In general, Thai cuisine uses 3 types of basils to perfume, and to bring the flavours of food together.
Sweet Basil / Thai basil – bai horapa
Sweet Basil
A herb with purple stems, and green leaves with a sweet anise-liquorice fragrance. As the name suggests, it sweetens any dish that it is used it. Sweetens the fragrance and not the taste per se. However, heat dissipates the fragrance rapidly. It should be added to the dish only at the end of the cooking process, and given a quick mix. Most commonly used in green and red curries.
Holy Basil / Hot Basil – bai krapow
An essential ingredient to the popular “Stir Fried with Holy Basil” dish. There are 2 types of holy basil.
The red holy basil has purple stalks, and some reddish tint on the leaves while the white holy basil has green stalks and leaves. The red holy basil is more pungent. The leaves of both are pointed and with pronounced jagged edges. The is a fragrance similar to cloves, and a slight sharp fragrance that shoots through your nose. It also has a slight numbing effect on the tongue when eaten raw. It is commonly used in stir fries that are hot and spicy. The herb elevates the spiciness of a dish.
Red Holy Basil
White Holy Basil
Lemon Basil – bai meanglak
Not commonly used in dishes found in Singapore. The Lemon Basil has small green leaves with a citrus fragrance. The fragrance dissipates within two days, and should be used within a day after harvesting. 2 common dishes that must have Lemon Basil added would be gaeng liang, and old style clear healthy broth and kanom jeen nam ya, in Singapore terms, Thai Laksa.
Lemon Basil
If you do grow your own basil, do remember to not let the flowers sprout, and to always cut away buds. The plant is said to be useless after it sprouts. This is because all energy is channelled towards the flowers for reproduction. In nature, all living organisms would strive to reproduce to pass on their genes. Once the plant sprouts, the leaves would lack fragrance and cannot be used in cooking any more.
Rochor Thai 