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OP, I clicked on this thread because I was curious (and thought I might find some new items to try ) -- and then I saw that the first thing you mentioned was (Thai or not) sweet chili sauce! I "discovered" that several years ago and I love it -- it's probably my favorite condiment. (Even my local grocery store's version is wonderful -- actually, I haven't bought any brand that I didn't like!)
.....
Everything is so darn laden with sugar in America, I was surprised it didn't have that much. Much less mg sugar than I expected....at least the Trader Joe's brand that I tried.
I'm kind of picky about my ethnic ingredients. And have a bias against the ones in most mainstream stores. Luckily, ethnic markets are readily available in my area. So I doubt I'd buy one that's a mass market sell-Americans-anything-stick-an-ethnic-made-up-brand name on-it and they'll buy it.
I try to get East Indian, other Asian and Middle Eastern ingredients, sauces, and spices where I know there's plenty of turnover.
I've taken a liking to different curries, specifically used in Thai dishes. I've been experimenting using coconut milk as well. I've really enjoyed trying them out.
Ginger for cooking and for tea, jalapenos, umami, grains (buckwheat, barley, quinoa, lentils, instead of rice), labne as a bread spread, japanese noodle instead of Italian...
Everything is so darn laden with sugar in America, I was surprised it didn't have that much. Much less mg sugar than I expected....at least the Trader Joe's brand that I tried.
I'm kind of picky about my ethnic ingredients. And have a bias against the ones in most mainstream stores. Luckily, ethnic markets are readily available in my area. So I doubt I'd buy one that's a mass market sell-Americans-anything-stick-an-ethnic-made-up-brand name on-it and they'll buy it.
I try to get East Indian, other Asian and Middle Eastern ingredients, sauces, and spices where I know there's plenty of turnover.
Alas, no ethnic grocery stores here in the boonies of southwestern New Hampshire. Honestly, though, I've tried probably 10 different brands of sweet chili sauce (some labeled Thai, others not) and they all taste very similar to me -- some are a bit hotter than others, but I have liked them all. Hannaford's store brand is really good and is often sold out so I stock up when I see it!
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Originally Posted by Charlotteborn
Curious about the Thai sweet chili sauce. Do you all have a recipe for it or do you buy it pre made?
Can't speak for the OP of course, but I buy it bottled. I LOVE it on all kinds of meat/fish/poultry -- as I mentioned before, I probably wouldn't like it on veggies as I like my veggies savory, but it's great on my main entre (haven't used it on any meat/fish/poultry yet that I HAVEN'T liked!). I typically add some chili flakes to it to spice it up a bit (then again, I add chili flakes to most foods!).
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Originally Posted by Stacey27520
I've taken a liking to different curries, specifically used in Thai dishes. I've been experimenting using coconut milk as well. I've really enjoyed trying them out.
I have some curry pastes that I add lite coconut milk to (plus LOTS of veggies, many different kinds). Those meals freeze very well (I was somewhat surprised by that -- when re-heated, the sauce made from coconut milk is fine, at least to me).
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Originally Posted by elnina
Ginger for cooking and for tea, jalapenos, umami, grains (buckwheat, barley, quinoa, lentils, instead of rice), labne as a bread spread, japanese noodle instead of Italian...
All those sound good except I have never been able to find a tea I really liked and I don't know what labne is! I use wheat lo mein noodles a lot and sometimes soba noodles from Japan. The Annie Chun noodle bowls I buy (when on sale, LOL!) are often Hokkein noodles, which I will likely buy and experiment with at some point.
Curious about the Thai sweet chili sauce. Do you all have a recipe for it or do you buy it pre made?
I am currently liking/eating more cabbage, yogurt, nuts, oranges and roasted tomatoes.
Trader Joe's. It was my first purchase of that kind of sauce.
I'd buy it again. And I'll also go to the Asian markets near me.
I looked into recipes to make my own. But I'm lazy like that. Can't say I won't. But given that the one I tried didn't have too much sugar for me.....for now I'll just buy it. But again. I've only had that one brand. Planning to taste test several. I'll do that some times. Just buy 5 or 6 brands of whatever....and try them all...to find out from the start which one(s) I like and go with those.
I'm very wary of processed food. So if a sauce (or anything really) has too much sodium. sugar, fat -- OR SOY -- for me I won't get it. I'll usually by the brand with the lowest of all those factors. (I don't want to even get derailed on how much soy is in everything)
Quote:
Originally Posted by elnina
Ginger for cooking and for tea, jalapenos, umami, grains (buckwheat, barley, quinoa, lentils, instead of rice), labne as a bread spread, japanese noodle instead of Italian...
I just read about that in a magazine and will look into it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stacey27520
I've taken a liking to different curries, specifically used in Thai dishes. I've been experimenting using coconut milk as well. I've really enjoyed trying them out.
Love curries also. Not that I've had a LOT of it (mostly Indian), but I like what I've tried.
Food ingredient that I am using more and more? Pork because beef has pretty much priced itself off my table. The price of pork went up, too, but not as much, and it has now come down a bit and I am finding some good sales.
Yesterday I made pork verde burritos, 10 of them with eight of them going into the freezer to microwave later.
Good fresh fish and sea food? I can barely afford to glance at it out of the corner of my eye as I walk past the fish counter in the market.
I like the sweet chili sauce, mostly I buy Mae Ploy brand, but I have also made it at home and it is amazingly easy to make for a condiment. It is neither complicated nor time consuming.
OP, I clicked on this thread because I was curious (and thought I might find some new items to try ) -- and then I saw that the first thing you mentioned was (Thai or not) sweet chili sauce! I "discovered" that several years ago and I love it -- it's probably my favorite condiment. (Even my local grocery store's version is wonderful -- actually, I haven't bought any brand that I didn't like!)
It have had it with chicken, pork, beef, salmon, tuna -- it goes GREAT with all of them! I may try it with lamb next as I'm eating a bit more of that these days. I like my veggies more savory (not really sweet at all) but I've also had the sweet chili sauce with shrimp rolls and it is fantastic with them too.
I've also been buying lots of different sauces to try. A new favorite is Al'Fez's smoky harissa chicken sauce -- I found it, used it, went out to buy several more jars! In fact I just had it again tonight in a chicken-and-veggie meal and pita bread -- 1 jar of sauce makes up to 5 portions (i.e. for me, 5 chicken thighs plus lots of veggies plus the sauce) so the last time I made it, I had one that night and froze 4. It tastes as fantastic heated up from frozen as it did the first day.
Because I liked the Al'Fez sauce so much, I've been trying other Middle Eastern/Northern African foods. So far I've liked everything.
Karen where do you buy the Al Fez sauce? I looked online & it was horribly expensive. Middle Eastern flavors are one of my favorites, so I'd like to give it a try.
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) -- and then I saw that the first thing you mentioned was (Thai or not) sweet chili sauce! 
