THAILAND Culinary Tools Pictured below are the tools and utensils which have been used in Thai

kitchens for years. These items were originally brought by Thai ancestors who migrated from China to the northern part of Thailand. If you walked into a traditional Thai kitchen, here is what you would be likely to find: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Stove: This is the crude charcoal burner, built of either clay or metal, on which sits a wok, large pot or steamer. Tongs: These are used chiefly for handling the charcoal. Fan: This is used to get the fire started in the stove by fanning the coals. Bamboo Tube: This has the same function as the fan, to keep the charcoal glowing. In this case, the air is blown onto the fire through the tube. Grill: Placed on top of the stove to cook meat or fish. Skewer: This utensil, like the grill, is laid across the stove. One end of the skewer is sharp and pointed, and meat and vegetables can be speared on it and cooked in shish-kebob style. Wok: This is easier to clean and distributes heat more evenly than a conventional frying pan. It is also less likely to be damaged. Used for conventional frying, stir-frying and deep-fat frying. Spatula: Made of wood, or metal with a wooden handle, used for stir-frying in the wok. Rice Pot: A clay pot with a lid and no handles. This pot is used almost exclusively for rice. Coconut Shell Spoon: A simple spoon with a wooden handle, which comes in many sizes. There are also similar utensils made with halves of coconut shells, used as ladles. Curry Pot: This clay pot has large handles on the sides that curve up above the level of the lid, which makes it easy to carry. As the name implies, it is used for the large variety of curries which the Thai people enjoy. Steamer: This is made of clay or aluminum, and fits atop the mouth of the charcoal burner. Since the Thai eat rice with every meal, a steamer is no luxury, but a part of every kitchen. (In fact, in Thai, the verb "to eat" is "gkin kao" which literally means "to eat rice") Bamboo Strainer: This is handy for straining many foods, especially rice. Coconut Grater: Since coconut is used so extensively in Thai cooking, this utensil is almost a necessity and used by every housewife. Chopping Block: This block, unlike its Western counterpart, is usually round instead of square or rectangular in shape. Rice Grinder (Mill): To make rice flower, the cook puts rice into the top opening and turns the crank. The pressure inside the mill reduces the rice to powder. Cleaver: This large knife is used to chop, slice and dice the meats and the vast array of vegetables and herbs in Thai cooking. Glutinous Rice Basket: This tightly woven basket keeps sticky rice warm and moist, preserving it for a surprisingly long time without refrigeration. Mortar and Pestle: the mortar is made of crude earthenware, stone or hardwood, and is deep with a weighted base. The pestle is chunky. They are especially designed to cope with the moist curry pastes and for bruising lemon grass, citrus rind, garlic and coriander roots. Cupboard: Formerly always made of wood, but now often seen in lightweight aluminum. Used for storing dried condiments, bottled sauces, dinnerware, eating utensils and drinking vessels, etc.

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13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

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Three other widely used cooking aids deserving of mention are: 21. Bamboo Handled Frying Basket:: This is a large but shallow metal-mesh basket with a bamboo handle, used to lower all manner of foods into boiling oil for deep-frying.

