Garlic in Thai Cooking (Kra-tiem), where it all begins

Garlic is the key ingredient of Thai food.  Thai stir-fried dishes all start with garlics.  Soup is based on garlics.  Deep fried dishes are marinated with garlics.  Curry and chili paste, of course, have lots of garlics in it.

We also eat them raw mostly with Kao Man Gai (Chicken Rice) and Kao Ka Moo (Stewed Pork Rice).  

Easy tips for those who love to try cooking Thai food at home:

  1. Start your stir-fried dishes with garlics in the oil until golden brown
  2. Add the meat
  3. Then season with oyster sauce or fish sauce
  4. Follow with green.  
  5. Season to taste again
And that's your Thai stir-fried dish!

The thing with garlic skin... don't peel it!  Garlic skin gives the better taste to the garlic itself especially when deep-fried, served with the deep-fried dishes.  People who love eating garlics swear by it.  Besides that's the old way of cooking Thai food: keep garlic skin especially the brown skin found in Thai garlics.

Personally I peel garlic skin if I can't find Thai skin (with brownish skin)... The white skin is rather too thick.
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