KHAO JAAO (RICE) – Thais basically have 3 types of flour: Paeng khao jaao – or rice flour, made of ordinary rice; Paeng khao neow – or glutinous rice; and Paeng man sampalang – or tapioca flour, made from tapioca.

SEN (NOODLES) – Thais have a line of different noodles: Kuay tiao – or rice noodles, described to be flat and white, and are of different types depending on the size of the noodle strips: sen yei – wide strips, sen lek – narrow strips and sen mee – thin strips; Khanom Jeen – a vermicelli type of noodles which is thin and round, also made from rice noodles, it is sold fresh and in form of wads that looks like a bird nest. Ba mee – also called egg noodles but made from wheat flour, are yellow colored noodles. Woon sen – made from mung bean flour, are super thin and thread-like noodles, it is in dried form and need to be soaked first before use.

NAM TAAL (SUGAR) – Thais sugar is different from our sugar, for their’s have fragrance and a special kind of flavor. Thais have two special sugar : nam taal ta node – or palm sugar, made from the sap of palmyra palm; and nam taal ma praow – or coconut sugar, made from the sap of the coconut tree.

FISH SAUCE - a basic and mostly used flavoring by Thais in their dishes, and also it can never be missed in every Thais table because it is a favorite condiment to every meal, usually mixed with chilies or lemon juice. It is described to be a clear brown liquid from a brewed fish and other seafood mixed with salt.

FERMENTED FISH – a liquid that came from brewed fish, mixed with salt and roasted rice. For a better concentrate it is brewed for a longer time or extracting the fermented fish by pressing it on a strainer. Mostly used in Northern region of Thailand.

KAPI (SHRIMP PASTE) – brewed shrimp with salt that was placed under the sun for a period of time and buried under ground to obtain moisture which will result to a fine textured, reddish, fragrant and slightly salty paste.

TAO HUU (SOY BEAN CURD) – are of four types: Tao huu khao awn – white and soft and the unsalted curd while the salted is called tao huu leuang; tao huu ye – is the fermented cake that is a solid curd put in a red brine solution

SEE IEU (SOY SAUCE) – are of two types in Thailand : see ieu khao – a clear brown liquid and said to be a light soysauce, while the dark soy sauce is called see ieu dum – a black thick liquid and quite sweet in taste

KRA-THIAN (GARLIC) – Thais usually make garlic oil for their easy to prepare and low budget gaeng chued and also for the delicious tossed noodles or rice. Garlic oil is made up of handful chopped garlic fried in a plenty of hot oil. Another favorite is the pickled garlic flavored with vinegar and sugar.

PHRIK (CHILI) – a frequent ingredient in Thai dishes, but it is said that Thai food has been chili-hot for only the past 400 years. Thailand has different types of chilies. Phrik khi nu - the smallest and hottest; phrik nu suan – is the hottest; phrik chi pa - is the pepper size of a pinger and in colors red, green and yellow.

BAI SARANAE (MINT) – It is used by Thais not only as a flavoring but also as a vegetable. Mint - is usually used in Thai’s yam dish

BASIL – Thais have three different types of basil : horapha - a good flavoring because of its similarity to anise; kaphrao – used mostly as a seasoning to fish, chicken and other meat, you can only smell its aroma only when it is cooked; maengrak - this basil has a distinct peppery taste and lemon-scented, maengrak becomes gelatinous when soaked, that’s why it is mostly used in Thai desserts.

HAUM LEK (SHALLOTS) – It is a very important ingredient in every Thai dish, mostly used as a garnishing to soups and salads.

TA-KHRAI (LEMON GRASS) – an important ingredient to Thais for tom yam

KHING (GINGER) – Thailand has a type of ginger called kha- described to be a larger and whiter than a regular ginger. Thais use this in making curry paste. Its flowers are dip-fried and served with nam phrik. Other types are kachai and kaemp – which is shorter and yellow-brown in color, used in their fish curries and nam ya or served raw with khao chae

KHSA-MIN (TURMERIC) – this type of ginger is being used by Thais to color their curries and vegetables yellow; kha-min khao – is the white turmeric that has peppery taste, it is usually served boiled with nam phrik

YEE-RA (CUMIN) – Thais used it mainly in making curry paste

OB CHOEI (CINNAMON) – Particularly used by Thais in their massaman curry and also good for meat dishes. To bring out the aroma of cinnamon it should be roasted first.

KANPHLU (CLOVES) – also used in massaman curry, it has a fragrant aroma, but soft-toned.

DOK CHAN (MACE) – used in making massaman curry paste.

MANAO (LIME) – the favorite flavoring of the Thais is of different types : makrut – is the kaffir lime, the juice, peel and leaves are the ones used by Thais in their dishes; som sa - or citron, a round dark green fruit, a good flavor enhancer.

MA-PHRAO (COCONUT) - an essential ingredient in Thai dish, kathi is the coconut milk and kua ka thi – is the coconut cream

MA-KHAAM (TAMARIND) – Thais called ripe tamarind ma khaam piak, tamarind juice is nam som ma khaam

HET (MUSHROOM) - Thais have different types of mushrooms but the most used is the rice straw mushroom called het pang

TON HAWM (SPRING ONIONS) – used by the Thais as a garnish, is of different types : ton kui chai or Chinese leek is being mixed with phad thai, the Thai fried noodles.

KHEUM CHAI (CELERY) – used because of its very strong flavor.

KLUAY NAM WAA BANANA) – Thailand is a banana eating country and actually has almost thirty types of bananas.

MA-KHEUA (EGGPLANT) - eaten by Thais with nam phrik, and of different types : ma-kheu phuang the one that looks like large peas; ma-kheua yaao – long shaped eggplant that is used to make different types of nam phrik.

BAI MA-KAWK (HOG PLUM LEAVES) – used by Thais in their meat dishes because of its tangy taste.

YAW – a large dark green leaves used in haw mok

TAENG KWAA (CUCUMBER) – some of the leaves of the different types of cucumber are used by the Thais in their curries.