Thai Cuisine

Mon, Sep 17th 2007, 00:00

If you are eating in Thailand, Thai cuisine is the mixture of 4 basic tastes: salty, sweet, sour and pungent.

Thai people like their food chilli hot, while spices and aromatic plants such as sweet basil, mint, and galangal enhance the flavour and lessen the bite. A dish should appeal to both the eye and the taste buds - a harmony of tastes, colours and textures.

There are 4 basic cooking techniques that have been used in Thai Cuisine since ancient times.

Boiling food in an earthen pot is called tom. Ingredients ground with a pestle and mortar into a paste are known as jim. Ka pee (shrimp paste) forms the basis of many dipping sauces which accompany cooked or fresh vegetables and various grilled meats. The abundance of fresh vegetables gave rise to the third food preparation technique, combining the fresh ingredients into a yum or salad. And finally there is yaang or grilling. Traditionally fish or small game was grilled over an open fire.

A typical Thai meal would consist of a soup (tohm yum), a hot salad (yum), a fried dish (phad) a curry dish (gaeng), and a spicy hot dipping sauce (naam prig) with steamed fresh vegetables. Fish sauce, chillies and vinegar accompany each meal. No good meal is complete without dessert and in Thailand they are all very sweet, most welcome after a strongly spiced meal. Most deserts are based on the use of flour, coconut and sugar.

A large container of rice is always the centrepiece of a meal, surrounded by dishes offering a balanced selection of flavours and textures. Unlike the western tradition, in Thailand the soup accompanies the other food.

Dishes would be enough to serve at least 5 people … eating Thai food is a communal affair and the greater the number of diners, the greater the number of dishes that can be shared. Thais do not scoop portions onto their plates as westerners do. They share from a common dish, taking only enough for a bite or two at a time so that everyone has an ample share of each dish.

Thai cuisine is a blend of centuries-old eastern and western influences fused over time to form something uniquely Thai. The Chinese introduced frying, stir frying and deep-frying, and from the 17th Century onwards Indian, Dutch, French and Japanese culinary influences were absorbed and given a Thai twist.

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