Thai Cooking

Since this blog is about food as well as travel, I thought you might like to know a little about some international cuisines. This article is about Thai food.

If you would like a chance to learn a little more about various countries and their unique cuisines, why not try my new Ebook: Tastes and Travels Ebook It offers reviews on various travel destinations and has articles on the cuisine of each place (as well as recipes that you can try).

Thai cuisines, or the cooking of Thailand, is know for its balance of five primary flavors served in a meal, either in each dish or overall. These consist of hot and spicy, sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Thai cuisine is made up from the four major regions in the country, the Northern Region, the Northeastern (or Isan), the Central Region, and the Southern Region. Each provides its own elements to Thai cuisine. For example, southern curries typically contain coconut milk and turmeric, while dishes from the Northeastern areas often contain lime juice.

Rice is a staple of Thai cuisine, as in most other Asian cooking. The jasmine rice popular all over the world today is indigenous to Thailand. A typical Thai meal is composed of a single dish or rice served with other complementary dishes at the same time. Steamed rice is served with aromatic curries, stir-fries, or other spicy dishes with chilies, lime, and lemon grass. Sticky rice, which is a unique variety of rice that contains starches that cause it to have a sticky texture, is also often served. Common Thai dishes may also include noodles which are typically served in a single dish or as a noodle soup.

Chopsticks are rarely used in Thai cuisine, and the food is generally eaten with a fork and a spoon. The people in the North and Northeast regions of Thailand typically eat sticky rice with their hands, making it into balls and dipping them in the side dishes served with the meal. Only the right hands are used to eat with.
Fresh, rather than dried, herbs and spices are typically used in Thai cuisine. The spicy condiments served with the main dishes can include dried chili pieces or sliced chili peppers soaked in rice vinegar, or other spicy sauces. Fish sauce can also be a major component in many dishes. It is very aromatic and strong tasting. As well, shrimp paste is also often used. It is made up of a combination of ground shrimp and salt.

In the South and Central regions, Thai dishes are often made with lime leaves, which add its characteristic flavor to nearly every Thai soup or curry. Garlic, galangal (an ingredient related to ginger with a soapy, earthy aroma and pine-like citrus-y flavor), lemon grass, turmeric and gingerroot are also frequent additions, as well as fresh Thai basil. A variety of spices and chilies are common elements in nearly every Thai dish.

Although common broccoli is often seen in Thai cooking here, gailan is typically served in traditional Thai dishes. Gailan (or Chinese broccoli) is green with a thick crunchy stem and a large, flat leafy end, which quite resembles a cross between traditional broccoli and cabbage.

Other common ingredients used in Thai cooking are cilantro (or coriander), curry pastes and powders, soy sauce, dried shrimp, five-spice powder, long beans, oyster sauce, Thai pepper, roasted chili paste and rice or tapioca flour. Five-spice powder incorporates the five primary flavors of Thai cuisine listed above and contains cinnamon, powdered cassia buds, powdered star anise and anise seeds, ginger root and ground cloves.

Thai cooking also has some unique offerings with various sauces and what would be considered exotic foods here. The Northern region offers raw beef dishes, fermented fish paste, and deep fried insect larvae. Commonly dishes from the Northeast include insects and giant water bug, or mang dah is popular.

Thai dishes can be quite unique but often are very tasty. There are becoming extremely popular choices throughout the world today.