Gift Ideas for Thai-Food Lovers & Curry Paste Giveaway

by Rachel on December 18, 2012

***This giveaway has closed – Congratulations to Gabriella!***

With Christmas right around the corner, gift ideas have been dominating my thoughts.  As such, I thought it’d be fun to put together a little list of gift ideas for people who love Thai food.  These gifts aren’t fancy or expensive — they’re rather meant to be simple items that would bring a smile to the face of a Thai home cook.  So, if you’re like me and have some Thai food aficionados on your list of gift recipients, please read on!

1. An “All You Need To Make” Satay Kit

I love giving gifts that are composed of all of the ingredients you need to make a particular dish.  This is easier to do with some Thai dishes than others.  Satay works pretty well since all you really need is the spice mix, coconut milk, and some skewers in addition to the meat of choice.  If you’re not limited by non-perishable items, a tom yum or tom kha package would be at the top of my list with some galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, and Thai chilis.

 

2. A set of Thai teas

Tea sets are pretty common as gifts go, but I imagine someone who loves Thai food would be pleasantly surprised to get a set of Thai teas.  You could put together any variety of teas – from the common Thai tea or coffee – to a set of herbal teas like lemongrass, chrysanthemum, and hibiscus as below.

 

3. Seedlings of Thai basil, holy basil, and lemon basil

In addition to being super cute, these little basil plants are incredibly useful in the Thai kitchen.   Thai basil is indispensable in various curries and stir fries, holy basil is the star of pad grapow and drunken noodles, and dishes like khanom jeen nam ya and gang liang just aren’t the same without lemon basil.  Gift all 3 seedlings with the hope that they’ll grow and prosper in their new home until they’re big enough to be used in all of the above!

 

4. Seed packets of various Thai herbs, fruits, or vegetables

Perhaps a little more practical than the seedlings above, I think seed packets of various Thai herbs, fruits, or vegetables would also make a great gift.  I’m envisioning seeds for things like Thai basils, Thai peppers, jalapenos, and cilantro.  If you’re able to find them (or harvest them yourself), you could even go so far as to package seeds for vegetables like Thai eggplant and wing beans.

 

5. Mortar and Pestle and/or other Thai ceramics

For those who are serious about Thai cooking, a mortar and pestle is a must.  It’s required to make som tam as well as various pastes that form the  basis of so many different Thai foods.  Just be sure to get a large one – when I first met the boyfriend, I bought him the cutest little mortar and pestle for Christmas one year, not knowing how it was supposed to be used :)  And I think other kitchen utensils like bowls for ingredient prep are always welcome gifts too.

 

6. A Thai curry package

And last, but not least, a package of Thai curry pastes because, really, what Thai food lover doesn’t like curry?

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I can’t post this list of gift ideas without offering a simple gift to you, my loyal readers, to show my appreciation for your continued support and readership!  The gift to one lucky reader will be the set of red, green, and yellow Mae Anong curry pastes pictured above (with fresh kaffir lime leaves, of course).  These are our favorite brand of curry pastes and we hope you’ll enjoy them too!

To enter to win, please leave a comment below with which one of the above is your favorite gift idea.  If you have other gift ideas, we’d love for you to share them as well!  An extra entry will be given for those who also like us on Facebook (please post a separate comment stating that you’ve done so).  The gift giveaway will end on Wednesday, December 19th, at 8 PM pacific standard time.  The winner will be selected using random.org and announced in the comments after the giveaway ends.  Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.  Package will be mailed via standard shipping USPS.  Good luck!

 

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