dry thai basil vs fresh

creep · **Posted:** Sat Feb 04, 2012 2:42 pm

Whole Foods was out of fresh thai basil, so I bought the dried stuff in a jar. I'm sure it won't be the same, but does anyone know about how much I should use? I'm making a couple recipes from AFR that call for 15 leaves of thai basil.

Sir Brancis Facon · **Posted:** Sat Feb 04, 2012 3:23 pm

General rule with dried herbs is use 1/2 the volume of fresh since they're more concentrated.

So you can make a wild guess at what 15 shredded leaves would be by volume, and half it.

My wild guess is 15 shredded leaves would be about 1/3 of a cup, and I'm basing that on absolutely no practical knowledge or experimentation, since I rarely measure anything, and my approach to Thai basil is usually to dance a bit on the rare occasion that I find it and use it all no matter how much I have or what a recipe calls for.

creep · **Posted:** Sat Feb 04, 2012 4:38 pm

Kind of what I figured, but I was hoping someone else had done it and could vouch for deliciousness. It smells pretty different, like regular dried basil. I didn't even know they made this shiitake in dried form. Our WF is pretty good about having the fresh stuff in stock, so I was pretty sad. whine whine. OH WELLS.

IsaChandra · **Joined:** Tue Oct 19, 2010 2:21 pm **Posts:** 7669

I have to say that with basil, especially Thai basil, there is barely any flavor in dried form. It is pretty much worthless. I would just use regular fresh. In any case please don't use multiple tablespoons of it, it will taste like dirt.

If you have no fresh either, use some cilantro and a dash of anise seed, if you've got it.

creep · **Posted:** Sat Feb 04, 2012 4:41 pm

Maybe I'll just go back later in the week. I'm kind of turned off by it after smelling it.

IsaChandra · **Joined:** Tue Oct 19, 2010 2:21 pm **Posts:** 7669

Yes, return it and tell them there were bugs legs in them.

BluePlasticStraw · **Joined:** Wed Oct 20, 2010 3:27 pm **Posts:** 718

Heh, you don't need to claim bug legs. Whole Foods has a really good return policy and you can take it back and tell them you didn't like it and they'll give you a refund.

molly · **Posted:** Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:26 am

How is Thai basil different from regular? I've never been able to find it and just use regular fresh basil.

creep · **Posted:** Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:44 am

It's got a very distinct flavor. It's pretty different.

Arisaig · **Posted:** Sun Feb 05, 2012 11:15 am

It has a licorice-like taste, so I love it and my oldest son was not impressed.

creep · **Posted:** Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:17 pm

I ended up using anise and cilantro. It tasted surprisingly similar to Thai basil. Good call!

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dry thai basil vs fresh

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