, Thai basil
Thai: horapha
For Ocimum
tenuiflorum
English: holy basil,
monk's basil, red basil, rough basil, sacred basil,
sacred Thai basil, Siamese basil, Thai basil
Thai: kaphrao, kaphrao daeng khon,
kaphrao khon (central Thailand),
kom ko dong (Chiang
Mai), im-khim-lam (northern Thailand)
Dishes:
Green Curry, Panang
Curry, Red Curry, Chili & Mint Leaves.
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Uses:
For Ocimum
americanum (hoary basil, maenglak)
This is
used primarily as a vegetable and also as a flavouring
for sauces, soup and salads. Medicinally, it is used as
a mouthwash for relieving toothache.
For
Ocimum basilicum (sweet basil, horapha)
This is a very popular savoury herb (certainly in
Thai dishes). Sweet basil is cultivated throughout the
world. Fresh leaves are normally used in cooking and the
leaves should be added just before cooking is complete
to retain their flavour. Medicinally, the sweet basil is
a stimulant and carminative used to treat fever and
malaria. The essential oil is used as a repellent
againts bugs and flies.
For Ocimum
tenuiflorum (holy basil, kaphrao)
This
spice herb is sometimes used as a condiment in fruit and
vegetable salads and other meat dishes. It is used more
widely as a medicinal herb as it is thought to have
antibacterial properties. The Indonesians use it to
treat colds in children, heal wounds and promote
lactation in woman. It is also used to treat gonorrhoea
(in the Philippines) and rheumatism (in
Malaysia). |
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Common names:
For Capsicum
annuum var. annuum
English: chilli,
capcicum, cayenne pepper, perpper
Thai: phrik, phrik chii
faa
For Capsicum
frutescens
English: bird pepper,
bird's eye chilli, chilli, capcicum perpper
Thai: phrik, phrik khii nuu
Dishes:
Pad Kee
Mao, Chilli & Mint Leaves, Tom Kha Gai, Green Curry,
Tom Yum Seafood, Papaya Salad, Squid Salads.
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Uses:
For both species, the ripe
or unripe fruit is used fresh, pickled or dried (only
when ripe) and processed. Raw fruit slices in soy or
fish sauce are eaten with various cooked
dishes.
Thehot-spiciness, or pungency, derives
from the capsaicinoids (alkaloids) in the cross-walls
and placental tissues of the fruit. If one cores out the
centre of fruit which consists of the placenta (the
tissues to which the seeds are attached), the cross-wall
(partitions) and the seeds, then discards them, the
remainder outer fruit wall will hardly be spicy-hot. The
larger the chilli, the easier it is to core out the
placenta and cross-walls without contaminating the
remainder of the chili with the capsaicinoids. |
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Common
names:
English: Chinese
keys, Chinese key, finger root, resurrection lily.
Thai: krachai, khao chae (general),
ka-en (northern Thailand),
wan-phraathit
(Bangkok)
Dishes:
Green Curry, Thai Curry
Pastes, Fish Cake
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Uses:
The highly aromatic
rhizome and tuberous roots are used as a spicy
flavouring for food and pickles, eaten raw with rice (in
Malaysia) or its young shoots eaten raw with rice (in
Java, Indonesia). Its leaves are used together with
those of teak (Tectona grandis) to wrap fungus-fermented
soya beans (tempeh) in East Java.
The The
essential oil from the rhizomes and roots that are
largely responsible for the strong aroma in this plant
consists of the following components: 1,8 cineole (18 to
41%), camphor (13%), d-borneol (9.2%), d-pinene (4.1%),
zingiberene (2.7%) and other minor components. |
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Common
names:
English: corainder
(fruits/seeds, leaves, roots), cilantro (leaves),
Chinese parsley (leaves)
Thai: phakchi (northern Thailand),
phakom (northern
Thailand),
phakom-noi (northeastern Thailand)
Dishes:
Larb, Tom
Kha Gai, Tom Yum Goong, Tom Yum Gai, Tom Yum Seafood.
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Uses:
Dried coriander fruits are
used as a spice. The fresh whole plants and leaves are
used as a culinary herb or vegetable. The fresh taproot
is even more aromatic than the stems or leaves and is
used in China, Thailand and other Southeast Asian
countries in flavouring. The dried green plants and the
dried fruits are traded in commerce.
