Common Ingredients

Here we feature several common ingredients in Thai cooking, with explanations of the type of dishes and preparations used for these ingredients. Also with an indication of their health benefits.

1. Bean Sprouts

Bean sprouts are grown from the green bean seed. Planted in trays, the sprouts grow quite quickly. They don't keep very long, even in refrigeration, so are best eaten fresh. These sprouts are usually included as a key incredient in Thai noodle dishes, such as Pad Thai. Bean sprouts can detoxify the whole body, and remove environmental toxins such as lead and pesticides.

2. Pak Ka Na (Chinese Broccoli)

A dark green vegetable with strong, thin, long round trunks, soft, deep green delicate leaves and sometimes tiny white flowers. Pak Ka Na is normally used in stir fries, for example Pad See-Ew. It can also be steamed or used in soups. The nutrient rich green leaves contain high levels of phyto-nutrients and vitamins, extremely healthy, especially when not over-cooked. Beneficial to the stomach and for healthy urinary tract.

3. Rice Noodles

These rice noodles, called Sen Lek, are made from rice flour. Rice noodles are used in stir fries and of course for noodle dishes, such as Cashew Nut Noodles, Drunken Noodles and Tom Yum Noodle soup.

4. Rice

Thai people eat much of their food served with rice. There are various methods for cooking rice in Thai cuisine. It can be boiled, fried, cooked in soups and steamed for sticky rice. Many different types of rice are used in Thailand, broadly divided into white rice and brown rice. There are more than fifty varieties of rice still grown in Thailand. Some loss of genetic diversity has occurred, but farmers are working to document and protect the diversity of rice varieties in Thailand.