22. Noodle or Vegetable Cooking Basket: Another wire-mesh basket attached to a long bamboo handle, but this is flower pot shaped, deep and about 5 centimeters in diameter. Used for blanching vegetables or for plunging noodles into boiling water. 23. Banana Leaf: The all purpose banana leaf, serves as kitchen foil, waxed paper and plastic wrap, all rolled into one. Steamed foods are wrapped in it, serving containers are shaped from it, and it is also used in numerous ways in making or being part of offerings taken to the temple on Buddhist holy days. Main Ingredients Used In Cooking Thai Food Bean Noodles: Noodles are an important ingredient in many Thai foods. Like all other Thai food ingredients, there are different types of noodles and moong bean noodles are one of these. It is interesting to note that even the same ingredient when used in different Thai food dishes is cooked differently. Bean noodles or mung bean noodles are referred to by many other names such as transparent noodles, glass noodles or thread noodles. In certain dishes, the glass noodles are just plunged into hot water and quickly taken out. In other dishes like the Thai spring roll, the bean noodles are first cut into small pieces of around 2.5cm and then cooked in boiling water. It is important that you understand the characteristics and properties of all ingredients used in cooking Thai food. This will ensure that you purchase the right ingredient when you visit the grocery store. Brown Rice: Rice is an important ingredient in Thai food but, what is very interesting is Thai brown rice which is infact unpolished rice. Brown rice is believed to have a high nutritional value and the most important health benefit of brown rice comes from it's high fibre content. Rice is normally polished and this is what makes rice seeds white in color. The brown layer on the rice (bran) has good nutritional value but is removed in the polishing process. Medical research has now confirmed many health benefits that can be achieved by eating brown rice and this has resulted in a steady increase in the consumption of unpolished rice. Brown rice is cooked the same way as white rice is cooked, the only difference is the soaking process. When cooking brown rice it is necessary to first soak the rice in water for 25 to 30 minutes. This helps to soften the bran layer that clings to the rice seed. We have prepared a complete report on brown rice with useful suggestions and tips. Thai Curry Paste: The curry paste is an important ingredient in many Thai food dishes. We present the recipe for the very popular Thai red curry paste, the clear instructions and detailed steps make this an easy Thai recipe to try. You could buy a readymade Thai red curry paste mix, but making it yourself adds to the excitement and also gives you better control over the final flavour and taste of your Thai curry paste. The red curry paste is added to many Thai dishes and gives the food a hot and spicey flavour. If this is your first attempt at cooking Thai food, moderate the quantity of the Thai curry paste when cooking. The ingredients for the curry paste are easy to find, but make sure that you carefully read the recipe before starting to make this curry paste. You can store the red curry paste and use it in small portions as needed. If sealed in a tightly closed glass jar, your Thai curry paste can be refrigerated and used for around 2-3 months. Coconut Milk: When talking about ingredients in Thai food, we could never miss coconut milk. This is one of the main ingredients used in Thai cooking. Dishes ranging from sweet Thai desserts to spicey and hot servings use coconut milk as a main ingredient. If you are shopping for Thai food ingredients in Thailand, you will not have much problem in finding a pack of ready made coconut milk. Asian stores in the U.S and Europe sometimes stock coconut milk in a ready to use form. It might not always be possible to get readymade coconut milk, and this is the reason for including this article. We provide detailed recipes for making coconut milk and also explain the difference between coconut milk and coconut cream. Since coconut milk is the main ingredient in many Thai food dishes, you really cannot avoid using it. Excluding coconut milk in such cases would change the overall flavour and consistency of your Thai food cooking. We have provided three recipes to choose from so do read this section.

Lemon Grass: One of the famous Thai food ingredients is lemon grass or 'takraai'. Thai cooking uses lemon grass in soups, stews and stir fried dishes. The ingredient that gives the intense lemon aroma and flavour to many Thai dishes is lemon grass. Taste lemon grass and you will be impressed with it's lemon flavour, a hint of ginger will also be noticed. Lemon grass as an ingredient in Thai food is used in two ways. Thai lemon grass and lemon grass mean the same thing. Traditionally, lemon grass was used in South East Asian nations like, Vietnam, Thailand, China and Malaysia. The irresistable aroma of fresh lemon grass, has impressed cooks and food lovers all over the globe. Substitutes for fresh lemon grass could be dried lemon grass, powdered lemon grass and lemon grass paste. We have prepared a complete report on lemon grass. You will understand the meaning of lemon grass and also get valuable tips on using this popular Thai food ingredient in your cooking. Read our comprehensive report on lemon grass by clicking here. Galangal: This is a very common ingredient in Thai food, yet people often mistake it for the more common ginger. Galangal has a much lighter color as compared to ginger, it sometimes has pinkish portions. There are two types of galangal and these are called khaa and krachaai in Thailand. Fresh galangal tastes the best, you can however use dried or powdered galangal if fresh galangal is not available. As a common Thai food ingredient, galangal and ginger are processed in a similar way. However, the taste and flavour of ginger and galangal are distinctly different. Galangal is much harder than ginger and is therefore sliced into pieces before it is crushed. Delicious Thai curry pastes use galangal as one of the main ingredients. The origins of galangal can be traced to Indonesia and China, it can however be found in almost every nation today. Many grocery stores stock galangal powder, this is common even in Thailand where fresh galangal is easily available. It is the convenience factor that draws people to use galangal powder. Eggplant: This is a popular ingredient in many Thai food dishes. Also known as aubergine, eggplants can range in size from a tiny peanut size to, large sizes that can be upto 10 inches long. The Thai green chicken curry recipe uses two types of eggplants for ingredients, one type is shown here in the adjacent image and is around 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter. The second type of eggplant used is just the size of a pea. There are different types of eggplants, the color range could be from green to white and dark purple to almost black. Thailand is the only country which we have come across where, people eat raw eggplants. Besides being used as an ingredient in Thai food, the Thais also eat eggplants raw with spicy dips (sauces) or even with a dry mixture of salt and chilli powder. Though generally regarded as a vegetable when used as an ingredient in many recipes, the eggplant is biologically classified as a fruit and not a vegetable. Most Thai food recipes advise to retain the skin of the eggplant during the cooking process. Chilli Oil called naam phrik Phao in Thai, Spicy chili oil is a Thai food ingredient. As the recipe for the Thai chili oil will show, the ingredient would rightly be called chilli and oil. Nam phrik Phow is a popular ingredient in Thai food and many dishes list it as a requirement. The best thing about cooking the spicy chilly oil is that, you can keep it in the refrigerator for around 2 months. For those of you who love to cook Thai food, the convenience factor of having this ingredient ready in the refrigerator is very helpful. So the spicy chili oil is not a Thai food dish on it's own, however it is absolutely essential in giving the right flavor to many Thai food dishes. As you get into the actual cooking of the Thai chili oil recipe, you will notice that there are two ingredients in the entire list that is non vegetarian and that is the shrimp and fish sauce. If you are a seasoned cool, a little experimentation will allow you to replace these two ingredients with vegetarian substitutes - this ofcourse is presuming that you want to go veg. The naam phrik pao will get a deep red color, this is due to the Mexican Chili peppers added to the recipe.

