SCIENCE: The Balance of Flavors in Thai Cooking
The essence of Thai cooking is its balancing act, engaging all your senses with deeply fragrant and aromatic ingredients.
The science of balancing flavors in food is not an exact science, but it is one that yields great rewards. It relies on chemical interactions where ingredients like salt, acid, spice, fat, and sugar act to enhance, suppress, or mask one another, creating depth and preventing palate fatigue. Sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami, creamy, and spicy are all examples of flavors you will find in Thai cuisine. A traditional Thai dish has one slightly prominent taste with layers of three or four additional flavors to enrich and balance the overall flavor. Creating that bite is not as simple as mixing ingredients; you need to understand what each flavor element contributes to the overall flavor, and how it works in concert or opposition to other flavors. Then, they need to be tweaked for perfect balance! One last note—the enjoyment of Thai food does not end at flavor alone. Texture, aroma, presentation, and temperature also play a role.
Flavors 101
Sweet: Sources of sweetness include palm sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar, and dark soy sauce. It may surprise you to know that not all dishes with sweetness as their core flavor are desserts; this works for savory dishes as well.
Salty: The salty flavor in Thai cuisine comes more from fish sauce and soy sauce than it does from salt. Fish sauce packs a rich umami taste that works well in many Thai dishes while soy sauce contributes a light earthy taste. Both also fall under the category of umami.
Bitter: While bitter is considered unpleasant on the palate, it is critical to balance. Ingredients like bitter melon, eggplant, and Thai basil can help cut through rich or sweet flavors in a dish.
Sour: Sour flavor is prominent in dipping sauces, soups, and salads, and there are many ingredients that can contribute this flavor. Lime juice and lemongrass lend a citrusy sweet and sour flavor, while tamarind’s sour flavor is slightly sharper. You can also use Makrut lime leaves to add a rich, sweet/sour aroma.
Umami: Umami is considered a foundational fifth taste to sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. It lends depth to a dish’s balance, and is achieved by a combination of glutamate-rich and fermented foods like fish sauce, oyster sauce, mushrooms, tomatoes, and fermented shrimp paste.
Spicy: Spicy ingredients in Thai cooking include chilis (primarily bird’s eye chilis), peppercorns, ginger, garlic, and galangal. Dried chilis are often used in Thai curry pastes, and sriracha is a popular chili sauce often found in Thai cooking.
Creamy: Creamy flavor in dishes typically consists of rich, luxurious coconut milk. Thai food is primarily dairy-free, though in more modern versions of Thai recipes, you may find evaporated milk. Coconut milk is essential for certain curries and soups and helps temper and round out the heat from chilis.
Balance 101
Creating a balance of flavors in a dish involves understanding when to combine similar flavors and when to embrace opposites. Working with these sets of complementary and contrasting flavors involves understanding what works together. Equally important is practicing ratios to get the balance just right. Understanding how these flavors interact will serve you well as you practice these Thai dishes.
Spicy-Sour: In Tom Yum Soup, the sharp sourness from lime juice or tamarind cuts through the intense heat of bird's eye chilies.
Spicy-Creamy: In a green curry sauce, the intense heat of bird's eye chilis is tempered with cool, creamy coconut milk.
Aromatic-Spicy: In Basil Chicken, the pungent, anise-like aroma of Thai basil complements the sharp heat of fresh chilies and garlic.
Sweet-Savory: In Pad Thai, sweet and sour tamarind paste combined with sweet palm sugar are balanced with salty fish sauce and savory roasted peanuts.
Sweet-Salty/Sour: Curries and Pad Thai make use of palm sugar, coconut milk, or fruit to provide sweetness that balances the saltiness of fish sauce (nam pla) and the acidity of tamarind or lime.
Bitter-Rich: It’s common to find eggplant and/or fresh herbs in Thai curries as the bitter notes cut through the richness of coconut-based curries.
Crispy-Spicy/Sour: Fried fish with a crispy texture is paired with a sauce that is both savory and hot/sour.
