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You will discover that eating is one of life's great pleasures in Thailand and the average Thai takes time out to eat-up to four or five times per day. A Thai may barely have finished one steaming bowl of noodles before ordering a second round, just to revel in the experience a little longer.
Thailand has adapted cooking techniques and ingredients from India, China & Asian Oceania. Today's Thai cooks concoct a seemingly endless variety of dishes, whether from 300 year old court recipes, the latest in Euro-Thai fusion or simple dishes guided by seasonal and regional necessity.
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Staples & Specialties
Rice
Thailand has led the world in rice exports since the 1960's, and the quality of Thai rice is considered the best in the world. Thailand's Jamine rise (Khâo hawm málí) is so coveted that there is a steady underground business in smuggling bags of the fragrant grain to neighbouring countries.Rice is so central to Thai food culture that the most common term for ‘eat' is literally, ‘consume rice' (kin khâo) . All the dishes eaten with rice-whether curries, stir fries or soups-are simply classified as with rice (kàp khâo). Only two dishes using rice as a principal ingredient are common in Thailand: fried rice (Khâo phà) and chicken biryani (Khâo mòk kà)i, neither of which is native to Thailand.
Noodles
You'll find 4 basic kinds of noodle in Thailand. Hardly
surprising given the Thai fixation of rice, is the overwhelming
popularity of Kuaytiaw, made from pure rice flour mixed
with water to form a paste which is then steamed to form
wide, flat sheets. These are then folded and sliced into
noodles of varying sizes.
The king of Thai noodledom, kuaytiaw comes as part of many dishes. The simplest, kuaytiaw náam, is noodles served in a bowl of plain chicken or beef stock along with bits of meat and pickled cabbage, with coriander leaf (phàk chii) as garnish. Kuaytiaw phàt involves the quick stirfrying of noodles in a wok with sliced meat, Chinese kale (phàk kha-náa), soy sauce and various seasonings. A favourite lunch or late-night snack, this spicy stirfry consist of wide rice noodles, fresh basil leaves, chicken or pork, seasonings and a healthy dose of fresh sliced chilies. The most well-know kuaytiaw dish among foreigners is kuaytiaw phàk thai, a plate of thin rice noodles stirfried with dried or fresh shrimp, bean sprouts, fried tofu, egg and seasonings. On the edge of the plate the cook usually places little piles of ground peanuts and ground-dried chili, along with lime halves and a few stalks of spring onion, for self-seasoning.
Another kind of noodle, khànom jinn, is produced
by pushing rice flour paste through a sieve into boiling
water, much the way Italian style pasta is made. Khànom
jinn are eaten doused with various curries. The third genre of noodle, bà-mìi, is made from WHEAT FLOUR AND SOMETIMES EGG. It's yellowish in colour and round in shape, like yellow spaghetti. Bà-mìi is sold only in fresh bundles, and unlike both kuaytiaw and khànom jinn, it must be cooked immediately before serving. Finally there's wún-sên, an almost clear noodle made from mung-bean starch and water. Wún-sên (literally, 'jelly thread') is used for only 3 dishes in Thailand: yam wún-sên, a hot and tangy salad made with lime juice, fresh sliced mouse-dropping peppers (phrík khîi nuu), mushrooms, dried or fresh shrimp, ground pork and various seasonings; wún-sên òp puu, bean thread noodle baked in a lidded clay pot with crab and seasonings; and kaeng jèut, a bland Chinese-influenced soup with ground pork, soft tofu and a few vegetables.
Curries
In Thai, kaeng is often translated as 'curry' but actually describes any dish with a lot of liquid and can thus refer to soups as well as the classic chili-based curries such as spicy kaeng for which Thai cuisine is famous. All chili-based kaeng start as fresh - not powdered - ingredients that are smashed, pounded and ground in a stone mortar and pestle to form a thick, aromatic and extremely pungent paste. Typical ingredients include dried chili, galangal (also know as Thai ginger), lemongrass, kaffir lime (peel, leaves or both), shallots, garlic, shrimp paste and salt. Green curries will add coriander seeds and a touch of cumin.
During cooking, most kaeng are blended in a heated pan with coconut cream, to which the chef adds the rest of the ingredients along with coconut milk to thin and flavour the kaeng. |
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Hot & Tangy Salads
Standing right alongside kaeng in terms of Thai-ness is the ubiquitous yam, a hot and tangy salad containing a blast of lime, chilli, fresh herbs and a choice of seafood, roast vegetables, noodles or meats. Thais prize yam dishes so much that they are often eaten on their own, without rice, before the meal has begun. On Thai menus, the yam section will often be the longest. The usual English menu translation is either 'Thai-style salad' or 'hot and sour salad'.
