EHL Ingredients has launched four new Asian herb and spice blends, which it has said will help to satisfy a “surge in popularity of Thai and Chinese dishes”.
The new range includes Thai seven spice, spicy Thai fish seasoning, Chinese five spice and an aromatic oriental blend. The versatile spice blends can be rubbed onto meat or fish, used in vegetable dishes, or incorporated into formulations to recreate authentic Asian meals and accompaniments, EHL Ingredients said.
Research from Mintel has shown that almost four out of five Brits have eaten Chinese food at home in the past three months – with 12% eating it at least once a week – and there are now over 2,000 Thai restaurants in the UK.
The new Thai seven spice blend is a combination of crushed chillies with paprika, cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, ginger and celery; the Chinese five spice is a subtle combination of fennel, cassia, star anise, clove and black pepper; while the aromatic oriental dry marinade is a multipurpose, authentic mix of star anise, ginger, fennel and cinnamon.
Tasneem Backhouse, managing director of EHL Ingredients, said: “We launched our new Asian blends range following the surge in popularity of Chinese and Thai cuisine among UK consumers.
“Chinese has long been a favourite food among Brits as a takeaway, for eating out, and as ready meals and ingredients kits for cooking in the home and we expect this popularity to continue. We are also seeing the emergence of Thai restaurants, chains, street food outlets, and takeaways, as well as meal kits from supermarkets, and consumers are also recreating dishes themselves at home with spice blends and kits for popular meals and accompaniments such as aromatic spicy curries, soups, stir fries, soups and noodle dishes.
“Our blends give food manufacturers and processors quality ingredients to create the traditional favorites and novel dishes for supermarket shelves and foodservice outlets.
“We’re always looking out for the next big food trend to create herb and spice blends for manufacturers to add to formulations for authentic world foods and we’re aiming to launch more blends, seasonings and marinades in the coming months to strengthen our portfolio.”
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