Ingredients and Important Notes

There are only 2 ingredients needed, not counting the water and the oil. Pay attention to my notes as it's crucial you use the right ingredients. For amounts, see the full recipe card below.

The Gear

Though the recipe is very simple, it's important to have the right equipment for smooth, successful noodle making. Here's what you need:

• A large steamer. A diameter of 14 inches is ideal as it'll fit a good size pan. If you don't have a Chinese style multi-tier steamer, you can place a steamer rack inside a wok or a large dutch oven provided you have a lid for it.
• A pan for steaming noodles. My easiest solution is to use a cheap non-stick cake pan you can find at any dollar stores, or a stainless steel prep tray common in Japanese dollar stores. And "cheap" is because these tend to be the thinnest which is what we want.
  Here are the characteristics of a good pan for making noodle sheets:
  • Thin metal pan that is smooth. Thin and metal will ensure that each noodle sheet cools down quickly, which will speed up the process. Smoother surfaces such as stainless steel or non-stick will release the noodles more easily.
  • Non-stick, preferably. Nonstick pans makes peeling noodles off easier, but it's not a deal breaker. Stainless steel also works with a little more fussing as you can see in the video tutorial.
  • As big as will fit into your steamer. The bigger the pan, the fewer sheets you have to make, reducing the total cooking time.
  • Rectangles are better, but round is fine. Rectangles will create evenly sized noodles, so go with this if you have a choice.
  • Low sides. Since you have to get your hands in there to peel the noodle sheets, lower sides will make this easier to access. (So a loaf pan is not ideal for this reason).

Step-by-Step: How to Make Fresh Rice Noodles

Here's a bird's eye view of the process, but if it's your first time I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success. You'll have a much better idea of what to do after watching the video!

1. Combine the rice flour and tapioca starch, then add water little by little, just until a soft dough forms.
2. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes (info on why kneading is done below).
3. Add the rest of the water all at once and use your hand to swish it around to dissolve it into a smooth batter.
4. Let it rest while you set up the steamer, bringing the water to a full boil.

5. Lightly but thoroughly oil your pan - using paper towel is better than a brush for this as I find a brush leaves too much oil. While you're at it also oil the plate/tray you're going to use to place cooked noodles.
6. Place the pan on the steamer, then stir the batter well and pour in the required amount of batter (see below for how much batter you need per sheet). Initially the batter will run to one side; use steamer tongs (or oven gloves) to wiggle the pan to even out the batter. As some of the batter cooks and clings to the pan, you will be able to get a full coverage.
7. Once the batter is evenly spread out, cover and steam for about 1 minute.
8. When it's done, the top will look matt and you may get air bubbles underneath the noodle sheet.

9. Let the noodles cool completely. I suggest preparing an ice bath or running cold tap water over the back of the pan to cool it quickly.
10. Once completely cooled, brush the top with a generous amount of oil.
11. Use a rubber spatula to free the edges from the pan; if using nonstick, this may not be necessary but always check to make sure the edges have released.
12. Slowly peel the noodles off the pan.

13. Place the noodles down on an oiled plate.
14. If on the pan there is a big patch of residual batter left on, scrub it off with a dish brush before you do your next sheet. Small spots here and there is fine. Repeat the process, being sure to re-oil the pan each time.

How Much Batter To Use - A Formula

It's obvious but it must be said, how much batter you need per sheet of noodle will depend on the size of the pan you're using, so here's a formula for calculating the amount of batter required (roughly).

Surface area of pan in sq. in. x 1.1 ml = amount of batter per sheet (ml)

So calculate the surface area of your pan in square inches (remember geometry class?), multiply it by 1.1, then round up/down to an amount that's easy enough to measure as it does not have to be super precise.

As explained by Dr. Teeprakorn Kongraksawech, a food scientist from Oregon State University who told me:

In an industry level, a flour slurry is allowed to equilibrate for many hours before cooking it so flour becomes fully hydrated. A study compared noodles made from a 27-hr slurry vs a 3-hr slurry. The 27-hr slurry noodles were shinier, softer, and chewier. For a household/small-scale level, we may not want to wait that long. Slowly adding water and kneading will allow the flour to absorb more water.

So there, you can either knead or wait for the perfect noodles.

Storing Noodles in the Fridge

While I find that the best texture comes from noodles that were never refrigerated nor frozen, it's not always possible or practical. Storing noodles in the fridge AND freezing are possible, and the noodles will still have a great texture in the finished dish. However, there are some important tips to keep in mind.

Tips for Refrigerating Fresh Noodles

• Refrigerated noodles will last up to one week, though it's best to cook them as soon as possible. The longer they've been in the fridge, the stiffer they become, which makes them easy to break when handling. My preference is to make the noodles on one day, and cook them the next day when they're still quite soft and pliable.
• It's easiest to store noodles in whole sheets, well-wrapped to prevent drying out.
• When you take them out, peel the sheets apart first and restack them on the cutting board before cutting them into noodles. This makes separating the noodles easier as they are not so tightly packed together.
• If the noodles have hardened to a point where they are easy to break when you bend them, microwave them until they're hot which will soften them up again. Don't put stiff noodles directly into the wok as they will break when you stir them.

How to Freeze Fresh Rice Noodles

I spent years assuming that these couldn't be frozen because...well, they look so delicate, and if they could be frozen then why are they not available frozen at the store?? But after realizing they are in fact assumptions, I experimented with freezing. Turns out, they freeze very well! Follow the steps before for the best result.

1. After cooking, divide noodle sheets into thin stacks (no more than 8 sheets per stack) so they thaw quickly.
2. Cut the noodles into strips, but don't peel them apart - leave them in neat stacks so they take up less room in the freezer.
3. Wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, keeping them flat and thin so they freeze and thaw quickly. Freezing and thawing quickly will produce small ice crystals which will yield the best results.
4. Place them in a freezer bag, getting out as much air as possible, and freeze them on a flat surface. If you've got multiple stacks, don't put them on top of each other at first so they freeze quickly. After they're frozen, you can consolidate them.
5. When ready to use, bring them out and let them thaw at room temp while you prep your ingredients.
6. When you're ready to cook, remove the wrap and place them on a plate and microwave in 1 minute increments at about 70% power, taking them out after each minute to rearrange for even heating. Once they are hot, soft and elastic, peel them apart into individual noodles. They are now ready to be added to a wok or put directly into a noodle soups. They are amazing in the famous boat noodles!

Note: In my experiments I froze my noodles for 1 week. There shouldn't be a problem with freezing them for 1-2 months, but eventually they will get freezer burned especially if they're not contained in a heavy-duty freezer bag.

Recipes for Your Fresh Rice Noodles

Once you've got these amazing noodles, try them in any of these iconic Thai dishes below. While they're most commonly seen in stir fries, in Thailand they are also added to any kind of noodle soups. My favourite way to eat them is in pad see ew and boat noodles. *If using in noodle soups, reheat them in the microwave and place into a serving bowl, then pour hot noodle broth over them.

Traditional vs Vegan Pad Thai

How is this vegan pad thai different from the traditional pad thai recipe? There are a few things we substituted:

• Fish sauce. Fish sauce is the main flavour of pad thai, and the reason you will rarely find vegan pad thai offered in Thai restaurants. Because to make a vegan version they would have to make another batch of pad thai sauce, which most places would not do. For this vegan version we use tao jiew instead, which is a fermented soybean paste similar to miso. You can also use miso instead.
• Dried shrimp. These are chewy little umami bits, and here I used shiitake mushrooms instead which work wonderfully. FYI, many Thai restaurants overseas don't add them anyway, so if that's what you're used to, you won't miss it.
• Eggs. We simply omit them, but if vegetarian pad thai is what you're going for, then feel free to add them.

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

​Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need. For the amounts and instructions, see the recipe card below!

Sauce Ingredients

• Soy sauce. Thai soy sauce is best but it's not necessary. Confused by different types of soy sauces? See this soy sauce explainer post here!
• Tao jiew. This is Thai fermented soybean paste that is essentially the Thai version of miso. It's sold in glass bottles (Healthy Boy Brand) at Asian grocery stores that sell a lot of Thai ingredients, though it is harder to find. You can substitute equal amount of miso or doenjang.  
• Tamarind paste. If buying pre-made tamarind paste, always buy ones from Thailand to make sure you have the right product. These are often labeled as tamarind concentrate (see pic below). You can also make your own tamarind paste from pulp and it's what I do. Never buy tamarind products from India as they are not the same!
  **Tamarind sourness varies from brand to brand, so if it's your first time, start out with a little less and you can add more later if needed.**
• Chili flakes, optional, only if you want to make it spicy. Store bought is fine, or you can easily make your own using my roasted chili flakes recipe. You can also leave it out of the sauce and let people add their own at the table.

Pad Thai Ingredients

• Dry rice noodles, medium size (2-3 mm wide). You need to soak them in room temp water for 1 hour, so don't forget to do this ahead of time! You can soak them the day before, drain, then keep them in the fridge until ready to use. If you did not plan ahead, you can do an emergency soak in hot off the boil water and for 3 minutes, then drain and rinse immediately under cold water.
  *If you have previously had trouble working with rice noodles, be sure to check out this ultimate guide to mastering rice noodles.
• Neutral oil, this can be any neutral flavoured cooking oil you normally use. I use avocado oil or canola oil
• Pressed tofu. Pressed tofu is the firmest tofu you can buy. It has a nice chew and will not fall apart in the wok. It's also the tofu that's traditionally used in pad thai. Sometimes they are labeled as "bean curd". If not available, use extra firm tofu or fried tofu. 
• Fresh shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced. If stems are thick and hard, remove them. If they're small and tender you can leave them on.
• Shallots, chopped
• Garlic, chopped
• Palm sugar. Light brown sugar can be used instead. 
• Garlic chives, cut into 2-inch pieces. If not available you can substitute green onions (though they don't taste the same), but chop green onions smaller and use less as they are more intense in flavour than garlic chives.
• Bean sprouts. Be sure to get mung bean sprouts, not soybean sprouts. 
• Roasted peanuts, optional, roughly crushed or chopped. Peanuts are not typically added to pad mee korat, so feel free to skip them, but I add them here to get it closer to a traditional pad thai.
• Lime wedges, optional. I find a squeeze of fresh lime can add a nice burst of freshness.

How to Make Vegan Pad Thai

Here's a bird's eye view of all the steps so you know what's involved, for full instructions see the recipe card below!

1. Soak your noodles for 1 hour in room temp water. Meanwhile, make the sauce by adding tao jiew to a small bowl and mash with a fork to break up the soybeans, then add the rest of the sauce ingredients and stir to mix. 
2. In a wok or a large nonstick skillet, sear the mushrooms and tofu in a little bit of oil until golden brown and the mushrooms are cooked through. Remove from the pan. 
3. To the same pan, add the oil, garlic, shallots, palm sugar and cook, stirring frequently until the sugar caramelizes into a deep brown colour.
4. Deglaze with the sauce mixture and stir to mix.

5. Add the soaked rice noodles along with the mushrooms and tofu.
6. Toss until all the sauce has been absorbed. Taste the noodles, and if it is still undercooked, add a splash of water and keep it cooking longer.
7. Turn off the heat, add bean sprouts and garlic chives and toss to mix.
8. Once mixed, you can taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Plate and sprinkle with roasted peanuts and serve with a wedge of lime.

Storing Leftovers and Reheating

I get asked all the time how leftover pad thai should be stored and heated, and to be frank, rice noodles do not keep well, so ideally, you don't want to have leftovers. If you want to have it again later in the week, it's better to prep all the ingredients (see tips above) and cook a fresh batch because the cooking takes only a few minutes!

But sometimes you just can't help it and you end up with extras. In that case, keep it in the fridge in an airtight container for ideally no more than 1 day. The longer you keep it, the more mushy the noodles become.

When you reheat, you can simply microwave it, however, it's crucial that the noodles are reheated until steaming hot, and not just warm. Rice noodles harden in the fridge, and they need to be fully heated in order to regain their softness.

1. If using beef short ribs with bones, separate the bones from the meat but keep the bones.
2. Optional step: In the pot you'll use the make the curry, sear the beef in oil until browned on 2 sides. You'll need to do this in batches. Once done, pour out any excess oil and put the beef back into the pot along with the bones.
3. Add ½ cup of the coconut milk, 1 tablespoon of the curry paste, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, and top it up with just enough water to submerge. Simmer for 2 - 2.5 hours until fork tender. While you wait you can move on and make the curry sauce.
4. Once the beef is done, remove it from the cooking liquid. Discard the bones but keep the cooking liquid.

5. Bring ¾ cup of coconut milk to a boil then add the curry paste and stir to dissolve the paste.
6. Keep stirring over medium heat until the coconut oil starts sizzling out of the paste.
7. Add some of the remaining coconut milk and stir to dissolve the paste, then add the rest.
8. Add the cooked beef into the curry sauce.

9. Add the potatoes, onions, sugar, tamarind, fish sauce, and then top it up with just enough of the beef cooking liquid to keep everything submerged. (The remaining liquid you did not use you can use as a base for a tasty beef soup!)
10. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
11. Add the peanuts, if using.
12. Enjoy your super tender beef with jasmine rice!

