Basil; There are many different kinds. It is an herb well known for its medicinal properties and richness in fragrance as an ingredient. Unsurprisingly, It’s one of the many reasons Thai food is so healthy and delicious.
Basil is a very important ingredient when it comes to Thai cookery. So important that Thais use three different kinds of Basil in our food. These three are; Thai Sweet Basil “bai ho ra pa,” Lemon/Mint Basil “bai maeng rak,” and of course Holy Basil “bai gaprao.”
(The last of which I like to think was named as some westerner came across it and thought, “Holy Crap this is amazing.”)
Our first basil is Thai Sweet basil, it is the sweeter Thai cousin to its Italian counterpart. Being a mild and cool basil, we use it in our green curry or eaten with spicy North Eastern Thai dishes on the side.
Next we have Lemon/Mint Basil, which is the most important and most fragrant of our basils. Additionally, it is a dominant note in two of our famous dishes kanom jeen nam ya (fermented rice noodles with fish curry) and gaeng liang (spicy vegetable soup).
Lastly there is Holy Basil, which is fragrant, spicy and peppery and is used in our jungle curry (gaeng pa) and our basil stir-fry (pad gaprao – I suppose this dish would be the equivalent of a Thai burger).
This concludes todays’ bit of the Principles of Thai cookery Lesson.
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May 30th, 2011 at 5:43 am
Chef,
I just came upon your site, though I had actually seen you some time back, I realized, in a No Reservations episode.
I absolutely love this web site. It is sooooo refreshing to read concise information about Thai cuisine. I tire of all the endless interpretations, and dumbed-down versions of dishes that only serve to pollute and corrupt the Western understanding of Thai food.
Specific to this post, I can not even begin to tell you how many people who love Thai food have no idea what Holy Basil is when I mention it; or the amount of grocers who stare at me blankly when I ask about it. And, that is because it is near to impossible to find on menus, or in grocers.
I have just submitted an order on Amazon to purchase your book. Hopefully the next time I am in Thailand, or you are back in the States, you could sign it for me.
All the best, and looking forward to following your site intently…
Eric
July 22nd, 2011 at 1:08 pm
Dear Chef McDang,
My name is James and I am the Art Director for Travel + Leisure SEA. I am in need of a photo of you for our magazine. It is about TV chefs. The issue will be for Sept and will be sold in 12 countries. Please send a high resolution photo of you in the kitchen please. One that really shows you off.
Please also confirm credit for the photo. Courtesy of Chef McDang Thailand”, Otherwise, please confirm.
Kind regards,
James
November 14th, 2012 at 7:25 am
Chef McDang: I worked on your kitchen crew last year when you were in Chicago at LCB on Chestmnut Street. I gave you my soup recipes. Now I am graduating this Saturday and I misss you and all of your ovely assistants. You were one of the best things that ever happened to me in the kitchens on Chestnut Street…I send you and your assistants all of my heart felt love and respect and I will be thinking about you all so farr away as i walk across the stage on graduation day…do you remember your special day??? I am sure you have had many. I wish you could all be here again to celebrate with me, but I hold you dear in my heart and I always will. With fondness and affection, Mrs. Paula Marie Dunham 5134 Cypress Court, Lisle, IL 60532 630-963-4280
November 14th, 2012 at 7:26 am
Please confirm recipt of this message. With your spicy encouragement, some of my dishes are hot, hot, hot…even the super chile chocolates… whew. Mrs. Paula Dunham 5134 Cypress Court, Lisle, IL 60532