Limestone Paste
Limestone paste is used in many forms of cooking, not only Thai food but in various bakery and fried foods worldwide.
For Thai food, lime paste is used to make slaked lime water (shown lower left). This water mix will allow fried foods to become extra crispy.
Betel Leaves, if mixed together with limestone paste and betel nut, is an age-old chew that acts as a natural & addictive stimulant.
Limestone paste is made from cockleshells that are baked to a high temperature to produce unslaked lime, to which water is added; it is then pounded into an edible paste.
Ingredients: lime paste. Product of Thailand.
Thai Candied Bananas, 'Kluay Cheuam'
Most high-end food courts in Bangkok have someone with a brass wok making kluay cheuam, which is particularly delicious in Thailand because of the abundance of "baby banana" or kluay kai, these are 4-5 inch tiny sweet bananas. You might be able to find baby bananas grown in Central America, as we did for this recipe, or use regular bananas.
The slaked lime water creates a nice crispy, firm outer layer on the banana and the recipe should not be made without this important ingredient.
Golden Thai Pastry Cups, 'Kratong Tong'
Kratong Tong is a non-spicy Thai appetizer dish that we enjoyed making as much as we loved eating it. Kids love these snacks, and they're perfect for the holidays. The kratong tong mold, shown below (and available from ImportFood.com) works perfectly to create unique little cups. It took some practice to get the recipe and method down, so enjoy this recipe and rest assured if you follow along it will turn out well.
Krong Kraeng Krop Recipe
A crispy sweet and spicy Thai snack known as "Crispy Shells" in English. Try making these in your own kitchen, and delight your friends & family.
Fried Thai Peanut Cookie, 'Tua Tod'
You will need a Tua Tod Mold to make these delicious crispy peanut cookies. The recipe looks simple, but the frying takes a bit of practice. Go slow and make sure your wok is not too hot. To make the video we used the Tao charcoal burner