Advance Prep Tips and Storage

Since massaman beef takes a few hours, there are lots of different ways to spread out the work to make serving day much easier! Here are a few other things you can do to spread out the work:

• Braise the beef up to a few days ahead, then make the curry sauce and finish the curry on serving day. You can also cut up the onions and potatoes ahead of time so they're ready to go.
• You can finish the whole curry ahead of time and simply reheat when ready to eat, and in fact it'll taste even better that way! However, be careful not to reheat for too long as the potatoes may over cook during the reheat.
• If making your own curry paste, it can be made any time in advance and frozen until ready to use. You can add it to the pot directly from frozen.

Storage: Massaman curry will last in the fridge for one week. It's a great dish for meal prep!

Watch The Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

I've divided the ingredients into functional categories: salty, sour, sweet, herbs and spices, and dry goods.

The Salty

Thai cuisine employs a number of different salty sauces in our cooking. Here they are listed roughly in order of how often they are used for the average Thai person.

FISH SAUCE | NAM PLA | น้ำปลา

Fish sauce is a must-have in any Thai home. Made from fermented anchovies and salt, this pungent amber liquid adds a sharp saltiness and a punch of umami that is an iconic characteristic of many Thai dishes, such as salads, curries, stir fries, and if you want to cook pad thai, fish sauce is necessary! 

I have a detailed post about how to choose a good fish sauce and recommended brands in my Ultimate Fish Sauce Guide, but briefly, look for brands only contains anchovies, salt, and sugar (though sugar is not a required). Squid and Megachef are classic, good-quality Thai fish sauce brands that are inexpensive, easy to find, and perfect for everyday cooking.

STORAGE: Fish sauce will not spoil at room temp even after opening because it's so salty. However, the flavour deteriorates over time, so unless you're a daily user like Thai people, keeping it in the fridge will preserve the flavour for longer.

SUBSTITUTIONS: If you’re vegetarian, the easiest thing (and what I do for vegan friends) is substitute soy sauce in equal amounts, or sometimes I do a combination of soy sauce and Golden Mountain Sauce (see below). Larger Asian markets do sell vegan fish sauce, but some of them can be rather awful.

Having said that, I have sampled a decent version labeled “premium pineapple-made vegetarian fish sauce” from Vietnam. Also check online sources from time to time, as there are a few new products on the market that have had some good reviews.

OYSTER SAUCE | NAM MUN HOI | น้ำมันหอย

Oyster sauce is the queen of stir-fry sauces. Imagine a combination of the briny flavors of oysters, the umami of soy sauce, and a subtle sweetness—that’s the flavor of oyster sauce. A common Thai brand is Maekrua, but the widely available Lee Kum Kee is also great for Thai cooking. If you're on a budget, Panda Brand, which is also a Lee Kum Kee brand, is cheaper and is what most takeout restaurants use.

Oyster sauce quality varies significantly though, with the better ones containing more “oyster extract” (which is the oyster poaching liquid). Better ones also tend to be more expensive. For a deep dive, see my post What is Oyster Sauce and Which is The Best One? where I tasted the four oyster sauces in the pic above.

STORAGE: Keep open oyster sauce in the fridge as it can get moldy at room temp over time.

SUBSTITUTIONS: You can find vegetarian oyster sauce at Asian markets, but it won't say "vegetarian oyster sauce" on the label. Look for vegetarian stir fry sauce by Lee Kum Kee.

SOY SAUCE | SEE EW KAO | ซีอิ๊วขาว

You probably have Japanese or Chinese soy sauce in your kitchen already, and they can be used for Thai cooking, but Thai soy sauce does taste different. Compared to Chinese or Japanese soy sauces, ours is a little lighter in both color and body and has a distinctly different aroma and flavor.

Healthy Boy is a classic brand available at many Asian markets; look for a bottle labeled “thin soy sauce” (yellow label) or “mushroom soy sauce” (brown label); these are two varieties of Thai soy sauce. The mushroom version is the one I prefer, though either will work in your recipes just fine. For a deep dive, see Types of Soy Sauces Explained.

STORAGE: Soy sauce will not spoil at room temp, but keeping it in the fridge once opened, will preserve the flavour for longer.

SUBSTITUTIONS: If you cannot find Thai soy sauce, you can use your favourite Japanese soy sauce. A 1:1 substitution will still result in a tasty dish.

GOLDEN MOUNTAIN SAUCE (Thai Seasoning Sauce) | SAUCE PROONG ROHT  | ซอสปรุงรส

Yes, these are all seasoning sauces technically, but there is a specific type of sauce that we literally call “seasoning sauce.” I commonly refer to this as Golden Mountain Sauce because it is the most common brand available outside of Thailand.

It is actually a type of soy sauce, but with a different character; it is a bit richer and darker than Thai soy sauce and has a very similar flavour to Maggi Seasoning. We usually use Golden Mountain in combination with soy sauce in order to create a more complex flavour than soy sauce alone. We also love to drizzle it on eggs!

STORAGE: Because this is a type of soy sauce, you can store it in the same way. It will not spoil at room temp, but keeping it in the fridge once opened, will preserve the flavour for longer.

SUBSTITUTIONS: This is not an essential ingredient to stock, and wherever it is called for you can use an equal amount of soy sauce instead. However, if you have Maggi Seasoning or Bragg Liquid Aminos, they do taste quite similar, and these will be your best option.

BLACK SOY SAUCE | SEE EW DUM | ซีอิ๊วดำ

Black soy sauce is a nice-to-have ingredient but not essential because it’s not usually integral to the dish. Think soy sauce mixed with molasses - it’s thick, mildly salty, a little sweet, and very dark. It’s used mainly to add a dark brown color and a touch of richer flavor. Whenever you see a Thai dish with a very dark color, such as some dark soup broths or stir-fries, it’s probably see ew dum in action. 

Black soy sauce brands vary significantly in terms of how dark they are, so in my recipes I always give a range and you should always start with the smaller amount. Healthy Boy brand and Dragonfly brand (my preference) are two popular Thai black soy sauces, but Healthy Boy is much darker and less is required for the same colour.

For a deeper dive, see Types of Soy Sauces Explained.

STORAGE: Though I haven't personally seen black soy sauce gone bad at room temp, because it is not as salty as fish sauce or soy sauce, I like to keep it in the fridge just in case it gets mold.

SUBSTITUTIONS: You can substitute Chinese dark soy sauce, which will give you the dark color, but it tends to be saltier; so if using more than ½ teaspoon or so in the recipe, you want to cut back on other salty ingredients you’re adding. 

FERMENTED SOYBEAN PASTE | TAO JIEW | เต้าเจี้ยว

Tao jiew is the Thai version of miso, but with a pourable consistency and some whole soybeans are still visible. It’s very salty, with an edge of acidity, and its aroma is slightly different from that of Japanese miso. It’s not used often, but when it is, it is important to the character of that dish. Healthy Boy soybean paste is the most popular brand of tao jiew outside Thailand.

STORAGE: Once open, keep in the fridge.

SUBSTITUTIONS: You can substitute Japanese miso or Korean doenjang in roughly equal amounts, then thin it out with a bit of water to achieve a similar consistency. Be prepared to taste and adjust for saltiness.

FERMENTED SHRIMP PASTE | GAPI | กะปิ

​This salty, purplish-gray paste made from fermented small shrimp (or sometimes krill) is the epitome of "funky" and is used all over Southeast Asia. It’s one of those things that tastes better than it smells. It has lovers and haters. I am a proud lover of shrimp paste.

You may have eaten shrimp paste without knowing it, because most Thai curry pastes contain it in small amounts. You can buy Thai shrimp paste in a plastic tub, or the Malaysian type in a plastic-wrapped brick called belacan. 

STORAGE: Refrigerate after opening, but keep it tightly sealed and maybe even in a bag to prevent the smell from "perfuming" your fridge!

SUBSTITUTIONS: Where shrimp paste is used in small amounts, such as in curry pastes, you can omit it and add extra fish sauce instead. If omitting because you are vegan, substitute an equal amount of miso paste.

Note: Do not confuse this with a product called "shrimp paste in soybean oil" which is an orange paste in a glass jar. That is made from shrimp tomalley cooked with herbs and seasonings. It’s delicious added to fried rice and stir-fries, but it is not fermented and cannot be used as a substitute for gapi. 

The Sour 

Sour is an extremely important component in Thai cuisine. Every cuisine uses acids in their cooking in some manner, but I can't think of any other cuisine that uses it to the extent that we do. Here are two main acidic ingredients of Thai cuisine.

Herbs & Spices 

Here's a list of some of our core herbs and spices, some of which you may not be familiar with. There are obviously more than I'm showing here, but these are the most important and most commonly used ones. 

GALANGAL | KHA | ข่า

The key ingredient of the iconic soup tom kha gai, galangal is a firm rhizome whose aroma is very much like that of a lush pine forest. It’s cooling, calming, and refreshing. Although it looks like ginger, and many people will say that you can use ginger as a substitute, I insist that you don’t do this. Not if you expect it to have a similar flavor, anyway! 

There are two common uses of galangal: pounded into curry pastes, and sliced into rounds for infusing into soups such as tom yum soup. While not done as often, it can also be finely chopped and added to salads or stir fries. 

Galangal freezes very well. Slice it into thin rounds and freeze in a single layer on a tray lined with plastic wrap before storing in a freezer bag. 

For a deeper dive see my ultimate guide to galangal.

SUBSTITUTIONS: If you can't find fresh galangal, try looking first for frozen which will work just as well. Your second choice would be dried pieces of galangal which can work in soups, but not ideal if you're trying to grind it into a curry paste as it's very tough. I don't suggest using powdered galangal.

LEMONGRASS | TAKRAI | ตะไคร้ 

Lemongrass has a citrusy aroma but without the sour taste. It’s as core to Thai cuisine as garlic is to Italian cuisine. Lemongrass can be bruised and infused into soups, like a cinnamon stick might be, or finely chopped and added to salads, dips, or stir-fries. It’s also a key ingredient in many curry pastes. 

I use only the bottom half of lemongrass because the flavor gets weaker at the top. I freeze the tops for making stock, or if making soup such as tom yum soup or tom kha gai where the lemongrass is added to infuse and is then discarded, there is no harm in also adding the tops as some bonus flavour. You don't want to cook only with the top half. For a deeper dive see my ultimate guide to lemongrass.

STORAGE: Lemongrass freezes well. I cut it into 2- to 3-inch long pieces before freezing for ease of use. You can also buy stalks of lemongrass already frozen.

SUBSTITUTIONS: If you can't find fresh lemongrass, try looking first for frozen. Your second choice would be dried pieces of lemongrass which can work in soups, but not ideal if you're trying to grind it into a curry paste as they're very tough. I don't suggest using powdered lemongrass.

MAKRUT LIME LEAVES | BAI MAGROOD | ใบมะกรูด

​Previously called kaffir lime leaves, these thick, sturdy leaves smell like the grassier sister of lime zest. It’s all aroma, though, as makrut lime leaves don’t impart any of the sour taste you might expect from something with such a citrusy fragrance. 

Makrut lime leaves are extremely versatile. They can be roughly torn and infused into soups and broths, or finely julienned and added to just about anything you can imagine. Make sure those juliennes are really fine though, as these leaves are tough, and too-big juliennes can leave you feeling like you’ve got a piece of hay stuck in your teeth. 

We do not generally use the juice of makrut limes, of which there isn’t much anyway, though the zest is often used in curry pastes. Look for frozen leaves if you can’t find fresh; if not available, look for dried. For a deeper dive, see my ultimate guide to makrut lime leaves.

STORAGE: Makrut lime leaves freeze like a dream. Simply put them into a freezer bag and press as much air out as possible. 

SUBSTITUTIONS: If you can't find fresh makrut lime leaves, try looking first for frozen which will work just as well. Your second choice would be dried whole leaves which can work in soups and curries where it'll have a chance to rehydrate in the dish.

THAI BASIL | HORAPA | โหระพา

Fragrant and floral, Thai basil adds so much complexity to stir-fries and curries. It is quite widely available these days in Asian markets; and if not, it is also quite easy to grow in N. America in the summertime.

STORAGE: I keep my basil stems in a glass of water, loosely covered with a plastic bag on the counter. Remove the bag to air out excess moisture and change out the water every day, ideally, or as often as you remember. If you find that your basil stems have rooted in the water, you can plant them once the roots are at least an inch long.

SUBSTITUTIONS: You can use Italian basil instead.

FRESH CHILIES | PRIK | พริก

To add spiciness in our dishes, we most often use small and super-spicy bird’s eye chilies, or prik kee noo. In North America, you can find these sold as “Thai chilies,” and they can be found red (ripe) or green (underripe). 

We also use larger, milder chilies to add color and chili flavor without heat, and for this we turn to spur chilies, or prik chee fa. These are not easy to find, but you can substitute any other mild red pepper you can find; even red bell pepper will do in a pinch. 

STORAGE: All chilies can be frozen and they'll last basically forever. Freeze them whole in a freezer bag and use them without thawing or they will turn mushy and become harder to chop.

SUBSTITUTIONS: You can use any kind of hot peppers that are available to you to replace the heat of Thai chilies. If large, mild fresh chilies are called for, you can also use any type that's available to you; worst case, red bell pepper will be fine.