Vietnamese Kitchen Cooking Utensil Bowl and Chopsticks are common in Vietnam as well as some other Asian countries like China, Korean, Japan... However, in Vietnam they are something more than their physic. Chopsticks are simple sticks. They could be bamboo, wooden, silver or whatever as long as they are straight and have the same spanned length. Chopsticks both lengthen the reach to all people sitting around the serving tray and cover all the tasks as dig up the pot of cooked rice, pick up and split up food to pieces, stir vegetable soup or dipping sauce A single chopstick won't work until there is its partner. That's why a pair of chopsticks is a symbol for a couple. In the old days, a broken pair omens an unhappy ending marriage while differences between husband and wife about their social standings, family background were compared with a pair of odd chopsticks or moldy ones put on a red lacquered serving tray. In restaurants, western serving set is usually used but only for western or other normal foods. An original Vietnamese meal with chopsticks may be much better to take people's fancies. Chopsticks, actually, are typical for wet rice agriculture and become a part in Vietnamese immaterial culture. Vietnamese Cooking pot, Central Highlands, 19th-20th century Earthenware with vegetal resin Bamboo Steamer There are a variety of steamers on the market, but the most convenient and conventional option is a pair of pots one having a perforated bottom and lid. Bamboo Steamer Bamboo Steamer is a three piece set with two stacking bamboo steamer baskets and a lid for steaming different foods at each level. Use these steamer baskets in a wok or set atop a stock pot. The Steamer measures 10" in diameter and 6" high. Wok An all-purpose cooking tool that distributes heat evenly, it is perfect for stir-frying, deep-frying and steaming. The best, and most economical choice, is a 14-inch wok made from uncoated carbon steel. The wok is a masterful invention of the Chinese. It is used throughout China and Southeast Asia. The Mohr Khang as it is called in Thai and Lao, has such great utility that no kitchen is without one. In it we can boil, stir fry, steam, braise, or deep fry. If you decide to make an investment in any piece of kitchen equipment, the wok is the single most versatile piece of equipment on which you cannot afford to skimp. Burner Collar

American stoves are not designed to handle a wok. The shape of the wok is rounded and a wok burner collar allows the wok to sit firmly over the flame of your burner. They are inexpensive, costing less than $5.00, and are essential to using your wok. An image of the wok collar show that it contains holes around its circumference. The holes allow oxygen to combust with the burner flame and forces the heat to be focused at the bottom of the wok; just where you need it. Spatula

