How to Prepare Yourself For Cooking Thai Food

Ever wondered how Thai stir fries and noodle dishes taste so fresh and appetizing? The secret behind it is the manner in which they are cooked. Typically, Thais cook their food at flaming temperatures and just for a few minutes. This method helps retain the natural flavors and nutrients of the ingredients, especially vegetables that retain their crunchiness.

The secret to cooking delicious Thai food lies in preparing ingredients before starting the actual cooking process, because cooking in a wok is 'fast and furious.'

Preparing to Cook Thai Food

The best way to start preparing for cooking Thai is to complete the grinding first. So, if your recipe requires some paste, get that done and ready first. You can use a food processor or a traditional pestle and mortar to do the grinding and retain the taste and authenticity. Else, use a coffee grinder for dry grinding.

Once you've got the grinding done, ready the vegetables. Cut your vegetables in to desired shapes and sizes and place them in separate dishes on your kitchen counter based on how they are to be used in your recipe. Chop any meat (if the recipe demands it) or meat substitute such as tofu, if needed once the vegetables have been chopped.

Cooking Thai Food

In order to cook Thai food at home, you don't need any special cookware.

Wok: the most important cooking tool. If you don't have a wok, you can even use a deep frying pan. Buy a wok made of high-quality SS (stainless steel). You can also buy a wok with non-stick coating.

Spatulas: also known as wooden spoons or shovels, they are used to stir-fry the various ingredients. Use soft wooden spoons if your wok has a non-stick surface. Spatulas made of hard material can damage your wok's coating.

Oil: peanut or coconut oil is the preferred choices for most Thai chefs. Both oils give a good flavor to Thai food dishes whether stir-fried or deep-fried. Other oils that can be used include canola, sunflower, and corn etc.

Heat: heat should be kept on medium-high or high for best tasting Thai food.

Finally, arrange your dish on a serving platter or simply eat it from the wok. Thai food tastes best that way!

For more information on how and where to get a traditional pestle and mortar or Asian kitchenware visit our Thai Food website.

Thai Food and Great Dishes to Prepare

Do you love authentic Thai dishes as well as American Thai combos? If you do and you love to eat such food, you are not alone, in fact these types of foods are amongst my favorites too. So, let me recommend a most excellent cookbook for you, one I am sure you will enjoy and thank me for later. The cookbook to which I refer is:

"Tommy Tang's Modern Thai Cuisine" by Tommy Tang; Double Day Publishing, New York, NY; 1991.

Tommy Tang is a master chef and owner of fine Thai Restaurants in Los Angeles and New York. This book has over 90 Thai Recipes in it, much more than his menu and many of these recipes are illustrated. This cookbook is unique in that it has a glossary of all the ingredients in the front and if you buy all those for your kitchen you will be able to prepare any of the fine dishes in the book. This sure makes it easy to make great Thai food at home.

I think you will enjoy the Thai Chili Fish and Thai Pasta, of course, for me it is hard to decide which is better Tommy's Duck recipe or his special sushi. Tommy dedicated this book to his mom with a great poem and judging by his generosity in sharing all this with the world, I'd say Tommy is the real deal and I'll be happy to eat in any of his restaurants, if I do not cook his delicious dishes in my own custom kitchen. This book is a must for those who wish to cook Thai food at home.

Tommy has a unique way of mixing and matching cultures to find the best of everything, some of the dishes are pure Thai and others are modified to fit nearly anyone's taste buds. The juries in; Tommy Rocks.