DRIED CHILIES | PRIK HAENG | พริกแห้ง

We use two major types of dried chilies: small (spicy) and large (mild). Don’t get too hung up on which specific varieties you need, because fortunately most dried chilies have a similar-enough flavor that they can be substituted for one another in Thai recipes, but you do want to be aware of the heat levels, which vary greatly. 

Spicy, small dried chilies are used to add heat to curry pastes, and we also roast and grind them up into chili flakes, which can be added to just about anything. In Thailand we use dried bird's eye chilies. In the West, the generic no-name dried chilies you can usually find at Chinese grocery stores, as well as Mexican chiles de árbol, are great for this purpose, and they are not too hot.

Large, mild dried chilies are most often used in curry paste because we want to maximize the bright red color and chili flavor without making the curry too spicy. The Thai variety, prik chee fa, is essentially impossible to source, but dried guajillo or puya peppers are perfect substitutes. You can find them anywhere Latin American groceries are sold. You can also use Korean gochugaru pepper flakes instead.

STORAGE: Keep dried chilies in a cool dry place. If you live in a warm, humid place, I recommend freezing dried chilies to prevent mold.

PANDAN LEAF | BAI TOEY | ใบเตย

This aromatic, long, blade-shaped leaf is the star of Thai desserts because its floral aroma pairs fantastically with coconut. Most commonly, we simmer the leaf in liquid to infuse its fragrance, though it can be blended with water and strained when its natural green color is also desired. In stores, they can sometimes be labelled as screwpine leaves or lá dứa in Vietnamese.

STORAGE: I cut my pandan leaves into 5-6 inch pieces and freeze in a freezer bag.

SUBSTITUTIONS: Fresh pandan leaves are harder to find, though frozen ones are perfectly fine to use. In fact, if I buy them fresh, I end up freezing them anyway. Pandan extract, though not ideal, can be used instead - but be sure to add a little at a time as it can be intense and easy to overdo. 

Dry Goods

COCONUT MILK | GATI | กะทิ 

Coconut milk is our only source of creaminess because we do not traditionally use dairy in Thai cooking. And when it comes to Thai dessert, coconut milk is as essential to us as butter is to Western pastries. 

A caveat: Some modern cooks have started using evaporated milk in a few dishes such as creamy tom yum and curry crab, but it is not a traditional ingredient.

Coconut milk quality varies a great deal and it's important that you know how to choose a good one. In my ultimate guide to coconut milk I talk about how to choose a good one out of all the brands that line store shelves, and I highly recommend you check that out. But in short, my recommended brand is Aroy-D in the UHT paper carton. But Chaokoh in the paper carton is good too.

Do not use coconut cream when recipes call for coconut milk. Coconut cream is higher in fat than coconut milk, but different brands vary greatly in how much fat it actually contains. Traditional Thai cooking is based in the use of freshly squeezed coconut milk, which is not nearly as fatty as some commercial coconut cream can be, which is why I never call for it. Of course you can use coconut cream if your intention is to utilize the higher fat content, I just want to stress that it cannot be used interchangeably with coconut milk.

STORAGE: You can keep open coconut milk in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. It can also be frozen, however, when thawed it will be curdled, so you'll just need to heat it up until hot and it will be smooth again.

Want to know how coconut milk is made? Watch my short documentary! How Coconut Milk is Made: From Farm to Cans.

COOKING OIL | NAM MUN | น้ำมัน 

You can use any neutral-flavored, high-heat-resistant oil for Thai cooking. I personally use avocado oil because it is a healthier option, but because that’s pricey, I use canola when I deep-fry. 

You may think we use coconut oil a lot in Thai cuisine, but we actually mostly use coconut milk and rarely the oil. If you want to use coconut oil, choose refined coconut oil, which does not have the coconut flavor. Using virgin coconut oil will make everything taste like coconut!

DRIED SHRIMP | GOONG HANG | กุ้งแห้ง

Basically, goong hang are shrimp jerky. Little shrimp are salted and dried in the sun, and in that process they develop a robust, savory flavor. You can buy these in the refrigerated section at Asian grocery stores. I stick with medium-sized ones, which are most versatile. Freeze them and they will last indefinitely. 

SUBSTITUTION: Depending on the recipe, you may be able to just omit dried shrimp altogether, as in the case of pad thai. In salads however, I like to substitute Japanese bonito flakes.

RICE NOODLES | SEN GUAY TIEW | เส้นก๋วยเตี๋ยว

If you're not experienced with rice noodles, or if you find yourself often having trouble cooking them well, I highly recommend watching my video on How to Cook Rice Noodles Properly.

Dry rice noodles are a great thing to keep in your pantry because they are versatile and last seemingly forever. Choose brands from Thailand if possible, as Vietnamese ones can sometimes have tapioca starch mixed in and will have a slightly different texture.

They come in many sizes and shapes, but the thin ones are the most convenient for weeknight cooking because they don’t take long to soak and cook. 

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you need and important notes about them. For amounts, see the recipe card below.

• Thai red curry paste. I recommend Maeploy or Aroy D brands as they have the strongest flavours and this recipe is made using these pastes. Other brands can also be used, but you may need to adjust the amount of the paste and saltiness. See my thorough review of common red curry paste brands here.
• Coconut milk. See my post on how to choose good coconut milk here.
• Palm sugar, finely chopped or grated. You can also substitute equal amount of light brown sugar for this recipe.
• Fish sauce
• Eggs, large.
• Makrut lime leaves, finely julienned. If you don't have them you can omit.
• Any kind of fish filet or seafood. The most common choice is white fish such as bass or tilapia, but salmon would also work. You can also use shrimp, squid, or shellfish (without the shells). If you don't eat seafood: You can sub bite-sized pieces of chicken, preferably dark meat but breast would be okay too. I don't recommend pork or beef or anything that would become tough if overcooked because you won't be able to control precisely how long the meat cooks in the custard.
• Shredded cabbage or other sturdy leafy veg. The veggies are added at the bottom of the custard for texture, so you want to use sturdy veggies such as cabbage, kale or Chinese broccoli leaves.
• Thai basil
• Banana leaves, optional. You can buy banana leaves frozen at many Asian grocery stores.
• Jasmine rice, for serving. Like a regular curry, haw mok is always eating with jasmine rice!

Garnish

Garnishes by default are optional, but without them it can definitely look a bit plain. Haw mok come with a standard set of garnishes to add some colour to the top:

• Coconut milk
• Cornstarch, this is to thicken the coconut milk so it stays put on the custard. It can be replaced with any other thickening starches such as rice flour or all-purpose flour.
• Sliced red chilies or julienned red bell pepper
• Cilantro or another green herb you've got on hand. To keep it simple you can julienne extra makrut lime leaves and use that as a garnish. You can also use Thai basil for garnish, but be sure to serve it right away as basil turns dark once it comes into contact with hot food for a while.

How to Make Haw Mok - Step by Step

Here's a bird's eye view of the steps to give you an idea of what's involved. For the complete instructions, see the recipe card below. If this is your first time, I recommend watching the video tutorial in the recipe card to ensure success.

1. Add a splash of coconut milk to the curry paste and stir to loosen the paste. Once the paste is loose, add the remaining coconut milk and stir until the paste is dissolved.
2. Add the eggs, fish sauce, sugar, makrut lime leaves and stir to combine.
3. Add the fish and stir to mix.
4. Line the ramekins with strips of banana leaves if desired, then line the bottom with steamed cabbage and/or kale and Thai basil.

5. Distribute the pieces of fish evenly among the cups.
6. Ladle the custard over the fish, leaving at least ½ inch of headroom to allow for some puffing.
7. Steam on medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until set.
8. Garnish with thickened coconut milk, chilies and cilantro or more julienned makrut lime leaves.

Advance Prep and Storage

This is a great dish to make in advance of a dinner party or just for meal prep. There are a few ways to do it.

• You can steam the whole thing in advance, then re-steam to reheat before serving. Leave the garnish until just before serving.
• The custard mixture can be made ahead of time, without the fish, and kept in the fridge for a few days. Add the fish the day you're cooking.
• If using banana leaves, I recommending cutting and cleaning them ahead of time. I find this part a bit of a hassle cuz it gets messy with all the banana leaf trimmings everywhere, so doing it on a separate day helps. Once cleaned and cut, store in a well-sealed container in the fridge to keep it from drying.

Any leftover haw mok can be kept in the fridge for up to a week. The best way to reheat is to steam, but you can microwave it as well. To microwave, I would use no more than 50% power to ensure the custard is evenly heated through and prevent it from exploding as eggs tend to do in the microwave...so cover it with something!

Haw Mok Modifications

This is a very flexible dish that you can exercise your creativity on. Here are some things to try:

• Change the curry paste. Use green curry paste instead of red curry paste! You can also try other curry pastes as well but green would be the best pairing with seafood.
• Change the protein. Instead of fish, try making haw mok talay which uses a mix of fish, squid, shrimp and sometimes mussels. You can do crab for a luxury version. You can even use chicken or pork, or opt for a no-meat version!
• Change the size. You can make tiny little cups which are always cute and would cook quickly, just make sure you cut the fish down smaller. You can also do one large one in a big dish, which I have done and it ends up looking very impressive, but cooking time will increasing to about 50 minutes so be patient!
• Add different veggies. In this recipe I use cabbage and/or kale, but you can definitely try other things that won't become too watery or mushy.

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need, and important notes about them. Amounts and full instructions are in the recipe card below!

• Garlic, chopped. This recipe calls for fried garlic, so try to chop them evenly for even frying, and aim for the pieces to be about ⅛-inch wide, but you don't need to be precise.
• Neutral oil for making garlic oil. I use avocado oil but any neutral-flavour oil is fine.
• Roasted peanuts, coarsely ground. I pound the peanuts in a mortar and pestle, but you can blitz them in a small food processor or finely chop them with a knife.
• Fresh wonton noodles (egg noodles). You can find these in the refrigerated section at most Asian grocery stores. They are fresh and tossed in flour and are usually labelled as "wonton noodles". You can also sub any other kind of egg/wheat noodles, such as ramen noodles. Rice noodles, such as those used for pad thai, will also work. See my post here for all about how to cook different kinds of rice noodles.
• Ground pork. Or sub ground chicken or turkey.
• Asian meatballs or fish balls, cut into bite sized pieces if large. Other types of cooked protein will also work, such as cooked shrimp or sliced meats of any kind. Pro tip: while at the Asian supermarket, you can grab some Chinese BBQ pork (char siu), which would be fantastic in this!
• Bean sprouts.
• Green onion, chopped.
• Cilantro, chopped. If you don't like cilantro, just green onion alone is fine. 
• Juicy limes, cut into wedges. When choosing limes, go with ones with smooth, tight-looking skin that gives into a bit of pressure when squeezed - these are the juicy ones!
• Chili flakes, to taste. Any hot chili flakes or powder will do for an extra kick, but if you want to DIY, here is an easy recipe for Thai style roasted chili flakes.

Sauce Ingredients

• Soy sauce. I use Healthy Boy Brand Thai soy sauce, but any regular soy sauce will do.
• Golden Mountain Sauce. This is another kind of soy sauce that tastes similar to Maggi Seasoning (which you can use instead). You can also just sub with more regular soy sauce.
• Fish sauce. See my post about choosing a good quality fish sauce.
• Thai Black soy sauce. I prefer Healthy Boy Brand Black Soy Sauce for this because it gives an intense dark colour. Dragonfly brand comes out quite light and it doesn’t look as tasty, but it’s still okay to use flavour-wise. You can also try using Chinese dark soy sauce, but since it is much saltier than Thai black soy sauce, I would omit the Golden Mountain Sauce altogether and then taste and adjust. 
• Sriracha-style hot sauce. Doesn't have to be the famous rooster brand, any brand is fine.
• Brown sugar, dark is preferred but light is fine.

How to Make Thai Tossed Noodles

Here's a bird's eye view of the process. Many of the components can be made in advance if you want to have it for a weeknight. See more advance prep tips below. Also if this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.

1. Fry the garlic in neutral oil over low heat until golden and the bubbling has subsided.
2. Strain and keep the oil and garlic separate. Set aside.
3. Add a splash of water to a pot over high heat, once the water boils, add the ground pork and stir just until it's fully cooked. Set aside.
4. Combine all the sauce ingredients and add about a tablespoon of the pork juice to the sauce then stir until the sugar is dissolved. When ready to cook and serve, heat up the sauce in the microwave or stovetop so it doesn't cool your noodles down too much.

5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, meanwhile, cut the noodles to shorten and loosen them up, making sure they're not sticking together.
6. Boil the meatballs in the water just until hot, then fish them out and set aside.
7. Blanch the bean sprouts in the water for 3 seconds, fish them out, shake off all excess water and add to a large mixing bowl.
8. When the water boils again, cook the noodles until fully cooked; timing will vary depending on the size, but mine takes about 3 minutes. Fish them out, shake off all water, and add to the bean sprouts.

9. Add the garlic oil to the noodle bowl and toss to coat.
10. Add the ground pork (hold back the excess liquid), peanuts, chili flakes, green onions, and the warmed-up sauce.
11. Toss to mix well.
12. Divide into serving bowls, top with meatballs, fried garlic, cilantro and a wedge of lime. Remember to squeeze the lime on before eating!

Advance Prep Tips and Storage

As with many Thai noodles, there are a lot of little things to prepare but they're all very simple and quick. I still find, however, that preparing everything all at once can feel like a lot and doing just a few things ahead of time makes serving day seem so much simpler.