Limejuice provides the tang, while fresh chillies produce the heat. Other ingredients vary, but plenty of leafy vegetables and herbs are usually present, including lettuce (often lining the dish) and mint leaves. Lemongrass, shallots, kaffir lime leaves and Chinese celery may also come into play. Most yam are served at room temperature or just slightly warmed by any cooked ingredients.Yam is the spiciest of all the Thai dishes, and yam phrík chíi fáa (spur chilli yam) is the hottest. A good yam dish to start sampling these dishes if you're not so chilli-tolerant is yam wún-sên, bean-thread noodles tossed with shrimp, ground port, coriander leaf, limejuice and fresh sliced chillies.
Stirfries & Deep-Fries
The simplest dishes in the Thai culinary repertoire are stirfries
phàt (stirfries), brought to Thailand by the Chinese,
famous for being able to stirfry a whole banquet in a single
wok. Despite stirfry's Chinese origins, phàt dishes
are never served here with soy sauce as a condiment except
in Chinese restaurants. Instead they come with 'fish sauce
with sliced chillies' (phrík náam plaa) on
the side.Thâwt (deep-frying in oil) is generally reserved
for snacklike fried bananas (klúay thâwt)
or egg rolls (pàw-pía). One exception is
fried fish (plaa thâwt), which is the most common
way you'll find any fish prepared. A very few dishes require
ingredients to be dipped in batter and then deep-fried,
such as fried chicken (kài thâwt) and batter-fish
shrimp (kûng chúp pâeng thâwt).
Soups
Thai soups fall into two broad categories, tôm yam and kaeng jèut, that are worlds apart in terms of seasonings. Tôm yam is almost always made with seafood, although chicken may also be used. It's often translated on English menus as 'hot and sour Thai soup', although this often misleads non-Thais to relate the dish to Chinese hot-and-sour soup, which is thinner in texture, milder and includes vinegar. Tôm yam is meant to be eaten with rice, not alone. The first swallow often leaves the uninitiated gasping for breath.
Lemongrass, kaffir lime peel and limejuice give tôm yam its characteristic tang. Fuelling the fire beneath tôm yam's often velvety surface are fresh phrík khîi nuu and sometimes a half-teaspoon full of náam phrík phao (a paste of dried chillies rasted with kà-pì; (shrimp paste). Many cooks add galangal for extra fragrance. Coriander leaf garnish adds to both appearance and fragrance.Kaeng jèut (bland soup) in contrast is a soothing
broth seasoned with little more than soya or fish sauce
and black pepper. Although the number of variations on
kaeng jèut are seemingly endless, common ingredients
include wún-sên (mung-bean starch noodles),
tâo hûu (tofu), hua chai tháo (Chinese
radish) and muu sàp (ground pork).
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| Top 10 Thai Dishes |
- Tom Yam Kung (spicy shrimp soup)
- Kaeng Khiao Wan Kai (green chicken curry)
- Phat Thai (fried noodles of Thai style)
- Phat Kaphrao (meat fried with sweet basils)
- Kaeng Phet Pet Yang (roast duck curry)
- Tom Kha Kai (chicken in coconut soup)
- Yam Nua (spicy beef salad)
- Mu or Kai sa-te (roast pork or chicken coated with turmeric)
- Kai Phat Met Mamuang Himmaphan (chicken fried with cashew nuts)
- Phanaeng (meat in coconut cream)
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Tom Yam Kung
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Kaeng Khiao Wan Kai |
Phat Kaphrao |
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Kai Phat Met Mamuang
Himmaphan |
Phanaeng |
Phat Thai |
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Fruit
Thais consume fruit at every opportunity. Common fruits that are in season all year include coconut, guava, jack-fruit, tamarind, mandarin orange, pomelo, papaya, watermelon and pineapple. All are most commonly eaten fresh, and sometimes dipped in a mixture of salt, sugar and ground chilli.
