I’m aware that I’ve listed three things in the title, and what I really mean is “all the produce,” but since that’s a whole list in itself, we’ll just start with three. Thai chilis, also called bird’s eye chilis, are small, fiery powerhouses that set your whole torso on fire. They come in mature red, or less mature green varieties. The green is said to be slightly less spicy but honestly, at a certain point, if you’re sweating, you’re sweating. They’ve become more widely available in other markets but I find the price is unbeatable at the Asian grocery store. You can get a huge pack of 60-70 chilis for around two dollars.
Bai Makrut, or Makrut lime leaf, is hard to find but if you do, it’ll be in the produce section, still attached to small branches from the tree. Chiffonade this aromatic leaf into curries or as a garnish to impart a subtle lime flavor into the dish. You can also drop the leaf in whole (I usually remove the center rib) and fish it out later if you don’t want to eat it, similarly to how you treat a bay leaf.
Long beans, also called yard long beans, are always in the produce section and I’ve never seen them look subpar. They have a similar flavor to their short cousin, the green bean, but are better if eaten raw or quickly cooked. Don’t blanch long beans the way you would a green bean, keep them crunchy by adding them toward the end of a stir-fry and other dishes with multiple ingredients. Use them in a long bean stir fry, or chopped up in kai yad sai.