Thai cuisine is distinctive,
thanks to liberal use of spicy ingredients, and combines the
best of Chinese and Indian culinary traditions - - noodles,
curries, sweet and sour dishes, lengthily cooked and fast-cooked
ingredients, exotic spices and condiments - - while retaining
its own very special character.
 International
Food |
|
Chinese food in Thailand, normally
quite bland is second to none. Major European, Levantine,
Asian and Oriental cuisines are represented in gourmet restaurants.
American, English and Continental breakfasts are served in
most hotels and numerous, ubiquitous coffeeshops specialise
in European dishes. Western-style fast food shops, snack bars
and icecream parlours gain increasing popularity with Thais.
| Restaurants
and Foodshops |
|
 |
 Food
parks, or centres, usually in large shopping malls and
hotels, are unusual Thai ventures. Numerous restaurants
offer every
imaginable type of Asian cuisine and huge colour pictures
of dishes assist diners in their choices.
Open-air garden restaurants, and riverine restaurants,
are more peaceful and are favoured in the evenings by
most Bangkokians. Menus are extensive. Service is prompt.
Prices are reasonable. All kinds.of regional Thai food
can be sampled. Special dinners can be enjoyed on boats
cruising the Chao Phraya River. Soft breezes, candlelight
dining and distant music create romantic moods. |
Seafood
restaurants are also popular. They offer a wide choice of
fresh ingredients, charcoal grilled or broiled to individual
requests, and a fine selection of local and imported wines.
Some tourist-oriented restaurants present selected Thai
classical and folk dances. Guests sit around low tables,
often in traditional surroundings, with teak panelling and
floors, classic paintings and precious porcelain. A combination
of Thai cuisine, music, silk, orchids and graceful dances
creates memorable evenings.
"FOOD,
GLORIOUS FOOD" would
be an appropriate song for the gourmet traveller to sing
when visiting Thailand, for Thai cuisine is surely one of
mankind's most delicious and exciting culinary art forms.
Once almost unknown outside
Thailand, the delights of Thai cuisine are now to be found
in countless restaurants
around the world, but they are best enjoyed, of course,
in their country of origin.
Although it draws heavily on several of the great Asian
culinary traditions, particularly Indian and Chinese, Thai
food is unique, for its subtle combination of myriad ingredients,
spices, herbs and sauces.
The tastes of Thailand range from hot curries to mildly
aromatic desserts and can sometimes surprise the visitor,
for instance in the combination of both sweet and salty
elements in the same dish.
The huge variety of natural ingredients used, and the complexity
of recipes will certainly be one of the greatest treats
in store for lovers of fine food when visiting Thailand.
One popular
misconception about Thai cuisine is that it is invariably
hot -'chilli hot', that is. In fact, many dishes are no
hotter or spicier than any other Asian style. Chilli is
often an optional ingredient which diners add to their taste.
What makes Thai food so appealing.
ly different is the inclusion of all kinds of exotic and
aromatic herbs as well as (no1 necessarily hot) spices.
Of these, garlic-Thai garlic is slightly less pungent than
it! European counterpart - pepper, coriander and liberal
doses of nam pla, a fermented fish sauce, are the most commonly
used.
| Like
other Asian nations, Thailand has rice as its staple.
The long grain variety is the most popular and is usually
cooked by steaming, without the use of additives, The
result is that it is light and fluffy and so fragrant
that it can be eaten by itself. Another variety of Thai
rice is more glutinous, a sticky texture that is especially
popular in the North. |
|
|
Noodles
of various kinds can also form the basis of a meal or used
in dishes such as pad Thai, fried noodles with baby
shrimp and bean curd.
To
the basic rice and noodles are added various other dishes.
In Thai cooking, frying, boiling, steaming, barbecuing and
baking are main methods employed.
A
combination of herbs and spices, freshly ground, can either
be put directly into the pan for frying with the main ingredients
or added to soups and stewed dishes. Alternatively, a paste
featuring chilli, lemon grass, coriander root, garlic, shrimp
curd and pepper is used.
A typical family dinner may well have fish, pork and chicken
on the same menu. All dishes including soup are served at
the same time, the soup being in individual bowls and the
main dishes being communal, with diners taking only spoonfuls
of each at a time and mixing it with the rice on their plates.
A spoon and fork are the usual eating utensils, with chopsticks
being used by ethnic Chinese.
The menu at a typical Thai restaurant will be amazingly
long and will be a testament to the cook's creative imagination.
The various dishes on offer can be broken down into seven
main categories: soups, poultry, meats, seafood, rice and
noodles, vegetables and salads, and desserts
Soups
Thai soups can feature
virtually any kind of ingredient, from mushrooms and pumpkin
to shrimp and catfish, or any type of meat.
Some are flavoured with coconut milk, while others are based
on fish or meat stock. Probably Thailand's most famous soup
is tom yum gung, a hot and soup prawn mixture with
a tongue-tingling taste achieved by mixing the flavours
of chilli, lemon grass and fresh lime juice.
Main Dishes
 Thailand
produces excellent poultry, including chicken, duck and
pigeon. These may be cooked in many ways, wrapped in pandanus
leaves, made into a curry, barbecued, casseroled, or stuffed
with tomatoes, onions, or even ground pork.
Meats are invariably cut into small pieces which are then
cooked in various ways. Among the favourite methods of preparation
are fried with garlic and Thai pepper, or as part of a curry,
particularly gaeng keowan, green curry.
Thailand's seas and inland waterways provide a huge selection
of fresh and dried seafood. These include lobsters and crayfish,
prawn, crab, mussels, clams and an almost endless variety
of fish, The cooking methods for these vary from steaming
to frying, or as part of a soup. Fish is often served with
a thick or spicy sauce, then sprinkled with crispy fried
garlic.
Certainly worth trying are gaeng garee gung, lobster
and prawn curry; poo pad pong garee, curry powder
and chilli crab; tort mun pla, fried fish cakes and
plakapong-kow nuang, steamed sea bass.
Vegetables
These are rarely simply boiled
in the western way. Rather, they are stir-fried with garlic
and oyster sauce, or steamed, in which case they are often
eaten with small fried fish and a pungent shrimp sauce,
Salads, too, hardly resemble their western counterparts.
A typical salad might include beef and chilli, plus strips
of lettuce and tomato, or green mango, As an alternative,
there is a green papaya salad, known as som tum,
which also features ginger, lime juice, fish sauce, chopped
dried shrimps and peanuts.
Desserts
To round off a great meal,
Thailand offers some really delicious desserts. Often made
from rice, tapioca or types of jelly, these are mixed with
fruit, fresh or preserved, and chipped ice, They provide
the perfect complement to a rich and spicy meal. Not to
be missed are sankaya gap kanoon. coconut custard
with jackfruit pieces, kow-neeo ma- muang sticky rice with
mango and eye-teem kati, coconut ice-cream.
Finally, a word about Thai fruits. These are abundant in
number and variety, but among the best are pineapple, banana,
orange, pomelo, mangosteen, rambutan and lychee.
|