No discussion of Thai fruit is complete without a mention of durian, dubbed the king of fruits by most Southeast Asians yet despised by many foreigners. A member of the aptly named Bombacaceae family, this heavy, spiked orb resembles an ancient piece of medieval weaponry. Inside the thick-shell lie five sections of plump, buttery and pungent flesh. The durian's ammonia-like aroma is so strong that many hotels in Thailand, as well as Thai Airways International, ban the fruit from their premises. |
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Sweets
English-language Thai menus often print a section called
'Desserts', even though the concept doesn't exist in Thai cuisine,
nor is there a translation for the word. The closest equivalent, khawng
waan, simply means 'sweet stuff' and refers to all foods whose primary
flavour characteristic is sweetness. Sweets mostly work their way into
the daily Thai diet in the form of between-meal snacks; hence you won't
find khawng waan in a traditional Thai restaurant at all. Instead they're
prepared and sold by markets or street vendors.
Ingredients for many Thai sweets include grated coconut, coconut milk, rice flour, cooked sticky rice, tapioca, mung-bean starch, boiled taro and fruits. For added texture and crunch, some may also contain fresh corn kernels, sugar-palm kernels, lotus seeds, cooked black beans and chopped water chestnuts. |
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Travel your Tastebuds
Every tourist eats the stirfries, the grilled chicken, the mild phánaeng curry, but if you want to say you really ate Thai, then you must dabble in at least a few of the following: |
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kaeng phèt kài nàw mái - chicken and bamboo-shoot curry, a working class mainstay at rice-and-curry shops. |
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kuaytiaw plaa-rice noodles with fish balls (boiled ground-fish balls) |
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tôm yam pó tàek-when you are tired of tôm yam kûng, try pó tàek-'broken fish trap'-similar broth with the addition of basil and assorted seafood |
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mîang kham-tiny chunks of lime, ginger and shallot, toasted grated coconut, roasted peanuts, fresh sliced chillies and dried shrimp, all wrapped up in a wild-tea leaf with sweet-sour tamarind sauce. One bite, and it shouts 'Thailand'. |
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náam phrík plaa thuu-chilli dip made with shrimp paste and served with steamed mackerel and parboiled vegetables-one of the main Thai staples but one that few foreigners dare try. |
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plaa dàet diaw-'once-sunned fish', a whole fish split down the middle, sun-dried for half a day, then deep-fried and served with a mango-peanut sauce. |
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sangkhayaa fák thawng-creamy egg-and-palm-sugar custard baked inside a Thai pumpkin. |
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yam hua plii-spicy banana-flower salad. |
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Only if you dare...
yam phrík chíi fáa-hot and tangy salad centred on fresh, very spicy 'sky-pointing' chillies. |
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Drinks
Coffee & Tea
Thais are big coffee drinkers, and good-quality arabica and robusta are cultivated in hilly areas of northern and southern Thailand. The traditional filtering system is nothing more than a narrow cloth bag attached to a steel handle. The bag is filled with ground coffee, and hot water poured through producing 'bag coffee' (kaafae thung) or 'traditional coffee' (kaafae boh-raan). The usual kaafae thung is served in a glass, mixed with sugar and sweetened with condensed milk.
Black tea, both local and imported, is available at the same places that serve real coffee. Chaa thai derives its characteristic orange-red colour from ground tamarind seed added after curing. Hot tea (chaa ráwn) will almost always be with condensed milk. Chinese-style tea is náam chaa. Chaa yen is a tall glass of Thai iced tea with sugar and condensed milk. Chilled black tea (chaa dam yan sài má-nao) is without milk, and sometimes with a slice of lime.
Beer
The Singha label is considered the quintessential 'Thai' beer. Pronounced sing, it claims about half the domestic market, and has an alcohol content of 6%.
Beer Chang, matches the happy taste of Singha but pumps the alcohol content up to 7% and is significantly cheaper than Singha. Beer Leo, costs only slightly more than Beer Chang but is similarly high in alcohol. You'll find other, even cheaper, Thai beers in supermarkets, but rarely in restaurants. Dutch-licensed but Thailand-brewed Heineken and Singapore's Tiger brand are also popular selections.
Rice Whisky
Rice whisky is a favourite of the working class in Bangkok since it's more affordable than beer. Most rice whiskies are mixed with distilled sugarcane spirits and thus have a sharp, sweet taste not unlike rum, with an alcohol content of 35%. The most famous brand is Mekong and more popular nowadays is the slightly more expensive Sang Som.
Habits & Customs
Thais extend a hand towards a bowl of noodles, a plate of rice or a banana leaf-wrapped snack with amazing frequency. There are no 'typical' times for meals, though the customary noon to 1pm lunch break tends to cluster diners in local restaurants at that hour. |
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