The secret to great Thai food is the balance of the four key Thai flavors — hot, sour, salty and sweet.
Thai Pantry| Essential ingredients for authentic Southeast Asian meals
Dry Goods:
- Fish sauce, also called nam pla. Indispensable for authentic Thai food, and lasts forever in the cupboard.
- Black soy sauce. Sweeter and thicker than regular soy sauce, used mostly in braises and stirfries.
- Coconut milk. Used in southern-style curries and desserts.
- Palm sugar. Lends rich sweetness to main courses and desserts.
- Rice noodles. Noodles are in fact the only food that Thais eat with chopsticks; most everything else is eaten with a spoon and a fork.
- Rice. Either the sticky rice popular in the north and northeast, or the long-grain jasmine rice common in the central plains and south. Almost every meal is served with rice — in fact, the Thai verb "to eat," kin khao, literally means "to eat rice."
Perishables:
- Garlic
- Ginger and Galangal
- Lemongrass
- Curry and chile pastes
- Shrimp paste
- Basil (especially Thai basil)
- Cilantro
- Chiles (small bird's eye chiles and long, milder green ones)
- Limes (regular limes and Kaffir lime leaves)
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