The
essential oil cintent of fruits varies from trace
amounts to 2% of the air-dried weight and consists of
mainly linalool (60%), numerous monoterpenoids and minor
components such as camphor, geraniol, geranyl acetate,
pinene and terpinene. The aroma of coriander comes from
about 41 volatile components detected in the essential
oil of leaf, with aldehydes making up more than 80% of
these.
Coriander has been used in flok medicine
since ancient times. The application of the green plants
as a cure for measles is an East Asian practice. The
fruits have been noted to have antibilous,
anticatarrhal, antispasmodic, aphrodisiac, carminative,
diuretic, emmenagogue, galactogogue, refrigerant,
stomachic and tonic effects. The essential oil extracted
from the fruits is used to flavour foods, in meficine
and perfumes, while remaining (extracted) fruits is used
to feed cattle. |
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Common
names:
English: cumin,
Roman caraway
Thai: thain kao, yira
(general)
Dishes:
Green Curry, Mas-Sa-Man,
Thai Curry Pastes.
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Uses:
Throughout the world, the
fruits are used, in small quantities, for flavouring
breads, cheeses, chutneys, meat dishes, pickles, rice,
salad dressing, sauerkraut, sausages, soups and stews.
Egyptian. Indian and Turkish curry and chili poerder
mixtures have the ground fruits as an ingredient. The
essential oil extracted from the fruit is found in
various food produtcs, liqueurs and perfumes.
The
essential oil constitutes 2.5 to 5% of the dry weight of
the cumin fruits. The oil includes alcohols (2 to 5%)
mostly aldehydes and ketones (50 to 70%), hydrocarbons
(30 to 50%) and ethers (less than 1%). The distinctive
and pungent odour and taste probably derive from
dihydrocuminaldehyde and
monoterpenes.
Traditional medicine uses the
fruits in mixtures as an astringent, a stimulant, and a
stomachic and also for treating colic and diarrhoea. In
Peninsular Malaysian folk medicine, the fruit is often
pounded together with the leaves of other epecies to
make a poultice for various diseases. The essentail oil
from cumin is used as a light anaesthetic,
antispasmodic, aphrodisiac, carminative, diuretic,
emmenagogue, fungicide, and insecticide and as
veterinary medication. Ethiopians apply a paste of the
pounded leaves to treat skin diseases.
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Common
names:
English: galangal,
greater galangal
Thai: kha
Dishes:
Tom Kha,
Panang Curry, Fish Cake, Curry Pastes.
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Uses:
The rhizome of galangal is
the main part of the plant that is used as a spice. Its
scent is difficult to describe but approximately
resembles a mixture of pepper and common ginger,
although much more pleasant and invigorating. Besides
this, the flowers and young shoots may also be used as a
spice or vegetable. The fruit maybe substituted for the
fruits of true cardamom since they are similar in taste.
The rhizome has also been used for various
traditional medical treatments, such as cancers of the
mouth and stomach, colic, dysentery, indigestion,
enlarged spleen, respiratory, diseases, skin diseases,
systemic infections, cholera, as an expectorant, as a
tonic after childbirth, as a stimulant or aphrodisiac
and even in veterinary medicine.
The flavouring
scent comes from the essential oil extracted from the
rhizome. This oil has been used to flavour ice-cream,
liqueurs, pastry and other foods. One can extract the
oil quite easily by grinding the rhizome and mixing the
pulp with hot water. this aqueous mixture can act as an
insect repellent or insecticide for garden
plants.
Essentail oil content is about 0.1% fresh
weight, and 0.2 ro 1.5% dry weight of the rhizome. The
essential oil is reported to be mainly cineole. Other
compounds isolated from the rhizome have been shown to
be antibacterial, antifungal, antiprorozoal and
antitumour in activity.
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Common
names:
English: garlic
Thai: krathiam
(general),
hom-tiam (northern Thailand)
Dishes:Chili Mint Leaves, Pad Thai,
Chicken Garlic Pepper,
Pork Rips Garlic Pepper,
Papaya Salad, Squid Salad,
Green Curry, Red Curry.
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Uses:
Fresh or dried garlic is
used to flavour meat, fish and salads. Of the Allium
crops, garlic is the second most commonly used after the
onion. The bulb and cloves are used, as are the green
leaves and immature bulbs.
Garlic is also used
medicinally to lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels
as well as inhibit thrombus formation. Because of its
good healthy-giving reputation, there are numerous
pills, capsules, drinks and powders contain garlic
extracts.
