Thai ingredients

[cerignolas]

I'm looking for specific brands of Thai staples and don't know which Asian food markets in or near Providence would carry them. I've been to the Korean store across Sun & Moon and I can rule it out.

Coconut milk: Mae Ploy or Chaokoh
Curry paste: Mae Ploy
Jasmine rice: Golden Phoenix
kaffir lime leaves
Thai sweet basil

Thanks.

[celeriac]

I'm not sure about specific brands, but the best asian grocery I know of is five star market (i believe that's it's name). it's in providence, on dexter st a couple blocks south of cranston st. it's on your right hand side if you're driving south, and doesn't look like a substantial market, but once you get inside it's like a treasure trove.

i know some local farmers also grow thai basil, so you might be able to find it at farmer's markets.

[cerignolas]

What a great market! Thanks so much for the suggestion. I went today and found everything that I needed. The market is a treasure trove of Thai ingredients (both fresh produce and groceries) and very affordable. Since you seem to also enjoy cooking Thai food, I would like to suggest a very useful site:

http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/

Not only does Kasma provide delicious recipes, she has advice on brands of ingredients, etc.

[dnneus]

Kasma also gives wonderful week-long cooking lessons at her home in oakland, calif. . i have taken the intermediate class and one of 3 advanced classes and they were both a blast. class is from about 8:30 am to 4:30 pm; group is about 12 people; each day begins with kasma talking about the 8 or so receipes we'll make that day. the students then work in small groups or individually on a couple recipes from start to finish, ending up with a feast in the afternoon.cost last year was about $500; it may have gone up a little since then. it's a great bargain.
Kasma has also written 2 cookbooks: "It Rains Fishes" and "Dancing Shrimp" which i feel are the best english-language thai cookbooks. Dancing Shrimp is a classic--all seafood recipes and everything i have tried has been a winner. these books are out of print. on amazon someone is selling a used dancing shrimp for $350.00. if you are interested in the cookbooks or courses, contact kasma directly through the web site.