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Ingredients
& Nutrition
Facts
Spices
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Five-spice powder is a convenient seasoning for Chinese cuisine, particularly Cantonese cuisine. It incorporates the five basic flavours of Chinese cooking — sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty. It consists of China Tung Hing cinnamon (actually a type of cassia), powdered cassia buds, powdered star anise and anise seed, ginger root, and ground cloves. Another recipe for the powder consists of cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, fennel seed, and star anise. Szechuan pepper can also be used. It is used in most recipes for Cantonese roasted duck, as well as beef stew.
The formulae are based on the Chinese philosophy of balancing the yin and yang in food. A pinch of the powder goes a long way.
Although this spice is used in restaurant cooking, many Chinese households never use it in day-to-day cooking. In Hawaii some restaurants have it on the table.
A versatile seasoned salt can be easily made by stir-frying common salt with five spice powder under low heat in a dry pan until the spice and salt are well mixed. |
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Garlic
Use :
Almost all Thai dishes - soups, curries, salads, sauces and pan-fried
dishes ? contain garlic.
Medicinal
Properties : Cures and prevents atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, aids
digestion, relieves cold symptoms, fights some intestinal parasites, helps
heal wounds, fights infections, strengthens heart, and clears chest
congestion.
Method of
Preparation : Garlic is ground in curry paste, crushed in salad dressings,
or chopped and fried before adding to other ingredients in pan fried
dishes. |
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Ginger
Medicinal
Properties : Aids digestion, helps release phlegm, relieves stomachache
and nausea, increases perspiration, dilates capillaries, helps cold and
sore throats and poor circulation, soothes minor burns, and cures wounds.
Use : In
pan-fried chicken with ginger
Method of
Preparation : Finely shredded ginger is added after the chicken is cooked
and seasoned. The cooked ginger will give off its flavour and its hot
taste will be milder.
Use : In
Tomson Pla Too (sweet and spicy mackerel soup). Shredded ginger is an
essential ingredient of a tomsom. The ginger covers up the smell of fish
with its pleasant taste and smell. The sweetness of the liquid will be
less noticeable under the ginger taste.
Method of
Preparation : The ginger should be added after the fish and the soup come
to a boil to bring out the ginger flavor. |
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Lemon grass
Use : Lemon
grass is an essential ingredient of a Tomyam, a popular Thai dish served
in most restaurants around the world. It gives a pleasant flavor and
covers up the fish and shrimp smells.
Medicinal
Properties : Aids digestion, relieves stomach pain, increases urine
production, and relieves gall stone problems and high blood pressure.
Method of
Preparation : Add the lemon grass to the boiling water. If the water is
not yet boiled, the lemon grass will retain the purplish pink color in
lime water. The lemongrass should be cut into bit-size pieces for easy
eating. |
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Young Galangal Root
Use :
Tomkha Gai can be literally translated to boiled Chicken with Galangal.
The galangal gives a pleasant flavor, covers up the natural chicken smell
and nullifies the fatty taste of the coconut milk. It is an essential
ingredient of this delicious and popular dish.
Medicinal
Properties : Relieves skin rash, diarrhea, indigestion and body pain due
to crash and fall.
Method of
Preparation : Scrape off the outer skin of the young galangal root, cut
into thin slices and soak in lime water to prevent the brown
discoloration. The acidity of lime helps retain the natural whitish pink
color of galangal pieces. The galangal should be added to the boiling
coconut milk to bring out full odors. The taste of the dish will be
greatly improved when the galangal pieces are bitten. |
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Mature Galangal
Use : Beef
and chicken Tom Yams need mature galangal roots to improve the flavor of
the beef and chicken. The dishes will have a better aroma and taste.
Method of
Preparation : Slice the galangal into thin strips. Add to a boiling soup
stock before adding the beef or chicken for best result. |
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Fresh hot Chili Peppers
Use : Hot
chili peppers give the uniquely hot taste and aroma of Thai cooking. It is
the star ingredient of most dishes. Almost every dish will taste better
with a small addition of these tiny hot chili peppers. Tom Yam and Tom Kha
cannot be made without them.
Medicinal
Properties : Relieves diarrhea, stimulates digestion and the heat,
increases blood flow to taste buds and thus increases appetite, relieves
infection, dissolves blood clod, and prevents intestinal cancer.
Method of
Preparation : The fresh hot chili peppers must be crushed and added last
into the Tomyam and Tomka. For best results, all other ingredients should
be cooked before fresh chili peppers are added to the dishes. |
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Caraway or Cumin
Both
Caraway and Cumin give slightly sweet tastes and similar aromas, but the
seeds of Caraway are bigger in size while Cumin has better and stronger
adors and is spicier.
Use : Add
to curry paste and meat dishes such as Satay, roasted chicken, roasted
beef, soup, sausages and ham as well as pickles, preserved fruit, cake,
cookies and biscuits. Jeera is also used in salad cream and soup in
certain countries. American mixed spices called ? Chilli Seasoning ? also
contain Jeera.
Medicinal
Properties : Stimulant, antispasmodic, carminative
Relieves
diabetes, constipation, indigestion, nausea, fatigue and insomnia.
Method of Preparation : Jeera must be crisp fried before being used as
ingredient |
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Cardamom
Cardamom is
in a lotus flower-like small round shape and white color with soft shells.
Cardamom seeds are black, have good aroma like lemon and taste little
spicy and bitter sweet. Cardamom leaves look like Kaew or Orange Jasmine
leaves. Dried cardamom leaves are brown.
Use :
Krawan (Cardamom) is an important ingredient of several Thai dishes such
as Masaman and beef curry. Grounded cardamom is used in certain kinds of
pastries and cake or added to hot beverages in some countries.
