Thai Spice Mastery
Thai cuisine's distinctive character emerges from its masterful balance of sour, sweet, salty, and spicy flavours through key ingredients like chillies, lemongrass, shrimp paste, fish sauce, and galangal. Though introduced by Portuguese traders in the 16th century, chillies have become essential to Thai cooking, with different varieties serving distinct purposes - from the intense Bird's Eye Chillies used in som tam to the milder Long Red Chilies crucial for curry pastes. Thai chefs demonstrate remarkable skill in balancing chili heat through techniques like tempering with coconut milk or adding cooling herbs, as seen in iconic dishes like Tom Yum Goong and Green Curry.
