Thai Shallots

หอมแดง

Hom daeng: small red shallots for pastes, soups, salads and crispy toppings.

Thai shallots are small, red-purple and more aromatic and sweeter than onions. Thai cooking uses them far more than onions: they go into almost every curry paste, into soups and salads, and fried until crisp they are one of the most common toppings in Thai food.

Pronunciation	hom daeng
Flavour	Sweet, pungent and aromatic; milder than onion
Used in	Curry pastes, tom yum, yam salads, larb, fried shallots
Substitute	Ordinary shallots, or red onion in salads

How to cook with them

In curry pastes: peeled, chopped and pounded, they give the paste body and sweetness.
In soups: halved and lightly crushed into tom yum and tom kha, where they soften and add sweetness.
In salads: thinly sliced and raw, in yam, larb and nam tok.
Grilled: charred whole in their skins over coals, then peeled and pounded into nam prik dips such as nam prik noom.
Fried: thinly sliced and fried until golden and crisp, for topping noodles, rice soup, salads and khao soi.

Making crispy shallots

Slice shallots evenly and thinly, about 2 mm. Put them in a pan with enough cold neutral oil to cover, and heat gently, stirring often. They will bubble for a long time, then suddenly start to colour. When they are light golden, lift them out with a slotted spoon onto paper; they keep cooking and darken as they cool. Store them in an airtight jar for up to two weeks, and use the shallot-flavoured oil for cooking.

Substitutes

Ordinary shallots are a good stand-in; use slightly fewer of the larger ones. Red onion works in salads. Ready-made fried shallots are sold in tubs in Asian grocers and are a useful shortcut.

Cook’s tip
Take crispy shallots out of the oil a shade lighter than you want them. Thirty seconds too long and they turn bitter.

More Vegetables

All Vegetables

Recipes with Thai Shallots

ย่างและทอด

Gai Tod Hat Yai (Hat Yai Fried Chicken)

Southern Thailand’s famous fried chicken, marinated in coriander seed, cumin and garlic and buried under crispy fried shallots.

50 min · Easy

เส้นและข้าว

Khao Mok Gai (Thai-Muslim Chicken Biryani)

Spiced yellow rice cooked with yogurt-marinated chicken, topped with crispy shallots and served with a sweet-sour green chilli and mint sauce.

90 min · Medium

แกง

Gaeng Lueang (Southern Sour Yellow Curry with Fish)

A bright yellow, very sour and very hot fish curry from the south, with turmeric, tamarind and green papaya or pineapple. No coconut milk.

40 min · Medium

เส้นและข้าว

Khao Soi Gai (Chiang Mai Curry Noodles)

Northern Thailand’s curry noodle soup: chicken legs in a rich coconut curry over soft egg noodles, topped with a nest of crispy fried noodles.

90 min · Medium

ผัด

Kua Kling (Southern Dry Curry)

Minced pork dry-fried in a fiery turmeric curry paste until every grain is coated, finished with shredded makrut lime leaves.

40 min · Medium

แกง

Massaman Curry with Beef

A rich, mild curry with Persian and Indian roots: braised beef, potatoes and peanuts in a cinnamon, cardamom and tamarind sauce.

180 min · Medium

ต้ม

Tom Saep (Isaan Hot & Sour Pork Rib Soup)

A clear, fiery, sour soup of tender pork ribs with lemongrass, galangal, roasted chilli and lots of fresh herbs.

75 min · Easy

น้ำพริก

Nam Jim Jaew (Isaan Dipping Sauce)

The smoky, sour, salty dipping sauce served with grilled meats across Isaan, thickened with toasted rice.

10 min · Easy

ยำและตำ

Nam Tok Neua (Isaan Grilled Beef Salad)

Charred, juicy beef sliced and tossed warm with lime, fish sauce, roasted chilli, toasted rice, shallots and herbs.

25 min · Easy

ต้ม

Tom Kha Gai

A mellow coconut and galangal soup with chicken and mushrooms, sharp with lime and gently hot.

35 min · Easy

ต้ม

Tom Yum Goong

Hot, sour and fragrant prawn soup with lemongrass, galangal and makrut lime leaves, finished with lime juice and nam prik pao.

40 min · Easy

ยำและตำ

Larb Moo (Isaan Minced Pork Salad)

Warm minced pork tossed with lime, fish sauce, chilli flakes, toasted rice powder, shallots and fresh mint.

30 min · Easy

แกง

Green Curry with Chicken (Gaeng Keow Wan Gai)

A homemade green curry paste fried in cracked coconut cream, with chicken thigh, Thai aubergines and a fistful of Thai basil.

65 min · Medium

เส้นและข้าว

Khanom Jeen Nam Ngiao (Northern Noodles in Pork & Tomato Broth)

Soft rice noodles in a spicy, tangy broth of pork ribs, tomatoes and dried chilli paste, topped with bean sprouts, cabbage, crispy garlic and lime.

120 min · Medium

เส้นและข้าว

Pad Thai with Prawns

The street-stall classic done properly: tamarind-sour, palm-sugar sweet, fish-sauce salty, with chewy rice noodles and a bit of char from a very hot wok.

40 min · Medium

น้ำพริก

Nam Prik Ong (Northern Pork & Tomato Chilli Dip)

A mild, meaty dip of minced pork and tomatoes cooked with a dried chilli paste, eaten with crunchy raw vegetables and sticky rice.

40 min · Easy

แกง

Gaeng Hang Lay (Northern Pork Belly Curry)

A rich, Burmese-influenced curry of slow-cooked pork belly with ginger, pickled garlic, tamarind and peanuts. No coconut milk.

150 min · Medium

น้ำพริก

Nam Prik Noom (Roasted Green Chilli Dip)

Smoky charred green chillies, shallots and garlic, pounded into a rough dip and eaten with pork crackling, sticky rice and vegetables.

35 min · Easy

ย่างและทอด

Sai Oua (Northern Thai Herb Sausage)

Chiang Mai’s famous coiled pork sausage, packed with lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime and dried chilli, grilled slowly over charcoal.

90 min · Medium