Medicinal
Properties: Relieves dyspepsia, nausea, loss of taste, indigestion, bad
breath of Halitosis, hoarseness, Pharyngitis and sore throat, cough and
cold, phlegmatic cough, diarrhea, dysentry and exhaustion.
Method of
Preparation : Cardamom should be roasted before use. |
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Nutmeg
Nutmeg is
not a nut, but the kernel of an apricot-like fruit. Mace is an arillus, a
thin leathery tissue between the stone and the pulp; it is bright red to
purple when harvested, but after drying changes to a amber.
Use :
Nutmeg must be roasted and grounded before use in several kinds of food
such as beef curry, beef soup, some western egg and fish dishes, and in
wine, hot and cold beverages and some desserts like cookies, custard,
pastries and bread. Mace, which should be grounded first, is used in main
dishes, desserts and beverages such as cocoa and chocolate.
Medicinal
Properties : The tonic principle is Myristicin. Oil of Nutmeg is used to
conceal the taste of various drugs and as a local stimulant to the
gastro-intestinal tract. Powdered nutmeg is rarely given alone, though it
enters into the composition of a number of medicines. The expressed oil is
sometimes used externally as a gentle stimulant, and it was once an
ingredient of the Emplastrum picis. The properties of mace are identical
to those of the nutmeg. Dose, 5 to 20 grains.
Both nutmeg
and mace are used for flatulence and to correct the nausea arising from
other drugs, also to allay nausea and vomiting. Nutmeg is an agreeable
addition to drinks for convalescents. Grated nutmeg mixed with lard makes
an excellent ointment for piles.
Method of
Preparation : Nutmeg must be roasted before use for good aroma. For some
dishes, it must be roasted and grounded before use. |
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Cloves: look like nails and have good aroma and ver
Use :
Roasted cloves with sweet aroma and spicy taste, either as grounded cloves
or whole cloves are used in several kinds of Thai soup (Kaeng), desserts
and beverages. They can also used as garnish. In Indonesia, cloves are
mixed with tobacco in the tobacco industry.
Medicinal
Properties: Antiseptic. Helps flatulence and indigestion, relieves
muscular cramps, cholera, nausea, gum and teeth ailments, headache,
heaviness in head due to cough and cold, throat irritaion due to cough,
and bronchial afflictions.
Method of
Preparation : Cloves must be roasted before use for good aroma. |
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Cinnamon or Cassia
Cinnamon is
the dried bark of various laurel trees in the cinnamomun family.
Use :
Cinnamon can be used as spice both in main dishes and desserts.
Medicinal
Properties: Stimulant. Helps reduce vomiting and flatulence, relieves
diarrhea, bad breath, loss of taste sensitivity in the tongue, hoarseness,
Pharyngitis, sore throat, headache caused by exposure to cold air, cough,
acne, blackheads and pimples and insomnia, improves complexion, and
betters memory.
Method of
Preparation : Cinnamon must be roasted or grilled before use for sweet and
tender aroma. It can be used either as whole sticks or as ground spice. |
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Aniseed
Poeykak
(Aniseed) is a star-shaped flower with seed inside. It has tender good
aroma.
Use:
Aniseed can be used both as wholes and as ground spice in main dishes and
disserts.
Medicinal
Properties :
Aids
digestion, helps body dispose of toxins, and increases perspiration.
Method of
Preparation :
Aniseed
must be crisp fried before use for good aroma. |
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Coriander Seeds
Luk
Phakshee (Coriander Seeds) Coriander seeds are small and white or pale
brown and taste fizzy like licorice. Coriander leaves smell and taste
better.
Use :
Stir-fried coriander powder is used as spice in clear soup, curries, stew,
duck, chicken, pork and goose dishes, or added to apple pies, custard,
fruit salad, cream and even in gin.
Medicinal
Properties: Relieves swellings, high cholesterol, diarrhea, mouth ulcers,
anaemia and kidney problems.
Method of
Preparation :
Coriander
seeds should be crisp fried and ground for more durable aroma while
coriander roots and leaves should be eaten fresh or added in food. |
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Turmeric, Cucurmin
Use:
Turmeric (KHA-MIN) are bright orange roots used for the coloring in yellow
curries and several oriental-styled dishes such as Ngob Pla, Ngob Kung,
Kgob Moo, Kaeng Som and Kaeng Luang. White turmeric, a different type, is
used as a raw vegetable and resembles ginger.
Medicinal
Properties: Relieves flatulence, indigestion, and muscle strain, regulates
menstruation, relieves common cold, blocked nose, dry cough, sore throat,
acne, wounds, boils, tropical skin diseases, cracks in the soles, itching
and sole infection.
Method of
Preparation: Turmeric should be added to food in the form of powder. |
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Pepper (Cayenne or Red Pepper)
Use: Used
as ingredient in Kaeng Liang, red curry and Kaeng Pa paste. Used as
garnish
In many
dishes, soup and boiled rice.
Medicinal
Properties: Helps constipations, flatulence and nausea.
Method of
Preparation:
Fresh
pepper is added to Kaeng Pa paste while dried pepper is added to Kaeng
Liang and red curry paste. Grounded pepper can be used on top of main
dishes to better aroma. |
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Krachai in Thai
This erect annual plant with aromatic rhizomes and yellow-brown roots, is
used as a flavouring. The rhizomes contain approximately 0.8% volatile
oil. The plant has stomach ache relieving and antimicrobial properties,
and therapeutic benefits as an antitussive and antiflatulence agent. |
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Pepper
Pepper is a branching, perennial climbing plant from whose fruiting spikes
both white and black pepper are obtained. Used as a spice and condiment,
pepper contains a 2-4% volatile oil. Therapeutic uses are as carminative,
antipyretic, diaphoretic and diuretic agents. |
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