Here are somethings you can do ahead of time.

• Make the garlic oil and fried garlic. If you only do one thing in advance, this should be it. You can also make a lot and keep it (oil and garlic separated) in the fridge for another use. Fried garlic and garlic oil are incredibly versatile and are used often in Thai cooking.
• Mix the sauce up in advance. Keep the sauce in the fridge and it'll last indefinitely. Reheat the sauce in the microwave or stovetop before using. You can also make the sauce in bulk, just remember to measure the total volume of sauce, then divide by the number of batches this makes (or by portion, however you want to do it) so you know how much sauce you need to use each time you cook.
• Cook the pork in advance. The pork can be cooked and kept in the fridge for up to 1 week. Simply reheat in the microwave or stovetop when ready to use.
• Chop/grind the peanuts in advance. It's a small thing, but it makes a big difference when you can just grab the container and pour without having to do anything with it!

Tips for Using Rice Noodles

If you want to use rice noodles, you absolutely can! Here is how you'll need to prep them.

If you buy rice noodles dry, I recommend small or medium size (like ones used for pho and pad thai). They need to be soaked until fully pliable in room temp water. Medium size takes about 1 hour to soak, small size takes about 30 minutes. If you're in a rush, you can use warm tap water to shorten the time, but be careful not to over-soak. Read more about cooking with rice noodles here.

Once soaked, drain the noodles well, then blanch them in boiling water for about 10 seconds or until cooked through. As rice noodles overcook quickly, it is always safe to err on the side of undercooking them. Take them out using a wire skimmer so the water is still there, then if they're a little too firm, add them back to the pot for another 10 seconds or so.

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need and important notes about them. For amounts, see the the full recipe card below.

• Mango juice. Get the best mango juice you can as the flavour of the cocktail relies heavily on the quality of the juice. It's hard to find pure mango juice, so a blend is fine, as long as it still tastes distinctly of mango. You can also blend mango pieces and make your own juice, more on that below.
• Vodka. I tested this cocktail with various alcohol, including gin, rum, even mezcal! They all actually tasted great, but I decided to stick with the neutral tasting vodka to preserve the flavour profile of mango sticky rice. Other alcohols altered the flavour of the drink too much, but you can certainly experiment.
• Coconut milk. Since this isn't going to be cooked, and it's one of two main flavours of the drink, a good quality coconut milk is important. I use Aroy D brand in UHT paper carton (not can). You can also read my article all about coconut milk to find out how to choose the best one.
• Pandan leaf. Pandan is to Thai dessert what vanilla is to Western desserts. It has a lovely floral aroma that goes very well with coconut milk. Look for it wherever you buy your Thai groceries, and you can use fresh or frozen leaves. If you can't find it, it is fine to omit. If you have pandan extract, you can add it a drop at a time until a scent comes through, but don't overdo it as it can taste chemically when overdone.
• Uncooked white rice. This is optional, but it will help make your cocktail smoother due to the "rice washing" technique (more details below). You can use any kind of white rice since we just need the starch, but I used Thai glutinous rice (sticky rice) because it is the starchiest, and it keeps with the mango-sticky-rice theme :).
• Ice cubes.

How to Make Mango Sticky Rice Cocktail

Here's a bird's eye view of the process. The full instructions are in the recipe card below. Please excuse the low quality images as these are screenshots taken from the live cooking class which I encourage you to watch!

1. Grind the pandan leaves with a splash of the vodka until the leaves are bruised and broken down slightly. You can also use a cocktail muddler.
2. Add the remaining vodka and stir or swirl to mix.
3. Strain the vodka out, discarding the pandan leaves.
4. In a shaker, combine the mango juice, pandan vodka, coconut milk, rice and ice cubes and shake until fully chilled. Pour into a serving glass through a strainer. You can serve the cocktail with ice in a rocks glass, or without ice in a martini glass.

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Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need and important notes about them. As you can see it's a very simple dessert! For amounts, see the the full recipe card below.

• Glutinous rice flour. Use glutinous rice flour from Thailand, and make sure the bag says "GLUTINOUS", as regular rice flour is completely different and cannot be substituted. Glutinous rice flour is made from sticky rice and it's what gives the dumplings a chewy, stretchy, mochi-like texture.
• Pandan leaves. A key flavour of kanom ko. You can use fresh or frozen pandan leaves. Worst case, you can use pandan extract but the aroma won't be as good.
• Palm sugar. You will need solid pucks of palm sugar as you will need to chop them into cubes. If the palm sugar you have has been open in your cupboard for a while, I recommend getting a fresh bag because fresher palm sugar are softer and easier to chop. Older palm sugar that has dried out can be very hard, and nearly impossible to cut.
• Shredded coconut, unsweetened. In Thailand, we use freshly grated coconut, but if you can only find dried, you can simply rehydrate it with water.
• Salt.

How to Make Sugar Dumplings (Kanom Ko)

Here's a bird's eye view of the process. The full instructions are in the recipe card below, and if this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success!

1. Blend pandan leaves with water until there are no more big chunks - do not over blend.
2. Strain the pandan juice through a fine mesh strainer, then discard the fibers.
3. Add the pandan juice to the glutinous rice flour, little by little, kneading the liquid in each time.
4. Once the dough starts to come together, switch to using a teaspoon to add the pandan juice to prevent adding too much liquid by accident.

13. Add half of the dumplings into the water, one at a time, and let them cook until they float; about 2 minutes.
14. Scoop them out with a wire skimmer and place them onto the coconut.
15. Roll/toss them in the coconut to fully coat. Take them out and repeat with the other half.
16. If all goes according to plan, the palm sugar should still be solid and crunchy in the middle. Enjoy while still warm!

Advance Prep & Storage

As mentioned above, you want to wrap, cook and eat the dumplings all in one go for the best results. If serving these at a party, prep all the components ahead of time as per the tips below, and invite your friends to a dumpling wrapping party while you digest dinner! It's so much more fun when people participate in their meal!

Here's how you can prep the components in advance:

• The palm sugar can be cut several days ahead and stored in an airtight container.
• The dough can be made several hours ahead. You don't want to refrigerate the dough as that makes it stiff and harder to work with, but you can make it anytime on serving day, and let it sit at room temp until ready to use.
• Rehydrate the coconut a few days ahead and keep in the fridge. Let it come to room temp before using.
• Freezing dumplings: You can potentially wrap the dumplings and freeze them right away, without letting them touch so they don't stick together, then cook them directly from frozen. I have not personally tried this but I don't see why it would not work. Let me know if you try this!

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What is prik nam som?

Prik means chlies and nam som means vinegar, and in its simplest form, that’s all there is: chilies mixed with plain old white vinegar, though you can get a little fancy, and I’ll show you how to do that too.

It’s a spicy, vinegary sauce that we use on any dish that’s heavy or oily, with a flavour profile that's salty and/or sweet because the acid and heat helps cut the grease and balance the sweet and saltiness.

We use it on dishes like pad see ew, pork leg stew with rice (kao ka moo), rad na noodles with gravy and boat noodles. In fact you can use it on any kind of noodle soups, and you can use it wherever you’d want to add a vinegary hot sauce, even if it’s not Thai food!

In Thailand, if you order any of the dishes I mentioned above, there will automatically be prik nam som served with it, if it's not already sitting on the table. In Thai restaurants overseas, however, you will probably have to ask for it, but they may not have it available. Many Thai restaurants omit these condiments to simplify things.

Ingredients and Notes

Here are a few important notes on the ingredients. For amounts, see the full recipe card below.

• Thai Chilies. I use Thai chilies but any kind of spicy fresh chilies will also work. You can use either red or green, but I personally prefer the flavour of red chilies as they are fruitier.
  If you want a milder chili vinegar, you can remove the seeds and pith from the chilies, or use milder chilies (e.g Fresno) to start with.
• White vinegar. We only use white vinegar for prik nam som because the idea is to add neutral acidity, not to introduce new flavours. While milder vinegars such as Filipino cane vinegar or rice vinegar will be fine, don't use apple cider vinegar or anything else that has a distinct flavour. NO balsamic!
• Garlic. This is totally optional, only if you want to make it a little more complex! Most of the time I just stick with chilies and vinegar.

How to Make Chili Vinegar - 4 Ways

There are several variations of prik nam som in Thailand, and here are the 4 most common ones. I'm showing you how to make them in a mortar and pestle, but for large amounts, you can put everything into a blender.

1. Basic Prik Nam Som

1. Pound chilies in a mortar and pestle until mostly fine.
2. Add the vinegar and swirl the pestle to mix.

2. Charred Prik Nam Som

This version uses charred chilies which not only adds smokiness but also make it a bit sweeter as the chilies will be cooked. You can char the chilies more than what's shown in the image for extra smokiness.

1. Char the chilies on a dry hot pan until they develop charred spots all around.
2. Pound until fine in a mortar and pestle then add vinegar and mix.

3. Garlic Prik Nam Som

Whether you decide to do the basic or the charred prik nam som, you can also add garlic for a more complex flavour. You can even char the garlic along with the chilies if you're going that route. Notice in the photo above I used seeded chilies, which you can do if you want to tone down the heat.

4. Sliced Prik Nam Som

In Thailand you may have seen slices of chilies in clear liquid on the table, that's also a kind of prik nam som. Instead of blending the chilies, they are sliced, resulting in a quick chili pickle. Typically milder chilies are used, such as spur chilies, but you can use any kind of chilies. Pictured are serrano chilies.

Simply let sliced chilies sit in the vinegar for at least 15 minutes before using. You can eat the pieces of chilies if they are mild enough, or drizzle just the chili-infused vinegar onto your food.

Storage

Prik nam som can be stored in the fridge in a sealed container indefinitely. It can also be frozen. I would stick with glass containers as over time the chilies can stain plastic. Also, stay away from lids that are made with reactive metal, such as aluminum mason jar lids, as the acid can corrode it.

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need, and some important notes about them. For amounts, see the full recipe card below.

• Chicken thighs; boneless, skinless. Dark meat is always my preferred cut for chicken stir fries because it's juicy and essentially overcook-proof in a stir fry. But if you really prefer breasts, or if that's the only thing you have, it will also work in this recipe with no modification needed.
• Fish sauce. See my post about how to choose high quality fish sauce.
• Oyster sauce. Oyster sauce comes in various qualities, so make sure you are using a good one! See my post here about how to choose good oyster sauce.
• Golden Mountain sauce or soy sauce. Golden Mountain Sauce is a type of Thai soy sauce, and the flavour is similar to Maggi Seasoning for those who are familiar with that. I love it in this dish, but whatever soy sauce you've got on hand will work just fine.
• Sugar. This will help with flavour and browning of the chicken.
• Chili flakes or chili powder; mild to medium. It's important to use mild or medium chili flakes otherwise you won't be able to add a lot, and you'll be giving up on the chili flavour. Generic "red pepper flakes" you find at Western grocers work great for this, as they tend to be quite mild. I used chili flakes from an Indian store, and that got me about medium spiciness. You can also use whole dried chilies and grind them up; guajillo or puya peppers are great milder options.
• Garlic.
• Optional garnish: chopped green onions, cilantro, or Thai basil add a little freshness and a pop of green that makes the dish look much prettier! If using Thai basil, I like to go easy on it as I don't want the dish to taste overwhelmingly like Thai basil.
• Jasmine rice for serving if you want to keep it Thai, or you can serve with another carb of your choice. I've had this in a sandwich and it was great, and it would probably go well with noodles, pasta, even mashed potatoes!

How to Make Chili Garlic Chicken

Here's a bird's eye view of the process. The full instructions are in the recipe card below, and if this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success!

1. Marinate the chicken with fish sauce and sugar. Mix well and let it sit while you prep the other things.
2. Combine oyster sauce, Golden Mountain sauce or soy sauce, sugar and water; stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. If your chili flakes are large or you're using whole chilies, blitz them into small flakes.
4. Heat a wok until very hot, add the chicken and let it sear until brown on the underside; about 2 minutes. Do this in 2 batches if you don't have a powerful stove.

Advance Prep & Storage

This dish is so quick already, but if you like to prep weeknight meals in advance, here are some things you can do:

• Marinade the chicken in advance, and up to 2 days ahead as long as your chicken is fresh.
• Mix the sauce in advance. If you want to make the dish regularly, mix the sauce in bulk, in advance. It'll keep in the fridge indefinitely. Remember to measure the amount of sauce needed per batch and note it down on the jar so you know how much to use.
• Make the whole dish in advance. This is one of those dishes that reheat really well, so if you're cooking a bunch of dishes for a dinner party and you want to get ahead, just make the whole thing (minus the garnishes), and simply reheat it in the microwave when it's time to serve. You can also throw it back into the wok for a quick reheat, though you will need to add a splash of water to the wok to compensate for the additional evaporation during reheating.

Storage: Chili garlic chicken will keep in the fridge for up to a week (great for meal prep!).

Other Quick Meal Ideas You May Like

What is Som Tum? And What is Som Tum Pla Ra?

Som tum is the generic term for pounded salads that are made in a mortar and pestle. You can make som tum using many ingredients, but the original one is made using green papaya, which is simply the underripe version of an orange papaya.

