Thai ingredients abroad: the Asian market, and honest swaps

You can picture it exactly: the smell of your mum’s kitchen, the pounding from the mortar, the bottle of fish sauce that was never not on the counter. Then you try to make the same dish in Stockholm, London or Minneapolis, and it tastes… nearly right. Usually the gap is one or two ingredients. This page is the shopping list, the honest swaps, and the ones not to bother with.

What do you need from an Asian market for Thai home cooking?

Less than you think. A lot of everyday Thai home cooking leans on the same small pantry. A good first basket:

• Fish sauce (nam pla). The salt of the Thai kitchen. More on gluten below.
• Palm sugar. The sweet that balances sour and salty in dressings like the one in som tam.
• Makrut lime leaves. Fresh if you can find them, frozen or dried if not.
• Galangal (kha). Looks like ginger, isn’t.
• Lemongrass. The base of tom yam and tom kha.
• Bird’s eye chillies. Small, sharp, and the chilli Wikipedia names for Bangkok street som tam.
• The right basil. Thai basil and holy basil are different plants (see below).
• Rice: jasmine for most meals, sticky (glutinous) rice if your family is from Isan or the north.
• Shrimp paste (kapi). Strong, small amounts. It is in every Thai curry paste.
• Curry paste. A ready-made jar or packet is a perfectly normal shortcut on a weeknight. Ask at home whether your family pounds its own; which paste goes with which curry is in Thai curries explained.

If you can, bring a photo of the bottles in your mum’s kitchen. Packaging helps more than any English label.

Is it kaffir lime or makrut lime?

Same leaf. The name is changing because “kaffir” is a racist slur in South Africa, as SBS Food explains, and many people now use the Thai name, makrut. You will still see both on packets, so look for either.

Great British Chefs notes that fresh leaves are hard to find outside Southeast Asia and that they are most widely sold dried or freeze-dried, with frozen, preserved and powdered forms too. It also says fresh is best when you can get it, because the leaves are rich in natural oils. If your local shop only has them frozen, that still beats nothing.

Galangal or ginger: what is the difference?

They are cousins, and they look alike in a basket. They don’t taste alike. Galangal has a strong taste that Wikipedia describes as reminiscent of citrus, black pepper and pine needles. It is a common ingredient in Thai curries and soups such as tom kha kai, used in chunks, in thin slices or mashed into curry paste.

Can you swap? In a stir-fry with lots going on, ginger gets you somewhere. In tom kha, where galangal is the flavour, it won’t taste like home. That is the one worth hunting for.

Thai basil or holy basil: which one goes in pad kra pao?

Holy basil. Wikipedia’s entry on holy basil, kaphrao, says it is commonly used in Thai stir-fries such as phat kaphrao, and that it should not be confused with horapha, which is normally known as Thai basil. Wikipedia’s Thai basil article describes horapha as anise- and liquorice-like, and holy basil as spicy, peppery and clove-like.

Here’s the catch: the same article notes that Western versions of holy-basil dishes typically use Thai basil instead, because it is far easier to find outside Asia. So if a holy-basil dish abroad never tasted quite like your mum’s, that may be why. If the shop only has Thai basil, it still makes a good dinner. Just don’t expect Yai to call it kra pao.

Is fish sauce gluten-free?

Plain fish sauce usually is. Thai fish sauce is traditionally just fish and salt, fermented for months, and neither contains gluten.

But “usually” isn’t good enough if you have coeliac disease, for three reasons:

• Not every bottle is plain. Wikipedia notes that second-pass fish sauces often have added caramel, molasses or roasted rice. Check the ingredient list for wheat or anything you are unsure of.
• Wheat-free isn’t gluten-free. The Celiac Disease Foundation advises reading the label of any product not marked gluten-free, and points out that products labelled wheat-free are not necessarily gluten-free. It also lists traditional soy sauce, a common partner in the same stir-fry, as a source of gluten.
• Labels are your friend. In the US, wheat is one of the nine major food allergens, according to the FDA; other countries have their own allergen labelling rules.

If you or someone at the table has coeliac disease, look for a gluten-free label and talk to your doctor or dietitian. We don’t recommend brands.

Sticky rice or jasmine rice: does it matter?

Very much, if your family is from Isan or the north. Sticky rice (khao niao) is a different kind of rice, not jasmine cooked longer. Wikipedia notes it is traditionally eaten with the right hand, and that roasted ground sticky rice (khao khua) is indispensable for northeastern dishes such as larb. Jasmine rice won’t hold together the same way when you eat with your fingers. It’s also the base of mango sticky rice and other Thai desserts your family makes.