The great pungency of the cloves
derives from this sequence of events: When the tissue
are crushed, an enzyme called allinase is released. this
cause the amino acid alliin, also found in the tissues,
to become allicin, which is the main cause of the strong
smell. To counter "garlic breath" after consumption of
fresh garlic, eat some fresh parsley (Petroselinum
crispum). When eaten in quantily, the smell of garlic
may even be detected in the perspiration of dinner.
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Common
names:
English: ginger,
Canton ginger, common ginger, culinary ginger,
green
ginger, stem ginger
Thai: khing,
khing-daeng (general),
khing phueak (Chiang Mai)
Dishes:
Panang
Curry, Pad Prik Khing, Green Curry, Red Curry, Curry
Pastes.
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Uses:
Ginger is a widely used
and the three main produtcs are fresh (green) ginger,
dried whole or powdered ginger and preserved ginger.
Fresh ginger can be made into ginger ale and is used as
a flavouring in Southeast Asia, cooked and taken as a
vegetable or eaten raw. Ground, dried ginger is used
worldwide in cooking and in flavouring confectionery of
processed foods. Preserved ginger is used in jams and
cakes.
Essential oil and ginger oleoresin are the
two main components that give ginger its characteristic
aroma and flavour. The oleoresin gives ginger its
pungency, with the pungent principles being gingerols
and shogoals, which are actually the plant's
non-volatile phenols.
There has been a long
history of the medicinal use of ginger in China and
India. It is used against a wide range of ailments
including boils, chest congestion, colds, coughs,
diarrhoea, dysentery and other gastro-intestinal
problems, fever, itchiness, migraine, nausea and a whole
host of other problems. It can be made into a lotion and
rubbed onto the body after childbirth or applied to
swellings, used against rheumatism or in baths to combat
fever.
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Common
names:
English: lemon
grass, citronella grass, West Indian lemon grass
Thai: khrai (Peninsular
Thailand),
cha khrai (Northern Thailand)
Dishes:
Green
Curry, Curry Pastes, Tom Kha, Tom Yum Goong, Tom Yum
Seafood.
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Uses:
The young erect stem,
together with the leaf bases, is used in Thai cooking.
Since the essential oil which produces the desired aroma
is found mainly in the leaf bases, the leaves have most
of their leaf blades trimmed off to make them more
compact when used. this species is cultivated in home
gardens in Southest Asia for cooking spicy sauces and
curries or in making sherbet. The young stems are
sometimes eaten with rice.
Currently, the leaves
ans stems of lemon grass are used as a source of
essential oil and as a condiment. The oil, consisting
mainly of citral, is used in the manufacture of other
compounds used for perfumes. Citral is a mixture of
geranial (40 to 62%) and neral (25 to 38%), plus smaller
amount of myrcene, limonene and geraniol. the oil is
also used in food products, including
beverages.
This plant is excellent for
controlling soil erosion because its roots can bind soil
effectively on bunds. It can also be used for
mulch.
Lemon grass has medicinal properties and
is used as a carminative or anticholeric and also in
traditional medicine for the treatment of intestinal
problems, eczema, colds, headaches, stomachaches,
abdominal pain and rheumatic pain. Ticks in cattle and
external parasites that live on chickens can be
controlled by applying lemon grass oil. The oil also has
antibacterial ans antifungal properties.
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Common
names:
English: mint
Thai: bai saranae
Dishes:
Larb, Nam Tok, Squid
Salad.
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Uses:
The fresh fragrant leaves
are used mainly as a condiment. The characteristic cool
taste of the leaves is due to menthol which is a
monoterpenoid alcohol. The most important use of mint is
its oil and this is produced on a global scale. In the
period 1990 to 1995, the production of mint from the
japannese cultivar generated US$43 million per year. The
oil is used medicinally in ointments itch-relief creams,
cough syrups, lozenges and tablets and as a flavouring
agent in toothpaste, mouthwash, chewing gum, beverages,
confectionery, cigarettes, etc. In the perfume industry,
it is used in soaps and shampoos.
All over the
world, the mint leaf and is oil have wide medicinal
applications. It is an antispasmodic, astringent,
carminative, emmenagogue, sedative, stimulant,
stomachic, sodorific and frigerant.
In Thailand
especially, the mint leaf is a widely featured culinary
herb.
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Common
names:
English: onion,
common onion, bulb onion
Thai: hom-yai (central Thailand),
hom-huayai (Peninsular
Thailand)
Dishes:
Larb, Tom Yum Goong,
Spicy Salads.