In most Thai restaurants overseas, there is only one type of papaya salad on the menu, and that is typically a Thai style papaya salad or som tum thai. But in Thailand, we have many kinds of papaya salads, and one very popular kind is som tum pla ra - a.k.a. som tum lao. It's so named because it uses pla ra, a fermented fish sauce that is commonly used in Laos, hence its alternate name. You can read a lot more on this ingredient below!

Compared to Thai style papaya salad, som tum pla ra does not use dried shrimp, peanuts, and tends to be less sweet. 

Ingredients & Notes

Here are all the ingredients you need and some important notes about them. For amounts see the recipe card below.

• Garlic
• Thai chilies, fresh or dried. Add as many as you like depending on your heat tolerance. Some people prefer fresh chilies, others prefer dried, so it really doesn’t matter which you choose and you can even do both. Arbol chilies are a great dried chili option for som tum. If you prefer it milder, instead of adding less chilies I recommend removing the seeds and pith so you keep the chili flavour in the salad. 
• Palm sugar. Finely chop the sugar so that it will dissolve readily, especially if you do not have a mortar and pestle for making the salad. If you don’t have palm sugar, light brown sugar will work as a substitute.
• Long beans. These are optional for tum lao though I quite like the flavour and colour that they add. If omitting, you can simply add more papaya or carrots, or you can substitute blanched green beans. Note: Long beans can be eaten raw but green beans cannot, so make sure you give green beans a quick 1-min blanch in boiling water, then shock them in ice water so they remain crisp. 
• Tomatoes. You can use regular tomatoes cut into wedges, or grape or cherry tomatoes cut in half.
• Fresh lime juice. Emphasis on fresh as it makes for the best flavour, and we also need the skin to add some extra aroma!
• Tamarind paste this is a sour seasoning that is optional, but I like the complexity that it adds to the salad. If not using, you can substitute more lime juice. You can buy tamarind paste premade, but I prefer making it from pulp. You can read more about tamarind here, and if you want to make your own, here's my homemade tamarind paste recipe. 
• Pla ra fermented fish sauce. This is the identifying ingredient, without which you cannot make this recipe! More on this below.
• MSG (optional), I never call specifically for MSG, but for this style of papaya salad it is usually added. So if you want your salad to taste like it does in northeastern Thailand, then a little pinch is recommended 🙂.
• Julienned green papaya. Green papaya is an unripe papaya that has a crisp, firm, and neutral-flavored flesh. Choose the type that is large (not the small Hawaiian ones) sold at many Asian grocery stores. Don’t have papaya? Read about papaya substitutes below.
• Julienned carrots. This is optional, but a handful of julienned carrots adds a pop of colour that makes this salad much prettier! 
• Pumpkin seeds, toasted. I am using these as a sub for kratin seeds, which are seeds of the river tamarind plant. They look similar to pumpkin seeds, and both add a nuttiness to the salad.
• For serving:
  - Sticky rice is a classic accompaniment.
  - Crispy pork rind (store bought) add a nice fatty crunch.
  - Vietnamese style rice vermicelli (kanom jeen) is amazing with this. You can serve them on the side or mix a small bundle right into the salad. Note: Vietnamese rice vermicelli are the round, slightly thicker noodles like ones I use in my kanom jeen namya recipe, whereas Thai rice vermicelli are the super thread-thin Thai ones. 

How to Make Som Tum With and Without a Mortar and Pestle

The word "tum" in som tum means to pound, which is the technique of pounding ingredients in a mortar and pestle. But don't worry if you don't have a mortar and pestle, or if you only have a small one; below I show you 2 different ways to make som tum, with and without the mortar and pestle.

*If you have a mortar and pestle but it is too small for the salad, simply do everything in your M&P right up until it's time to add the papaya, then transfer into a mixing bowl and switch to the hand method.

But first...you have to julienne the papaya

Here are 3 different ways to julienne green papaya. The julienning techniques are much easier understood by video, so I recommend watching the video tutorial if you've never done it before!

Method 1 - Traditional method: use a chef's knife and chop-chop-chop to make many incisions on the papaya, then use the knife to shave off a layer and you should get beautiful uneven sticks.

Method 2 - Julienne peeler. You can buy a Thai julienne peeler at many Asian stores and online (Kiwi brand). This is what I do at home as it's convenient and fast. Note that the first layer you peel off will be stuck together into a sheet, which you simply have to hand-chop into sticks.

Method 3 - Hand chop. If method 1 is too scary, and you don't have a peeler, you can also just hand chop it! It's slow but it will work. Halve the peeled papaya, scrape off the seeds, and thinly slice into sheets, then chop the sheets into sticks.

How to Make Som Tum in a Mortar & Pestle (traditional method)

1. Julienne the papaya and carrot using one of the methods shown above.
2. In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic and chilies until there are no big chunks.
3. Add the palm sugar and pound until it is melted into a paste.
4. Add the long beans and pound until they are broken.

5. Add the tomatoes and pound gently to smash and release the tomato juices, then use a large spoon to scrape the sugar off the bottom of the mortar and let it mix in with the juices.
6. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, tamarind, pla ra and MSG (if using), then use a spoon to stir and mix. If using a mortar that's too small for the papaya, transfer to a mixing bowl and continue to step 7 of the hand massage method below.
7. Add the julienned papaya and carrots and do the "pound and flip" method - pound a few times, then use the large spoon to flip the papaya to distribute the dressing, then repeat the pounding and flipping a few more rounds until everything is well mixed and the papaya is wilted slightly.
8. Plate and garnish with pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

How to Make Som Tum without a Mortar & Pestle (Hand Massage Method)

1. Combine the finely chopped palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice, then stir until the sugar is mostly dissolved. You'll still have some chunks, but leave them for now.
2. Grate or press the garlic into a mixing bowl. Then finely mince the chilies and add them to the bowl as well.
3. Use whatever you have to smash the long beans until they're split open, then cut into 2-inch pieces.
4. Back to the dressing, stir it well, then use the back of a spoon to mash any remaining sugar lumps which should now easily dissolve. Then add the tamarind, pla ra and MSG (if using).

1. Add the long beans and tomatoes, and use a gloved hand to massage the tomatoes to smash and release the juices.
2. Add the dressing and mix well.
3. Add the papaya and carrots and hand-massage everything until well mixed and the papaya is wilted slightly.
4. Plate and garnish with pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

What is Pla Ra and Where to Find it?

Pla ra (or padaek in Lao) is a fermented fish sauce. But unlike regular fish sauce (nam pla) which is also fermented, it is made from freshwater fish rather than anchovies. Pla ra can be made from a variety of fish, but gourami is a common one. It is thicker, funkier and absolutely packed with umami.

Unlike regular fish sauce which is a commercial product that most people buy, pla ra is an ingredient many people still make still at home, though nowadays you can also buy it. But because it’s historically a homemade item, the flavour of different pla ra varies greatly depending on the recipe used. Some people add various herbs such as lemongrass and makrut lime leaves, others add pineapple juice or even pandan leaves. 

Where to buy pla ra? You can find pla ra wherever you find your Thai ingredients. Most of the time it'll be available at Asian grocery stores that carry a good amount of Southeast Asian ingredients. You can also buy it online; here's the brand I use and like and it is a good beginner pla ra that isn't overly funky and is well seasoned (not sponsored, but the company did send the product for me to try).

When shopping, the labelling can often be confusing as it often is labelled simply as "fish sauce." So make sure the liquid inside is cloudy and thick, and the colour can vary from grey to brown. Ingredients should include fish, salt, and some seasonings, and it may also contain herbs, rice bran or some kind of rice product.

Note: The Vietnamese also have a similar product called mắm nêm, which is available at some Asian markets, and you can use it in place of pla ra *in theory.* However, I don't have much experience with it and don't know the extent to which their flavours can vary between brands. So if possible I would stick to Thai brands to ensure the right flavours.

Substituting Green Papaya in Som Tum

Green papaya can be hard to find and in some places they can be expensive. But the good news is you can make som tum using a number of vegetables that are firm, crunchy, and have a relatively neutral flavour. Here are some options:

• Kohlrabi. This is probably the best sub in terms of colour, flavour, and ease of use. Simply peel the head and julienne it into sticks. The flavour is similar to broccoli stems.
• Broccoli stems. Now you have a reason to buy broccoli with the giant stem attached! Before you julienne, peel off the tougher skin on the bottom part of the stem, but once you get close to the crown the skin is thin enough that it doesn't need to be peeled.
• Premade broccoli slaw mix. If you can find bagged julienne broccoli slaw mix, which is made from broccoli stems, this is a convenient option.
• Cabbage. The flavour will change, and taste quite distinctly of cabbage, but it is still a delicious salad. I even have a purple cabbage som tum in my cookbook SABAI: Simple Weeknight Thai Recipes.
• Cucumber. In Thailand we make tum tang gwa which is som tum made from cucumber and it's super tasty; and I also have a recipe for a corn and cucumber som tum. If working with an English cucumber, you can remove the seeds to make it less watery, but if using smaller cucumbers the seeds can be left in.

Advance Prep Tips

You can actually make som tum up to an hour ahead of serving time and it'll hold up quite well if you wrap and put it in the fridge. If you want to get ahead of the prep, here are things you can do.

• Julienne the papaya and carrots up to a few days ahead, and keep it in a sealed container in the fridge.
• Make the dressing ahead of time (garlic, chilies, and all the seasonings) and keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. When ready to use, pound the long beans and tomatoes, then add in the dressing and the papaya.

What is a Thai "Yum"?

In Thai cuisine, a yum is a type of Thai salad that uses a dressing made from fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and chilies. It's sour and spicy, and well balanced with a little sweetness and a good dose of umami; which is why everyone loves a yum and it's an important part of a Thai meal.

You can make a yum from just about any ingredients, which is why it's the most common type of salad in Thailand, but the dressing remains more or less the same, with a few variations. This makes it easy because with just one dressing, you can make so many salads!

But before you think, wait, doesn't that make all my salads taste the same? Not at all! Unlike Western style salads where the identity of the salad is tied to the dressing (caesar salad = caesar dressing), the identity of Thai salads are in the main ingredients used. The dressing is there to season and give it that bright, fresh flavours that we enjoy as a balancer of richer dishes in a meal. It's kind of like sandwiches, you can keep the same bread and condiments, but by changing the meat, you change the whole sandwich!

Most of the common yum we eat in Thailand are centered around a protein main ingredient, such as this yum neua yang (grilled steak salad) or this yum tuna (tuna salad). However, yum can also be made with noodles or vegetables as the main ingredient, such as this glass noodle salad or wing bean salad.

Imitating a Yum Shop in Thailand

This recipe was actually inspired by a video I saw of a raan yum or a yum shop in Thailand. Typically a yum shop is a stall in the market, but it can also be a restaurant, and it’s a bit like a salad bar - they have a bunch of ingredients for you to choose from, you tell them what you want, and they mix it up for you with their yum dressing.

But unlike western salad bars with a ton of different dressings on offer, the yum shop would have just 1 or 2 dressings. Definitely they’ll have The classic yum dressing, and maybe they’ll have 1 or 2 of the jazzed up versions that I'll show you below. Or perhaps they have only the basic dressing but with two different spice levels. But that’s it. This goes to show you the magic of the yum dressing, it works with everything!

Ingredients and Notes

The ingredients you need for a Thai yum salad dressing are super simple. Here are some important notes about them, and for amounts, see the full recipe card below.

• Thai red chilies. You'll be hard pressed to find a Thai salad that is not spicy, so chilies are an important component. If your heat tolerance is low though, either use milder chilies if you can find them, or scrape the seeds and pith out of your chilies to reduce the heat instead of using fewer chilies. That way you'll keep the chili flavour!
• Garlic. This is actually optional but I find it does add a flavour that I like; and if you love garlic, you'd love it too.
• CIlantro roots or stems. Also optional, but if you already have some, I recommend adding it for a more complex flavour.
• Fish sauce. It is important to use good quality fish sauce for this as it is a main flavour. See this post for how to choose good quality fish sauce here.
• Lime juice. Use freshly squeezed lime juice for the best flavour here, no bottled lime juice!
• Palm sugar. Palm sugar adds not only sweetness but a lovely flavour to yum dressing, if you don't have it, light brown sugar can work. You can also try to change it up and use honey or even maple syrup! Learn more about palm sugar here.

How to Make a Basic Thai Salad Dressing

Here's a bird's eye view of the process, for the full instructions, see the recipe card below.

1. Pound garlic, chilies, and cilantro stems into a paste. (If you don't have a mortar and pestle, alternative methods are in the recipe card.)
2. Add the palm sugar and pound until it is dissolved into a paste.
3. Add the fish sauce and lime juice; stir to mix.
4. It's now ready to use!

Variations: 3 Ways to Jazz Up Your Yum Dressing

Though the basic dressing works on everything, sometimes you might want to try something a little different. Here are 3 common ways we change up the basic dressing:

Jazz #1: Replace some of the palm sugar with Thai chili paste.

The basic dressing is quite light, so if you want a richer dressing, adding Thai chili paste is the way to go. Aside from richness, it also adds a lovely and a unique flavour. You can add more or less Thai chili paste, but remember that chili paste is sweet, so the more you add, the less sugar you need. Different brands of chili pastes are not equally sweet, so some tasting and adjusting is needed here.

Jazz #2: In addition to the chili paste, you can also add coconut milk. 