The name confuses people: glutinous rice has no gluten. “Glutinous” just means sticky. Our Isan family words page has more on what home sounds like, if that’s your side of the family.

What can I use instead of green papaya?

Good news: Thais swap too. Som tam is a whole family of pounded salads, and Wikipedia lists versions made with cucumber, green or unripe mango, unripe banana, pomelo and more. So if the market has no green papaya:

• Green mango is the closest swap: firm and sour, cut into thin strips.
• Cucumber gives you crunch and water, and a milder, fresher salad.

The dressing is the bit to get right: lime for sour, chilli for heat, fish sauce for salt, palm sugar for sweet. Wikipedia notes that sweeter versions often add crushed peanuts, and the central Thai version uses dried shrimp. In Isan, MICHELIN names fermented fish (pla ra) as the region’s key preserved ingredient; our guide to Thai food by region explains why. Which one did you grow up with? That’s your answer.

When shouldn’t you substitute?

A rough rule: swap the vegetable, not the flavour.

• Swap freely: the vegetables in a curry or stir-fry, the protein, how much chilli goes in (the cook decides; our table is not a test).
• Swap carefully: green papaya (use mango), jasmine for sticky rice (only if nobody is eating with their hands), fresh lime leaves for frozen.
• Don’t swap if it’s the point of the dish: galangal in tom kha, lemongrass in tom yam (Wikipedia calls it the essential ingredient of both), holy basil in pad kra pao, fish sauce for “just salt”.

And if something tastes off and you don’t know why, the person to ask is probably still a phone call away.

Can Yai bring ingredients in her suitcase?

Every family has the suitcase story: the dried chillies, the paste, the vacuum-packed something. It feels like love, and it can be. But food rules at the border are strict, they change, and they depend on where you land, not where the food comes from. A few examples, checked 2026-10-14:

• United States: travellers must declare all meats, fruits, vegetables, plants, seeds and other agricultural items, and CBP says undeclared prohibited items can bring civil penalties of up to US$1,000 for a first offence with non-commercial quantities.
• Sweden: the Swedish Board of Agriculture says fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs from outside the EU need a phytosanitary certificate (with a few listed exceptions), and many animal products are not allowed. Dried spices and processed products like jam and flour don’t need the certificate.
• Great Britain: GOV.UK restricts meat, dairy, fish, fruit and vegetables brought in for personal use, with separate pages for each.

So fresh lime leaves are usually something to buy locally rather than pack. Check your country’s official customs or agriculture page before anyone packs, declare if you’re unsure, and buy the fresh things at your local market.

Ask the person who taught you to eat it

The best ingredient list isn’t on this page. It’s in your mum’s or Yai’s head, and it changes by region, by family and by what the market had that day. Next time you call, ask what she puts in, and write it down. If you don’t know the Thai name of something, this is the line:

ภาษาไทยเรียกว่าอะไรนะ

phaa-saa thai riak waa a-rai na

ภาษาไทยเรียกว่าอะไรนะครับ

phaa-saa thai riak waa a-rai na khrap

ภาษาไทยเรียกว่าอะไรนะคะ

phaa-saa thai riak waa a-rai na kha

Who is speaking?

ครับ said by a manค่ะ said by a woman

Draft: waiting for a native speaker’s review.

And when you’re in the kitchen together, offering to help is the best way to learn the dish:

มีอะไรให้ช่วยไหม

mii a-rai hai chuai mai

มีอะไรให้ช่วยไหมครับ

mii a-rai hai chuai mai khrap

มีอะไรให้ช่วยไหมคะ

mii a-rai hai chuai mai kha

Who is speaking?

ครับ said by a manค่ะ said by a woman

Draft: waiting for a native speaker’s review.

If you’re ordering out instead, here is the one you might need:

เผ็ดน้อย

phet noi

เผ็ดน้อยครับ

phet noi khrap

เผ็ดน้อยค่ะ

phet noi kha

Who is speaking?

ครับ said by a manค่ะ said by a woman

Draft: waiting for a native speaker’s review.

Food is how a lot of Thai families say they care; the have you eaten yet? greeting is the proof. And if the recipe lesson happens on a screen, our video call with Yai phrases help you keep up. Reply Thai’s Family meals moment covers the rest of the table: being fed, praising the cook, and saying no to a third helping.

Thai words on this page are a draft until a native speaker has reviewed them.