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Uses:
The bulb of this plant is
used as food, seasoning and spice because of its
pungency. The bulbs are used raw, pickled or
cooked.
The onion has been used as a diuretic in
traditional medicine and recent research has indicated
its role in suppressing blood sugar levels and platelet
aggregation.
Its flavour and pungency are owed to
the presence of S-alk(en) cysteine sulphoxides.
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Common
names:
English: pepper,
black pepper, white pepper
Thai: phrik-thai (central Thailand),
phrik-noi (northern
Thailand)
Dishes:
Chicken Garlic Pepper.
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Uses:
Pepper gets its
distinctive pungency from piperine, and the aroma is
derived from its essential oil, which is made up mainly
of monoterpene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons. Pepper as
a spice was already used as far back as the 12th
century, with Rome and Europe as the main importers.
Surprisingly, there is a lack of traditional use of
pepper in Southeast Asia. The increase in the use of
pepper in the region is attributed to industrial
development and expanding tourism.
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Common
names:
English: sawtooth
coriander, spiny coriander, Mexican coriander
Thai: phakchi-farang (central
Thailand),
hom-pomkula, mae-lae-doe (northern
Thailand)
Dishes:
Larb.
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Uses:
The aromatic leaves, which
smell like those of coriander; are used fresh to flavour
curries, rice and fish dishes, soups and stews. The
tender, young, fresh (or cooked) leaves are eaten as
vegetable. The essential oils, obtained by steam
distillation of the leaves and roots, consist mostly of
aldehydes and some monoterpene hydrocarbons. The
aldehydes consist mostly of alkanals and alkenals and
are thought to be responsible for the strong aroma of
the plant.
A decoction of the root has been used
medicinally as an antipyretic, a diuretic, a stimulant
or a sudorific, whereas the decoction or juice of the
leaves has been used as an antipyretic, a cure for
colds, a laxative and a stimulant. The decoction of the
whole plant is used to treat high blood pressure, and as
an abortifacient, aphrodisiac and
emmenagogue.
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Common
names:
English: shallot,
potato onion, multiplier onion
Thai: hom, hom-daeng, hom-lek
Dishes:
Larb.
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Uses:
The raw bulb of the plant
is used as food, seasoning and spice because of its
pungency. When used as a spice for meats and seafood,
shallot may be sliced and mixed with soy sauce or ground
and blended with other ingredients. It is also pickled
or fried. The young inflorescence (flowering shoot) can
be eaten as a vegetable. Used throughout the world's
cuisines, cultivated Allium plants are probably the most
indispensable ingredient.
The pungency in
shallots is dependant on the amount of S-alk(en)nyl
cysteine sulphoxides per unit in fresh
weight.
Beacause of its antibacterial properties,
shallots are also used traditional medicine for reducing
fevers or healing wounds. Farmers in some areas grow
garlic and shallots in plots which were previously used
to grow other crop to "cleanse" the plots of pathogens
as part of crop rotation practice. The plant can also be
used to lower blood sugar levels and inhibit platelet
aggregation when eaten raw or cooked or consimed as an
extract or powder.
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Common
names:
English: spring
onion, scallion, Welsh onion, bunching onion
Thai: ton-hom (central
thailand),
hom-chin (Peninsular Thailand)
Dishes:
Fish Cake,
Fried Rice, Tom Yom
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Uses:
The pesudostem region,
which is white in colour, rather fleshy and just above
the bulb region, consists of concentric sheaths of the
leaf based and are eaten as a vegetable, usually fried
with chicken or fish. When the hollow leaves are sliced
into short pieces, they become short, hollow cylinders.
These are used in salad or to flavour soups and other
dishes. This species is less pungent than Allium cepa
crops mentioned earlier (shallot and onion).
The
mind pungency derives from volatile
allyl-sulphides.
Planting this species in garden
can prevent or reduce termite infestation, and the
diluted juice pressed from the plants is used to
eradicate aphids in China. Chinese tradition medicine
uses this plant to improve the functioning of internal
argans and metabolism, to improve eyesight, to aid
digestion and to improve recovery from colds, headaches,
festering sores and wounds.
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Refference:
Hugh
T.W.Tan. / Herbs and Spicies of Thailand |
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1227 N. Mills Ave Orlando FL 32803 |
Tel: (407) 203-5088 |
©Copyright 2015 Pop Thai, All Rights Reserved.
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