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Glossary
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Ingredients
Mung
Bean Noodles (Woon Sen)
Appearance
: Woon Sen are hard opaque noodles made from green bean
(Mung Bean) curled up in bundles. They are popular the most
in recipes of Yum (salad). You need to soak them in water
to soften before cooking any dishes. They will become soft
and translucent once cooked. When you buy them from the market,
make sure that you do not confuse them with a pack of Sen
Mee (rice vermicelli) because they almost look the same.
Flavour
: Soft and textured.
Rice
Noodles (Sen Guay Teow)
Appearance
: The same idea as pasta, rice noodles also come in various
shapes. The biggest flat one is called Sen Yai while the smaller
flat variety is called Sen Lek. Sen Mee is the one always
confused with Mung Bean Noodles with its tiny round thread
shape. Yellow noodles which normally come with the soup are
called Ba-Mee. This type is different from others because
it contains wheat flour and eggs as main ingredients. Noodles
are the commonest dishes for lunch.
Flavour
: All are texture and bland tasting.
Thai
Spaghetti (Khanom Jeen)
Appearance
: Khanom Jeen is the white round noodle made from glutinous
flour. They are usually sold fresh in small bundles arranged
in baskets laid with banana leaves. The noodles are always
set aside with various types of sauce such as Nam Phrik (sweet
chili paste), Nam Ya (fish curry soup), Sao Nam (coconut sauce
with pineapple) and Nam Ngeow (spare ribs soup).
Flavour
: Texture and bland tasting.
Tofu
(Tao-Hoo)
Appearance
: Tofu or beancurd comes in various types—some hard, some
soft, some in yellow, some in white and some available in
tubes. Thais call the softest one “tao huay”. It is a common
dish for vegetarian as well as general cuisine. Tofu is a
cheaper and healthier way of adding a source of protein to
Asian diets.
Flavour
: Soft and tasteless
Benefit for health : Tofu is very great for health. It
contains high protein, calcium, iron and vitamins. Vegetarians
and overweight people even use tofu as a substitute to protein
from meat. Very easy to digest. Perfect for those who suffer
from high blood pressure since it is low in cholesterol.
Curry
Paste (Phrik Gaeng)
Appearance
: Thais use different pastes in various types of curry.
The red paste is made from dried chili while the green one
is made from fresh hot pepper. But both are blended with coriander,
lemongrass, garlic, onion and salt. The former is used to
make red curry and pa-nang curry. The later is for a popular
green curry. Moreover, there are particular types of curry
paste for different regional favorite dishes such as “Hung
Lay” of the north and “Massaman” of the north. In market,
you can find curry pastes sold fresh or even available in
cans and packs.
Flavour
: Very hot with aromatic scent of herbs. Normally, the
green kind tastes much stronger and deeply hotter than others.
Oyster
Sauce (Sauce Hoy Nang Rom)
Appearance
: In Thai Cuisine, oyster sauce is essentially used in
stir frying recipes. Using only a tablespoon, this dark and
thick sauce yields a pleasant smell with a harmony of slightly
sweet and little salty taste to the food. It should be added
while constantly stir-frying which will help the ingredients
mix evenly. Oyster sauce is sold in bottles and available
in markets everywhere.
Flavour
: Sweet and slightly salty
Coconut
Milk (Nam Ga-thi)
Appearance
: To get some fresh coconut milk, add smaller amounts
of water into shredded ripe coconut and squeeze it through
a sieve. The volume of water defines the thickness. It is
necessary to know what recipe you want to make because different
dishes have different requirements of coconut milk. Fresh
coconut milk won’t be good if it is left for more than 3 hours.
To store for a longer time, simply add a pinch of salt and
boil it. Leave it cool and keep in the refrigerator. Ready-made
coconut milk is also available in cartons and cans. Same as
the fresh one, coconut milk in cans also get easily spoiled
in a very short period of time after it is opened. For Thais,
coconut milk is the main ingredient for many curries and desserts.
Flavour
: Rich and creamy
Fermented
Whole Soybeans (Tao-jiaw)
Appearance
: Tao-jiaw is a brew of soybeans and salt. This brown
color sauce is contained and sold in bottles. Normally, there
are two types of Tao-jiaw sauce—dark and white. Both are popularly
used to add salty taste to Sauteed Morning Glory (Phad Phak
Boong), to make a particular sauce for Steamed Chicken Rice
(Khao Man Gai) and a famous dip called “Tao-jiaw Lon” (Stirred
Coconut Milk with fermented soybeans). They are also common
ingredients which provide a good source of protein to vegetarian
diets.
Flavour
: Salty with a pleasant smell of fermented soybeans
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