This makes for a creamier dressing with a wonderful coconut flavour. Note that coconut milk is typically added in addition to chili paste, although you can try adding only coconut milk to the basic dressing if you wish - I don't think it would be bad!

Jazz #3: For those who loves funky flavours, replace some of the fish sauce with pla ra or shrimp paste. 

Pla ra is a type of fermented fish sauce that's different from your regular fish sauce in that it is made from freshwater fish instead of anchovies, and it is much thicker as it has a lot of the fish bits dissolved into the sauce. It has a funky flavour that some people cannot live without, and it's packed with umami. I love a pla ra dressing because it feels more full-bodied. You can add as much or as little as you want depending on the level of funk you desire, but the more you use, the less fish sauce you'll need as they are both salty.

Fermented shrimp paste (gapi) is also a salty, funky ingredient, but it has a very different aroma. I personally prefer a pla ra dressing than one made with shrimp paste, but it is here for you as an option. Though if you've have never had shrimp paste before, putting it into a salad is not how I would suggest trying it the first time! I'd probably go with shrimp paste fried rice as a first.

You can substitute plara for fish sauce at a 1:1 ratio. For shrimp paste, I would add just 1 teaspoon to the basic dressing, and reduce fish sauce to 1 ½ Tablespoons. Tasting and adjusting is important here once again as different brands are not equally salty.

*This is the plara I like (not sponsored) but you can also get this pla ra from Amazon which I've never had but heard good things about it. Rule of thumb for buying pla ra: modern brands with herbs and seasonings added tend to be more beginner-friendly. If the packaging looks old school and very "authentic," and the ingredients look simple, it tends to be quite intense and these must be used with caution!

What To Put into A Thai Salad?

You've got the dressing, now what do you put in the salad? First of all, no salad greens. Thai salads, as you're about to see, are all about protein and noodles, and the veggies play a minor role; and even then, no leafy greens.

Let’s go through some of the most common yum ingredients to give you some ideas of what you can use - and I’ve divided them into 3 categories, the main ingredient, the veggies, and the herbs and toppings.

Main Thai Salad Ingredients

Most Thai salads are centered around a protein. Any kind of protein will work, but here are some options:

• Cooked seafood: shrimp, squid, fish, shellfish, you name it. Most of the time these are simply blanched in water until cooked, but you can also pan fry or even deep fry them.
• Raw seafood: Raw seafood goes very well with this kind of dressing! Any sashimi grade fish works, but in Thailand we also often eat raw shrimp and raw shellfish. Make sure the seafood you're using is safe to eat raw. Also see my salmon sashimi salad.
• Cooked meat - Cooked chicken, thinly sliced steak, pork chops...this is a great way to use up any leftover meats! Rotisserie chicken from the supermarket, shredded up and tossed in a yum dressing is a great inexpensive meal idea!
• Processed meats - Asian meatballs, Vietnamese ham, and hot dogs are all commonly added to Thai salads. This is a really convenient option.
• Eggs - Crispy fried egg salad or yum kai dao is a classic Thai yum that is to die for. But you can also make boiled eggs salad, or even salted duck eggs salad.
• Noodles - Glass noodles, as in yum woon sen, and instant noodles as in yum mama are the most common. But you can also make yum kanom jeen which uses Vietnamese style rice vermicelli
• Ground pork or chicken - this is actually more of a supplement protein we like to add when the main ingredient is not meat. So when the main ingredient is eggs, noodles, or even seafood, a little ground pork is nice for that extra flavour and texture. Simply cook ground pork in a dry pan until it's all broken up and cooked through.

Veggies

Veggies play a secondary but important role in a Thai salad. While they're rarely the star, the add freshness and crunch to the salad. Here are some common options:

• Onion
• Tomatoes
• Chinese or regular celery
• Carrots
• Sweet corn
• Cucumber
• Chinese broccoli stems, blanched

Sometimes the veggies play a bit more of a major role, but even these situations, protein is usually still added to supplement, such as in the classic wing bean salad.

Herbs and Toppings

Herbs and toppings seem like minor flourishes, but they can really add to the flavour and complexity of your salad. Pick any of the following:

• Cilantro
• Green onions (cilantro and green onions are added to almost all Thai salads as default herbs.)
• Lemongrass, thinly sliced
• Mint
• Shallots
• Roasted peanuts
• Roasted cashews
• Fried Shallots, store bought or use my homemade crispy fried shallots recipe.

Storage and Advance Prep

If you want to have Thai salads regularly, you may want to make a bigger batch of this dressing and keep it for multiple uses. But here's what you need to know:

You can keep the yum dressing in your fridge for up to a week. Beyond one week, it'll still be good to eat because with so much chilies, lime and salt (all have preservative qualities), it would take a long time to spoil. BUT the flavour of the lime juice is best when it is freshly made, so I try not to keep it for too long.

Can you freeze the dressing? Yes, and it will prolong the flavour of the lime juice. But I have to note that though I haven't personally done it, my guess is that it won't freeze solid because of so much salt in the dressing. This is fine, and makes it easier to use even, but just in case you were thinking about making ice cubes out of them...that may not work. But let me know how it goes if you try it!

If you want to make a large batch to freeze, you can also omit the garlic and cilantro stems, as these fresh ingredients also shorten the shelf life of the dressing. You can add them when you make the salad.

What is moo deng?

Moo means pork, and deng means bouncy, and it refers to a kind of pork bouncy pork meatballs that we put in various dishes, typically noodle soups, including the viral tom yum instant noodles, pictured below. Sometimes, the pork is formed into patties instead of balls.

Some non-Thai news outlets have been incorrectly reporting that moo deng means "bouncing pig," which I suppose is correct on paper, but not in practice. It's a classic case of "lost in translation" because in Thai, moo means both pork and pig (the same way that "chicken" refers to both the animal and the meat). But moo deng is a food!

Ingredients and Notes

Here are ingredients you'll need for moo deng and some important notes about them. It's super simple! For amounts, see the full recipe card below

• White peppercorns
• Garlic
• Ground pork, preferably not lean for the best texture.
• Soy sauce, use Thai soy sauce for the authentic flavour, but without it, other kinds of soy sauce is also fine.
• Fish sauce. See this post on choosing good quality fish sauce.
• Sugar
• A small ice cube, optional.
• Food processor. Ideally, you'll also need a food processor for the right texture and to get that bounciness, though a small one is fine. If you don't have one, you can still make it and it'll be tasty, but the texture will be more coarse and it won't be bouncy.

How to Make Moo Deng

Here's a bird's eye view of how to make moo deng. Like any other meatballs, you can make these ahead of time and freeze!

1. Pound the garlic and pepper into a paste (not shown). Add the pork, the garlic paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and a small ice cube into a food processor.
2. Process the pork into a smooth-ish paste - the smoother it is the bouncier the meatballs will be. Without a food processor just knead all ingredients well together well with your hand.
3. Roll them into little balls with gloved hands. Without gloves, wetting your hands will prevent the pork from sticking to your hands.
4. Cook them in boiling water for about 2 minutes or until cooked through. Fish them out, and they're now ready to be added to any noodle soup or any dish you want, or you can freeze them for another day.

The 3 Types of Rice Most Commonly Eaten in Asia

Let's go through the types of rice we're going to cover here.

First is what most people call "sushi rice." There are many varieties that fall into this category, some are considered short grain and others are considered medium grain. For this article I’ll call it "sushi rice" for simplicity, but know that in addition to Japan, this is also the type of rice that’s also eaten in Korea and parts of China. 

Then we have jasmine rice which is the staple rice of Southeast Asia. For our discussion jasmine rice will also represent other varieties of long grain rice that are similar but not technically jasmine. I’ll call these “jasmine adjacents,” which will also include the generic “long grain white rice” that you see in most Western grocery stores. 

Finally basmati rice, the longest grain of them all, and this is the rice eaten in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. Like the other two this also represents the many other subtypes of basmati rice that also exist.

Aroma Comparison

There is also big a difference in the way these types of rice smell. Most known for its fragrance is Thai jasmine rice. The reason it is called jasmine rice is because of its beautiful floral aroma similar to jasmine flower. In Thai jasmine rice is called "hom mali" rice which means "fragrant of jasmine flowers." You can smell this scent even before you cook the rice!

Basmati rice is also fragrant, though the aroma is different from jasmine rice. I’d describe it as having a grassier aroma, whereas jasmine is more floral.

Sushi rice is not as fragrant as the other two. It does have that smell you associate with rice in general, but it isn't distinctly aromatic. That was one thing I immediately noticed the first time I cooked sushi rice after a lifetime of cooking jasmine!

What About Brown Rice?

So where does brown rice fit into all this? Brown rice is not another type of rice, it's just processed differently. All white rice has a brown version because white rice is simply brown rice with the bran removed.

So brown rice is going to be more fibrous, and chewier than their white counterpart, but the chew is coming from the brown bran on the outside, and not the rice on the inside. You can cook brown rice using the same method as white rice, but you’ll need a little more water and a little more time because it takes more time for the water to penetrate through the bran. 

Here’s my hot tip: If you don’t like brown rice because you think it tastes like chewy twigs, try brown Thai jasmine rice; meaning real hom mali rice. It is the best tasting, softest brown rice I’ve had, and the jasmine aroma will counteract any twiggy flavour from the bran.

How to Cook Different Types of Rice

The good news is that even though they are very different, you can actually cook all 3 types of rice using this standard method of cooking rice most common in Asia. It's the simplest, it's the same method that electric rice cookers use, and I think it yields the best results.

BUT you will need different amounts of water to match the rice you're cooking, as outlined below. There are other factors that can affect how much water you need, and we’ll talk more about that in a bit, but the type of rice is by far the biggest determinant.

If you're using a rice cooker, you still need to add the correct amount of water. The rice cooker is not magic, all it's doing is stopping the cooking when all the water has been absorbed, it cannot fix dry or mushy rice. So here is a guideline for how much water you need for each type of rice.

How Much Water Do You Need To Cook Different Types of Rice?

If you're using the standard stovetop method, OR if you're using a rice cooker, here's the amount of water you need:

For sushi rice (Japanese short grain and medium grain, including US grown brands)

• You need a ratio of 1 part rice to 1 part water, by volume.

So 1 cup of rice, 1 cup of water. Whatever kind of cup, coffee cup, rice cup, measuring cup, it doesn't matter, it's all about the ratio. This ratio also seems to be quite stable between brands in my experience, but you can adjust according to your preference.

If you have a Japanese rice cooker like a Zojirushi, and you’re using the rice cup that comes with the cooker to measure your rice, you’ll notice that this ratio of water corresponds to the “white rice” line in the rice cooker, so you can go with that line to simplify. By extension, if you're cooking jasmine or basmati rice in a Japanese rice cooker, you cannot use those water lines. 

For jasmine rice and its adjacents.

• You need a ratio of 1 part rice to 1¼ to 1½ parts water, depending on the variety, brand, and your preference.

If your rice cooker comes from a country that eats primarily jasmine and long grain white rice, including Thailand, Hong Kong, even US and Canada, AND if you’re using the measuring cup that came with the rice cooker to measure, you’ll notice that the water lines in these rice cooker corresponds to a ratio of 1 part rice to 1 ½ parts water.

For basmati rice

• You need a ratio of 1 part rice to 1 ¾ - 2 parts water, again depending on the variety, brand and your preference.

Other factors affecting the amount of water needed to cook rice

The ratio of water I provided is just a guideline, as there are other factors that can affect the amount of water needed, beyond the type of rice.  

1. The brand of rice. Even though you’re cooking the same type of rice, the specific plant varieties can be different between brands. AND the processing can most certainly be different. Rice has to be dried before it’s milled and packaged, and how LONG the rice was dried will affect how much water is required to rehydrate it in the cooking process.
   So if you’re working with a new brand of rice, be aware that it may require a different amount of water than you're used to.
2. Evaporation during cooking. How much water you add is one thing, but how much is lost during cooking is another. This depends on how high your heat is, how wide or narrow your pot is, how tight fitting your lid is, etc. Some people leave the pot uncovered in the beginning in order to see if the rice is boiling, so they’ll lose more water that way. All these things are slightly different for everyone.
3. Your preference. Some people like rice that is firmer and dryer, others prefer it softer. I always find the rice at my parents' house too soft, but that’s how they like it, and that's okay! Also, if you're going to use the rice for fried rice, you may want to add slightly less water.

Does the 1-Knuckle Rule Work?

Some of you might have been taught to cook rice by adding enough water so that it is “1 knuckle” above the rice, specifically the first knuckle of your index finger. Does this method work? 

Well, it CAN work, but not always.

If you use the 1-knuckle rule, the rice to water ratio will be roughly equivalent to 1 : 1 ½ IF you're cooking at least 2 rice-cups of rice (1.5 measuring cups). So this is why it generally works for jasmine rice and its long grain white rice adjacents. And if you talk to people who follow the 1-knuckle rule, you’ll find that they are usually cooking this type of rice and cooking enough to feed a family. (I'm looking at you, my East Asian friends.)

And because jasmine rice is generally quite forgiving, meaning you can add a little more or a little less water and still have decent rice, the 1-knuckle rule seems to work for a lot of people despite different finger lengths.