A long-handled instrument that will keep the food in motion while stir-frying. The Chinese invented this form of spatula. It is used in conjunction with the ladle (left image). The right handed Chef uses the Spatula in the right hand and the Ladle in the left hand to quickly toss and turn the ingredients in the wok. A good quality spatula and ladle are made from stainless and have some weight to them. They are generally of the same length and have wooden handles to insulate them from the heat generated in the wok from eventually reaching your hands. The Thai word for the spatula is Daliew and the ladle is called a Jong. Ladle or Large Serving Spoon A shallow, bowl shaped instrument with a long handle. Great for removing food and sauces from woks. Wok Skimmer This wok skimmers will help you drain food from hot oil or boiling water. Both wok skimmers feature wooden handle and the brass mesh bowls. The large wok skimmer is 15.5 inches long and the brass mesh bowl is 6 inches in diameter. The small wok skimmer is 12 inches long and the brass mesh bowl is 4 inches in diameter. Tongs A traditional pair of tongs will work well for removing fried foods from hot oil. Bamboo Brush Pieces of bamboo provide a gentle scour to clean your carbon steel wok. Mortar and Pestle While it may not appear on the surface that there is a difference between using a food blender as opposed to a mortar and pestle there is a significant difference. A food blender set to puree does not produce the same result as a mortar and pestle when crushing chili peppers. The object of the mortar and pestle is to extract the juices from the chili and to pulverize the fibrous cells of the pepper. At most, a food blender just gives you smaller pieces of the same chili. Kitchen Cleaver A large, heavy knife, about eight inches long and four inches wide. It will come in handy when chopping meat. Traditional Asian cleaver design. High-carbon stainless steel blade. Comfortable, round hardwood handle. Perfect balance and weight. For slicing. For Chopping. Kitchen Knife Extra sharp all-purpose knife. Traditional Asian cleaver design. High-carbon stainless steel blade. Comfortable, round hardwood handle. Perfect balance and weight. For slicing. Knife Steel blade. Traditional wood handle. Perfect for slicing & pealing fish, seafood, fruit and other ingredients.

Chopping Boards and Cutting Boards I prefer a wood chopping block over plastic. Plastic is too hard on the cutting edge of your cutting tools. In the restaurant we use chopping boards made from a special compound which has a feel of rubber to it. After excessive use we simply discard them and purchase new ones. Whether you use wood or plastic, you will need to scrub it with a brush between uses and sanitize it with Clorox (see below Special Notes on Sanitizing). After excessive use, you can resurface a wood board by simply sanding it to remove knife scars. Plastic boards with deep scars are best discarded. The Lao word for a cutting board is "giang'.

Popular Ingredients Used in Vietnamese Cooking Fresh Lemongrass Lemongrass is seen in many Asian recipes from Vietnam, Thailand, and even some Chinese recipes. It imparts a tangy flavor and slight lemon fragrance in dishes such as curries, soups, and marinades. The leaves of lemon grass are fibrous and often used to flavor soups or curries when cooking, but not eaten. When used in marinades and sauces, the yellow and more bulbous part is bruised, minced, or grated. If fresh lemon grass is not available in the vegetable and herb section of the grocery store, consider checking the ethnic foods aisle for a dried version. Although not as fragrant as fresh lemongrass, it is an acceptable substitute rather than doing without. Bird's Eye Chili Peppers Used often in Vietnamese recipes, bird's eye chili peppers definitely crank up the heat on any dish. Be warned though, the small white specks are the seeds and each one packs some serious heat. The Scoville Scale puts these little red peppers between 100,000 - 225,000 heat units (right in the range of a Habanero), whereas a Serrano pepper only ranks 6,000 - 23,000. If bird's eye chili peppers are unavailable or too hot for some palates, consider substituting another small red pepper, like the Thai chili. If that is still too hot, consider the mild Serrano or Jalapeno pepper. Round Rice Papers These are one of the most important staples in Vietnamese cooking. Round rice papers are found in the ethnic foods aisle and are basically hard white discs in plastic packages. When immersed in water, rice papers become soft and pliable; however, they still require a delicate touch when wrapping as the texture is rather sticky, much like plastic wrap. Round rice papers are used in various spring roll recipes and work well for deep frying as well. These should be easy to find in most grocery stores; but consider using spring roll paper if the round rice papers are unavailable. Vietnamese Fish Sauce Although similar to Thai fish sauce, the Vietnamese version has a different and more distinct taste. Typical Thai fish sauce is more salty, while the Vietnamese one is more tangy. Thai fish sauce is typically easier to find in western grocery stores and can be a viable substitute if necessary.

Either version of fish sauce is going to have a strong odor and should be added to any dish in small amounts, adjusting to taste. For those concerned about a strong flavor, fish sauce can be tempered with ingredients like lime juice, sugar, and even a little vinegar. Rice Noodles and Vermicelli Noodles are a traditional staple in almost every type of Asian cuisine, and Vietnamese dishes are no exception. Items like rice vermicelli and thin flat rice noodles are good items to keep on hand. Both of these are typically available in fresh and dried versions, with the dried versions being easier to use. Fresh Asian noodles tend to take some familiar skill when cooking, otherwise they can easily disintegrate if overcooked. Obviously there are many more staple ingredients utilized in Vietnamese cuisine, but having these on hand can ease the shopping process when searching for a weeknight Asian dinner recipe.