7 Essential Ingredients To Stock Up If You Love Thai Food

By Devi Poojari

April 9, 2024

Recreating a dish or two at home from a cuisine that you love can be a different experience when compared to the time you ate at a restaurant. While it might not be possible for one to have as elaborate a kitchen, having a few essentials can help in replicating a similar satisfaction in home cooking.

FISH SAUCE

One of the staple condiments in Thai cooking, fish sauce boosts the umami flavours in salad dressings, sauces, marinades, stews and soups.

PALM SUGAR

To complement the fiery flavours of Thai food, a balance of sweetness comes from the use of deliciously caramel-like chunks of palm sugar.

COCONUT MILK

The sublimely rich and comforting flavours of coconut milk add aroma and taste to not only savoury Thai preparations but also many sweet ones.

DARK SOY

Like fish sauce, dark soy is meant to bring a complexity in savoury flavours of all kinds of meat, vegetable and seafood preparations.

SWEET CHILLI SAUCE

Whether it’s a stir fry that needs some enhancement or a piece of grilled chicken that could use a condiment, a bottle of fiery but sugary chilli sauce comes to the rescue.

TURMERIC ROOT

If a curry paste is on the cards or a soulful pot of broth needs some aromatic infusion, fresh or even dried turmeric root brings an earthiness that is incomparable.

DRIED NOODLES

Thin rice noodles for a cold salad or the slightly thick rice ones for some Pad Thai, having a few packets of noodles in different compositions save time in coming up with a carb component.