But there are a few situations where the 1-knuckle rule does not work:

1. If you’re using Japanese short/medium grain rice, basmati rice, or another kind of rice that takes a different ratio of water, it won't work.
2. Your rice pot is not straight sided. If the pot has sloped or curved sides, like the pot of my Zojirushi rice cooker, it won't work.
3. If your rice happens to be new crop, the 1-knuckle rule might produce slightly too-wet rice.
4. If you're cooking a tiny bit of rice, i.e. 1 rice-cup (¾ measuring cup) or less, it will not work. These days I often cook only half a rice-cup at a time because it's the perfect amount for my son's lunch box, and using 1-knuckle would mean way too much water.
5. This is obvious but it must be said: if you have unusually long or short knuckle!

Which Type of Rice Should You Use For Which Dish?

This is a important aspect of cooking with rice. You could cook the perfect rice, but if it's the wrong rice for the job, it won't be a perfect meal. We now know that there are huge differences between types of rice, so it should go without saying that they are NOT interchangeable.

Here’s my rule of thumb: You should always serve the rice that matches the cuisine. If you’re making japanese food, use Japanese rice. If you’re cooking Thai food, use jasmine rice. Indian food, basmati rice, etc.

Each country’s cuisine has been designed to pair with the rice that is local to their country. The food was not developed independent of the rice.

So if you mix and match, sometimes it might be okay, but other times it’s not. The extreme example is if you try to make sushi using basmati rice. Basmati rice will not hold together. But a more subtle example is if you try to eat a Thai green curry with basmati rice. Thai green curry, and most other Thai curries, are very thin and soupy, and if you poured it over basmati rice which doesn’t stick together at all, the rice will just turn into a soupy mess. But Thai rice with stick together enough.

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need and important notes about them. For amounts, see the the full recipe card below. Don't be deterred by the list of ingredients! May of the ones listed are optional but I want to give you the whole range of possiblities, and the basics that you really need are not that many!

For the Pork Stock (or chicken stock)

There are times when store bought stocks are totally fine, and this is not one of them. The pork stock is the foundation of the soup, and it really needs to be made Thai style to have the right flavour and aromatics. If you don't eat pork, you can substitute chicken bones.

• Pork neck bones or back bones, I prefer neck bones because it has more meat which you can either save for another dish of simply top the noodle soup with it. Sub chicken bones if you don’t eat pork.
• Daikon. I used to think that daikon was an optional stock aromatic, but after having made stocks with and without daikon, I now believe it is essential. It makes the stock so sweet and flavourful, and is a must have in Thailand for stocks.
• Garlic.
• Onion. Onion is not actually added to stocks in Thailand, but I love the added sweetness that it gives, and don't we always have an onion around the house anyway? 🙂
• Cilantro roots, or cilantro stems, smashed gently to bruise.

For the Broth

• Good Thai style pork stock from above.
• Soy sauce.
• Fish sauce. See my post on how to choose good fish sauce here.
• Sugar.
• Ground white pepper, to taste

Noodle Soup Components

• Noodles of your choice. The noodle soups vendors will always offer several noodle options. You can choose whichever you prefer, and I've listed them all, along with cooking instructions below.
• Asian style fish cakes/fish balls, or other types of Asian style meatballs of your choice. You can buy fish cakes at any Asian grocery stores, either fresh in the seafood counter or frozen. There are many flavours, and you can use anything you like, but try to stick with ones with fewer ingredients as they tend to be of higher quality.
  Other protein options: Because the soup is quite plain, I encourage you to use protein that is flavourful such as: the meat you picked off from the bones after making the pork stock tossed with some soy sauce and pepper, chopped leftover meats that is flavourful like a good steak or roast chicken, thinly sliced marinated pork or chicken, or ground pork cooked with some soy sauce.
• Bean sprouts.
• Fried garlic and garlic oil. Really important toppings for Thai noodle soup! You simply need to fry some chopped garlic on low heat until golden, but you can see the full recipe for fried garlic here.
• Chopped cilantro and/or green onions for garnish
• Optional: "tang chai" preserved cabbage bits. These are little bits of crunchy salted cabbage that we often add to our noodle soups. You can see them at the end of the video, but they are totally optional.

Optional Tableside Condiments:

Thai people always provide extra condiments for noodle soup so people can make it taste exactly how you want it. You can also make it “tom yum style” which is a hot and sour version (more on this below).

• Chili vinegar, the basic version is simpley chopped chilies and white vinegar. You can also blend the chilies and the vinegar together. Read more about this on my chili vinegar post.
• Fish sauce, if you want to soup to be more salty.
• Sugar.
• Roasted chili flakes, or any kind of spicy chili powder if you want to make it spicy. this is also needed for the tom yum style. You can buy or easily make your own roasted chili flakes.
• Lime, only for tom yum style, more about tom yum style below.

How to Make Classic Thai Noodle Soup

Here's a bird's eye view of the process. The full instructions are in the recipe card below, and if this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success!

1. Simmer pork neck bones in water for about 30 minutes, then skim off the scum.
2. Add the daikon, onion, garlic, cilantro roots/stems, and white pepper and simmer for another hour, at minimum.
3. Remove the pork bones and vegetables; the stock is now ready to use. Once the bones are cool, pick off the meat from the bones and you can season it with some soy sauce and use it to top the noodle soup, or save it for another dish.
4. If using rice noodles, soak them in room temperature water until they are fully pliable. Timing varies between noodles, more on this below.

Noodle Options and Cooking Instructions

At most Thai noodle soup vendors, you will have several noodle options and they all need slightly different preparations below. You can learn more about how to cook rice noodles properly in my post on mastering rice noodles.

• Rice vermicelli (sen mee) - The smallest of noodles and the quickest to prep. Simply soak them in room temp water for 5-15 mins (timing varies between brands) until they are completely limp, then drain. DO NOT OVERSOAK as these overcook very easily.
  To cook, blanch them in boiling water, one portion at a time, for 3 seconds.
• Small dry rice noodles (sen lek) - The most classic option. These noodles are 1.5 mm wide when dry. Soak in room temp water for 20-30 minutes or until they turn opaque white and are completely limp - they should have lost all of the kinks - and then drain.
  To cook, blanch them in boiling water, one portion at a time, for 5 seconds.
• Glass noodles (woon sen) - woonsen is thin, delicate, and has a neutral flavour and is delicious in boat noodles. Soak in room temp water for 10 minutes until softened before cooking.
  To cook, boil in hot water for 2 minutes. You can cook all of the glass noodles at once since they take a longer time to cook, then separate into portions immediately after draining.
• Fresh wide rice noodles (sen yai) - This is the noodles commonly associated with pad see ew. If cold and stuck together, microwave the noodles until they are hot and soft, so they can be peeled apart without breaking. Separate all the noodles before cooking.
  To cook, blanch them one portion at a time for literally 1-2 seconds just to heat them up and wash off the oil that's used to coat them. Do not let them linger in hot water for too long because they're already fully cooked and will quickly turn mushy.
• Wonton noodles or egg noodles (bamee) - These vary greatly between brands, so you'll have to change the cooking time according to what you've got.
  But if you have thin wonton noodles like the one shown in the pic (fresh and coated in flour), loosen the noodles and boil them in hot water for 1 minute. If you're making many portions, you can cook them all at once and separate them immediately after draining.
• Mama Instant Noodles (sen mama) - Mama are the Thai instant noodles and they are super tasty in boat noodles! Buy any flavour of mama since you won't need the seasoning packets, but make sure the noodles are the classic wheat fried noodles as shown in the pic.
  Boil the noodles in water for about 1 minute, and you can cook all portions together and separate them after draining.
• Medium size rice noodles (not pictured): These are 3mm wide rice noodles, but they are actually not offered in Thailand for noodle soups because they are meant for stir fries. But if these are what you have, soak them in room temp water for 1 hour until fully pliable, then blanch in boiling water for 8 seconds.

Advance Prep & Storage

The only thing that takes time is the pork stock, everything else is super easy to come together. So I would make the pork stock in advance, and that should be all you need to do.

You can also soak rice noodles in advance, drain, and keep them in the fridge. But do not soak rice vermicelli in advance as I find they tend to become mushy as they sit in the fridge and absorb excess moisture around them.

You can store leftover soup in the fridge for up to 1 week, and you can freeze it of course.

The Most Important Component: Nam Jim Seafood

There are really only 2 components to this dish, salmon and dressing, and the success of this dish relies entirely on the dressing (assuming your salmon is fresh). The dressing is in fact a sauce that's extremely important within Thai cuisine called nam jim seafood.

"Nam jim" means dipping sauce, and seafood, well, is seafood. It is the sauce that Thai people dip all kinds of seafood in. In fact, Thai people never do seafood without it, and sometimes we dip non-seafood in it as well (try it with crispy pork belly!)

I have shared a recipe for nam jim seafood before that was an all-purpose dipping sauce, but this recipe is slightly different as it was developed specifically to work in this application. You can, however, use this recipe as an all-purpose seafood sauce as well.

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need and important notes about them. For amounts, see the the full recipe card below.

• Salmon. You want to buy salmon that is safe for eating raw, so when shopping, ask your fishmonger if it's okay for sashimi. I buy mine (from Sungiven for folks in Vancouver) frozen and specifically labelled as "sashimi salmon." More on this below.
• Garlic, you'll need some for the sauce, and if you want, some for garnish. Yes! Garlic for garnish! At Jeh O they put thinly sliced raw garlic on top and I was surprised to find that it actually tastes great together with the salmon. Just make sure you slice it really thin otherwise it'll be overpowering.
• Chilies, I use red Thai chilies for this, and feel free to reduce or increase the amount depending on your heat preference.
• Cilantro, stems and leaves all together.
• Lime juice, fresh only for this recipe!
• Fish sauce, read more about choosing good fish sauce here.
• Palm sugar, or light brown sugar. Learn more about palm sugar here.
• Salt, this is to replace some of the fish sauce to reduce the overall amount of liquid so that the sauce isn't too runny.

Step-By-Step:

Here's a bird's eye view of the process. The full instructions are in the recipe card below, and if this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success!

1. Blend all sauce ingredients until there are no more big chunks, but there are still some small bits. The amount in the recipe will likely be too small for a jug blender, so a bullet or immersion blender is great for this. Instructions for using a mortar and pestle is also provided in the recipe card.
2. Cut the salmon first so the pieces are about 2-inches wide, then slice them into ¼-inch thick strips.
3. Toss the salmon with the dressing.
4. plate and top with garlic slices, mint leaves, and lime slices for garnish, if desired. Eat it soon or it'll turn into ceviche!

Love seafood? You'd also love these!

How Instant Noodles Went Viral and Became Iconic

"Jeh O" is the name of the auntie chef-owner of this a 60-year-old restaurant that was originally known for khao tom ped, a duck version of this Thai rice soup. Around 2015, Jeh-O's son made a tom yum mama noodle soup for himself (Mama being Thailand's favourite instant noodles). But instead of using just the seasoning powder for the soup, he made creamy tom yum soup from scratch and dressed it with a lot of toppings. He posted it on social media and it looked so impressive that his friends asked him to make it for them.

He served it right in the pot, with lots of toppings, and when he plopped it on the table people said, "Oho!" which is Thai for "wow." So he named the dish "Mama Oho."

When Jeh O consulted her son about how to draw in more customers during the quiet late night hours, he suggested putting his Mama Oho on the menu because mama is a popular late night snack for many Thais.

And people went wild for it. After they announced the new item on social media, lines were forming around the block on day 1. Literally overnight an iconic dish was born. It has been many years, and Mama Oho has stood the test of time and people are still lining up for it today, and I was one of them!

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need, and important notes about them. For amounts, see the full recipe card below.

For the Noodle Soup

• Creamy Tom Yum Mama noodles. You can find these at many Asian grocery stores. If this flavour is not available you can also get regular tom yum flavour, but note that creamy tom yum flavour is bigger than other flavours (90 g vs. 55 g), so you'll need to get more packs of the smaller size.
• Makrut lime leaves, aka kaffir lime leaves.
• Lemongrass, bottom half only as this is the most flavourful part.
• Galangal, thinly sliced
• Thai chili paste (nam prik pao) aka Thai chili jam. This is an important part of this dish, so there is no substitute! If you can't find it in stores, you can make your own following my Thai chili paste recipe.
• Thai chili paste oil. This is the oil that is on top of every jar of Thai chili paste when you buy them. If you're using a half-used jar and there isn't any more oil, you can substitute another chili oil as long as it's doesn't have too-strong flavours of other "irrelevant" spices.
• Fish sauce, read about how to choose food fish sauce here.
• Fresh lime juice, yes fresh only, no bottled!
• Thai chilies, chopped. Put as much or as little as you can tolerate, but the dish as served at Jeh O is about medium spicy.
• Pork stock, unsalted (If you're making the meatballs, you can just use the meatball cooking water as your stock). Otherwise see my pork stock recipe here.
• Egg whites, which will be mixed into the broth. Keep the yolks for topping.
• Evaporated milk. If you can't have dairy, you can substitute coconut milk.

For the Toppings

Mama Oho is not complete without elaborate toppings, this is what makes it WOW! Feel free to pick and choose the toppings here, but I highly recommend the meatballs!

