Thai Vs. Mexican Spice

[Sunbelt Asia]

Both famous for being spicy, Thai and Mexican food are actually quite difference once you get beyond the heat.

It was the Spaniards that first introduced garlic and onions – staples of Thai food -- to the native Mexicans, who soon folded them into their dishes and created new delights. And, of course, dishes from both countries also rely heavily on chili (or chile, depending on nationality) peppers. In fact, most of the red sauces you find in Mexico are made not with tomatoes, but from chiles.

There obviously are many types of chiles, with Mexican food relying on the spicy jalapeno, the flavorful ancho and the fiery serrano. Few chiles used in Mexican food – other than perhaps the habanero – can compare with the intensity of Thai Bird’s Eye chili, however, which at one time was listed as the hottest chili pepper in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The big hitter of the Mexican chile lineup is the ancho. Ancho chile powder is almost sweet and has rich dried fruit flavors. Another increasingly popular chile is the Chipotle, which actually is just a jalepeno that has been dried and smoked. Like much of modern Mexican cuisine, which has been influenced heavily by American Tex-Mex preferences, Chipotle is more popular outside Mexico than within it.

What really sets Mexican food apart from its spicy Thai brother, however, is not the chili, but the other unique spices that go into most Mexican dishes. cumin and Mediterranean (not Italian) oregano figure prominently here. Cumin, which also traces its roots to the Mediterranean, has a toasty, but slightly bitter, taste and gives Mexican dishes a flavor that can't be replaced.

Another uniquely Mexican spice is epazote, which is used to flavor beans and supposedly reduce the gas they’re infamous for producing. Beware, however: the so-called "Mexican tea" is poisonous in large quantities!

Finally, if you still can’t identify that special taste that gives your favorite Mexican recipe it’s zing, it may be one of a few other spices you won’t find in Thai dishes, such as cinnamon, cloves, anise and even cocoa.

Cocoa is used in several dishes to add a rich, warm texture. Small amounts of it along with peanut butter and a whopping 30 other spices are used to make Mole, a thick sauce often served over chicken.

So the next time you hear talk about Thai and Mexican food both being spicy good, you’ll know how, in fact, they differ. If you want to learn more about Mexican ingredients and cooking methods, check out the article here

Bangkok’s best Mexican grill

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[kikoman]

There is a great difference in the spices used in Thai and Mexican cooking. I use and enjoy both, Mexican food taste better to me using Mexican spices, when it is not available I used Thai Spices. It depends on what type of Mexican food you are eating the spicyness of the food, Tex-Mex is the least spicy, and New Mexican is the most Spicy in the US due to the barker and Hatch valley Chile's.

I was introduced to Nepalese food recently in Arizona and that is also very spicy, and was quite taken in by the Momos, steamed dumplings which are delicious.

I have a love affair with Thai food, and enjoy it daily.

As I said I believe Mexican food taste better with Mexican Spices, Mexican Oregano, Vanilla, and different types of dried Chile powder.

Here is a picture of those spices I recently brought from home to Thailand.

Cheers

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

There is a great difference in the spices used in Thai and Mexican cooking.

There are many differences in the ingredients typically used in cooking the two cuisines, Thai and Mexican, but they each use a good deal of the main spices: cumin, coriander, and pepper and base vegetables: garlic, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers and chili peppers (Thais use serranos and jalapenos occasionally). That's why I can make steak rancheros or chili verde, and while I eat it with beans on a tortilla, my Thai girlfriend will eat them over rice. I make chili verde with eggplant, instead of tomatillos, as they are from the same family. The cuisines have more in common than you give them credit for.

[kikoman]

I beg to differ with you, none of the spices you mentioned are in the spices I brought back with me. The spices you mentioned I use daily in my cooking what ever cuisine I am enjoying that day.

Mexican Oregano and Vanilla have a complete unique taste to me which ,I personally prefer. Mexican ground Chile, what I use mostly is Santa Cruz ground Chile Verde from Southern Arizona and Chimayo ground Chile from New Mexico. Again because I prefer the unique taste (my preferential taste, no other reason)

Chile's whether Thai chili or Habaneros are immaterial to me as I use them for spicyness, I have never had an occassion to use Bell peppers as they have no properties I seek in my cooking.

Keep on cooking!

Cheers