• Thai style pork meatballs or what we call moo deng, recipe included beloe.
• Crispy pork belly, store bought is fine, or if you're feeling ambitious you can make it using my crispy pork belly recipe
• Shrimp, large ones for the same impressive effect. Ideally at least size 21/25.
• Squid or crab meat, whichever you prefer, or both!
• Sawtooth coriander or cilantro
• Lime slices, these are just for show, feel free to omit.
• Egg yolks

For the Meatballs (moo deng)

• White peppercorns
• Garlic
• Ground pork, preferably not lean, but lean is fine
• Soy sauce
• Fish sauce
• Sugar
• A small ice cube, optional
• Food processor, optional. Ideally you'll also need a food processor for the meatballs (small one is fine). If you don't have one, it's ok.

How to Make Mama Tom Yum Noodles - Jeh O Style

Here's a bird's eye view of the process, for the full recipe with complete instructions and ingredient amounts, see the recipe card below.

1. Pound the garlic and pepper into a paste (not shown). Add the pork, the garlic paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and a small ice cube into a food processor.
2. Process the pork into a paste. Without a food processor just knead all ingredients together well with your hand.
3. Roll them into little balls and cook them in boiling water for about 2 minutes or until cooked through.
4. Remove the meatballs and, using the same water, blanch the shrimp until fully cooked. If using squid, blanch them in this water too. Keep the water as a base for the soup.

5. Into a medium pot, add the lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves, fish sauce, lime juice, Thai chilies, chili paste, chili paste oil, and all of the seasoning powder and chili paste packets that came with Mama.
6. Add the pork stock (or meatball cooking water) and bring to a vigorous boil.
7. Add the noodles and pour the egg whites on top of the noodles. Keep pushing on the noodles until they start to loosen and try to get all the noodles to be submerged.
8. Once the noodles are softened (takes only 1 minute) turn off the heat and stir in the evaporated milk. *Noodles are already cooked, they just need to be rehydrated and they'll continue to soften in the hot broth, so do not overcook the noodles!

9. Immediately pour into a serving bowl and top with toppings. Do this quickly as the noodles will swell up too much if you take too long.
10. Take a quick photo of this masterpiece, and enjoy immediately!

Watch The Video

If you prefer to watch rather than read, most of the information I include in this blog post is also covered in the video, and the technique section will be more easily understood visually via the video!

The Structure of Stir Fries

This is the important mindset shift: once you start thinking about stir fries in terms of its structure instead of seeing different stir fries as different recipes, you can stir fry anything. There are 3 major components to any stir fries:

1. The Nuggets: Proteins and Veggies

"The nuggets" is my term for all the chunky pieces in your stir fry; basically the proteins and the vegetables. Most people are stuck thinking that they need a mix of protein and veggies to make a stir fry, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be an all veggie stir fry like my cabbage fish sauce stir fry, or gailan oyster sauce stir fry - or it can be an all-meat stir fry like my grandma’s garlic shrimp stir fry, or garlic pepper chicken.

For proteins: Chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, fish, tofu, you name it, it’s all stir-fryable. Leftover proteins are great and make it easy cuz it’s already cooked, such as in my black pepper beef recipe where I use leftover cut-up steak.

For veggies, absolutely anything works. ANYTHING is stir-fryable. Even things you don’t associate with stir fries, like cucumber - which is great in stir fries - and also romaine lettuce!

Important Tips for Preparing Proteins for Stir Frying

• The chewier the protein, the thinner the pieces should be. Pork and beef should always be sliced between ⅛ - ¼ inch (3-5 mm) thick. Chicken can be cut around ½ -inch (1.25 cm) thick. And fish should be kept in big 1-inch chunks at minimum.
• Always slice pork and beef against the grain. If you're starting from steaks where the meat grain runs up and down, cut the steak into 1-inch-wide pieces, then turn it on its side so the grain now runs left-to-right - and you can now slice thinly against the grain.
• Preventing fish from falling apart. Choose fish that is firmer and thicker, such as salmon and halibut, and cut them into big chunks; at least 1-inch thick. Pre-sear the fish pieces so they are about 80% done, or even 60% if using fish that can be eaten medium such as salmon. Then briefly toss them in at the end just to coat them in the sauce. You can also dredge fish chunks in flour and deep fry them before tossing into stir fries at the end - this is a restaurant trick for preventing fish from falling apart.
• Tofu. Use firm, extra firm, or pressed tofu for stir frying. If using pressed tofu, such as the one I used in pad thai, you don't need to fry it as it is very sturdy. If using firm or extra firm, it should be fried or air-fried to prevent crumbling and to create chewiness. You can also use frozen tofu which is sturdy and can absorb sauce better. See this post all about the science of frozen tofu and how to use them in dishes.

1. The Sauce

Once you’ve decided on the big stuff (the nuggets), now we think about the sauce. The main job of the sauce is to bring taste elements into the dish. Note I said taste not flavour. The 5 tastes are: sweet, salty, sour, umami and bitter; although bitter is not really a part of most stir fries so we will leave that out for this discussion. Let’s break these down:

Salty - An element every dish needs

This is non-negotiable. You NEED something salty in your stir fry (or any dish, really). Some common options are: soy sauces of all kinds, fish sauce, oyster sauce, fermented soybean pastes (Thai taojiew) or miso, shrimp paste, salt, or anything else salty you can think of. You can use just one, like in my cabbage fish sauce stir fry, or a combination of a few which is more common in Asian stir fries.

Sweet - The salt balancer, or the star

Sometimes you'll want the sweetness to be the star of the dish, like in sweet and sour stir fry, but more commonly you want just a liiiiiitttle bit of sweetness to balance the salt, such as the little bit of sugar in my mixed veggies stir fry. Or maybe something in between. It depends on the flavour profile of the dish - and is something you, the chef, have to decide upon.

In terms of ingredients, white sugar is great if you’re using just a small amount, but if sweet is a prominent flavour, then palm sugar, brown sugar, sweet soy sauce, maple syrup, honey, etc. will bring in more complexity. Note that Thai chili paste aka chili jam would also fall into the sweet category, but it’s also bringing in a lot of other great flavours as well, such as in my cashew chicken recipe.

Sour - Maybe you want it, maybe not.

Unlike salty, sour is not a taste that every stir fry needs. Like sweet, it depends on what you’re going for, though it is used much less frequently than sweet.

If you do want an element of sour, you can use vinegar, like in my sweet and sour stir fry, or tamarind paste, like in my tamarind shrimp recipe, or even vinegary hot sauce such as sriracha as in my cucumber chicken stir fry recipe.

Lime juice and lemon juice are less common in stir fries, but if you're gonna add them it’s best to add them at the end as they taste better when they’re not cooked in high heat.

Other Sauce Ingredients

There are other sauce ingredients that don't offer any taste but bring on lots of flavour (remember taste and flavour are not the same thing). Things like sesame oil, coconut milk, or even chicken stock.

Pro Tip: Make sauce in bulk

If you’ve got a favourite stir fry, say cashew chicken, you can make 10x of the cashew chicken sauce and now you won't have to make it from scratch every time. Most stir fry sauces will last indefinitely in the fridge.

Also check out my Universal Stir Fry Sauce that you can make in bulk and use to stir fry anything including fried rice and noodles. This is something I learned working at Thai restaurants where they'd have a vat of this sauce and it goes into almost every stir fry that they make!

3. Aromatics

You could make a stir fry with just the nuggets and the sauce, but every good stir fry has aromatics. They're what give complexity to the dish. Aromatics include anything you’d call a herb or a spice. This can be as simple as chopped garlic, but you can also add shallots, chilies, black or white pepper, onions, lemongrass, basil, cilantro, or even curry paste. The possibilities here are endless.

The Technique - 5 Steps to Great Stir Fries

Now that we have the structure, let's talk technique. While everything will be written down, this part is better understood visually, so I highly recommend you watch the video tutorial where I show you two different stir fries using recipes that require slightly different treatment.

These steps are not Thai cuisine specific; you can use these techniques with any ingredients from any cuisine. But there are a few other techniques that are unique to other cuisines, or more common to restaurant cooking, that we won’t get into here.

Okay, my basic stir frying technique is done in 5 steps:

Step 1: Cook the meat separately.

I first sear the meat in a hot wok until browning develops on the underside. Then I toss and stir the meat until it's cooked through, then remove from the pan. If your meat is already cooked, like leftover proteins, you can obviously skip this step.

Why cook the meat separately? You don't have to, but I like to do it because it gives me control over meat "doneness". If you add the meat in raw with everything else, how long the meat spends in the pan is tied up with how long other things take to cook, and you might then overcook the meat. You also won't get any browning if you don't sear it separately, and browning is flavour! 

Tip: I always ensure the meat is marinated so that the seasoning isn’t just in the sauce around the meat but IN the meat as well. A simple fish sauce or soy sauce marinade is fine.

Step 2: Sauté Non-Delicate Aromatics

In the same pan you used to sear the meat, add more oil if needed, then sauté any aromatics that are not leafy and don't "wilt". That's your garlic, onions, shallots, chilies, curry pastes, etc. Use medium heat at this stage as aromatics can burn easily.

Give the aromatics a couple of minutes to cook and infuse their flavour into the oil, and then the oil will carry the flavour of the aromatics into the rest of the dish. This is why we don’t just throw garlic in midway; the flavour wouldn't have a chance to permeate the whole dish. 

If using garlic, once the smallest bits of garlic turn golden, that's your cue for Step 3.

Step 3: Stagger-add vegetables and sauce

The longest-cooking veggie goes in now, and give them a good toss in the heat and the oil, then add the sauce (which I always have mixed up in advance so that I only have to add 1 thing). In this example I'm using the sauce from my Chili Paste Stir Fry recipe.

If you’re using different types of vegetables that take different amounts of time to cook, stagger-add them accordingly. For example, if you like bell pepper crisp, add them after the beans are almost done.

If a certain vegetable takes a long time to cook, add a splash of water then cover the pan and let it steam. Come back a minute before it's done. If you're not sure how long it takes, keep poking it with a fork every minute or so to check. In this example I'm making the kabocha squash stir fry recipe.

Okay once your veggies are done, we go to Step 4

Step 4: Add the protein back in

Your pre-cooked protein goes back into the pan to be tossed in the sauce. If your protein is fully cooked and is still hot, it just needs to be tossed for a few seconds. If you are using cold leftover protein from the fridge, be sure to give it enough time to heat through.

If using eggs, they can go in at this step; and let them set a bit before scrambling so that they remain in chunks (best to see this technique in the video).

Step 5: Off the heat and ddd delicate aromatics

Now is the time for any leafy aromatics like basil and green onions to go in, and which I add off-heat so they don't wilt too much. For suuuuper delicate herbs that wilt very easily in heat like cilantro, you can even add them after plating. I always add them off-heat because the residual heat is more than enough to wilt the herbs without over-cooking everything else. 

And that is how you stir fry anything!

What about fried rice?

Fried rice is also a kind of stir fry, or what Thai people call a pad. Generally, the same steps still apply, with a few modifications:

• Treat rice like vegetables. Add them in at step 3, after aromatics but before the sauce. The sauce should be drizzled over the rice as the liquid from the sauce will help the rice grains separate.
• If adding eggs to fried rice, add the eggs in after the aromatics and before the rice. Scramble the eggs and then add the rice.
• Allow the rice to toast. For good fried rice, you want the rice to toast and brown slightly to develop a deeper flavour. After the rice is well mixed with the sauce, let it sit undisturbed over high heat for 15-20 seconds to allow the rice to brown, then flip and repeat a few more times. Timing for how long to let the rice sit each time will depend on the strength of your stove, so a bit of trial and error is required.

What about noodle stir fries?

Noodle stir fries are harder to generalize because different kinds of noodles require different techniques. Step 1 (meat) and Step 2 (aromatics) are gonna be consistent, but from that point onward it kind of depends which noodles you're using.

My advice is to learn how to work with each kind of noodle separately. So if you want to learn how to stir fry fresh rice noodles, start by learning a pad see ew recipe, or for dry rice noodles learn an easy pad thai recipe, or for egg noodles, learn my mie goreng recipe.

Once you’ve mastered that, you can start generalizing the technique and change out ingredients. Keeping in mind of course that different ingredients may require different treatments, so you gotta use some critical thinking here. 

FAQ: The Best Cookware for Stir Frying

If you want to stir fry with any regularity at all, I suggest you get a wok, and it'll change your stir frying life.

Why wok? Because with a wok you can actually STIR and toss to your heart's content without worrying about things jumping out. Yes, you can stir fry with a large skillet, but it's so much more difficult to try to toss, flip, and stir without having things escape the pan.

If you need to use a skillet, make sure it is LARGE (12-inch at least) and I recommend you practice the "pan toss" - i.e. flipping things in a skillet without utensils - because that will allow you to toss and mix things more quickly and efficiently.

But...what kind of wok?

The best kind of wok is a whole other discussion, and it really depends on your specific needs. If you are a casual stir-fryer who just wants to stir fry with ease and convenience, Korean, flat-bottom, nonstick woks are a great, low-maintenance option. They also come in a few sizes to match your storage needs. That's what I use at home often where convenience is a priority. You can get them at most large Asian grocery stores, and definitely at H-Mart.

If you want to get serious with stir fries, and you want to get that smoky wok char and use max-high heat, you'll want to get yourself a carbon steel wok. It comes with some special maintenance however and are generally pretty big if you only have limited space.

For further discussion:

WATCH: My video about the best wok to buy

WATCH: My video about how to care for a carbon steel wok.