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 Thailand Thailand sits between the cultural and political powers of India
and China, and its food is clearly influenced by both. Yet Thailand’s
food, like her people, has maintained its own distinct identity. As with meals throughout Southeast Asia, a Thai meal has no courses. And like most cooking of the region, the Thai meal is built around rice. Southern Thai people eat long-grain rice, while the northerners favor short-grain or ‘sticky’ rice. Noodles, probably introduced from China, also play a role in Thai cooking. Of course, Americans usually don’t realize that rice is the main course, not the side dish — curries and other hot dishes are eaten by the Thai more as sauces than entrees, flavoring the cool rice. It is worth noting that the Thai eat with a spoon, fork and knife. In Southeast Asia, only the Vietnamese eat with chopsticks, so next time you’ll know why your waiter in the Thai restaurant coughs when you ask for chopsticks. Because Thailand forms a crescent around the Gulf of Thailand and the country is etched with hundreds of miles of rivers and canals, fish is a staple of the Thai diet. Fish sauce (nam pla) and/or shrimp paste (kapee) appear in nearly every recipe. The other distinct flavors of Thai cooking come from the indigenous spices and produce: coconut milk, lemon grass, tamarind, ginger, black pepper, galangal, garlic, cilantro, basil, palm sugar, turmeric, cumin, shallots, and green onions. Last but not least is the chillie, a late influx into Thai cooking,
having arrived with Portuguese traders early in the 16th century.
The chillie has become a central player and much Thai food is fiery
hot. Thai food is either stir-fried or steamed — primarily in a wok. Some foods are grilled, but, as in the rest of the region, a lack of fuel precludes baking. Chillies and other spices are ground into powder or paste with mortar and pestle or, for the convenience-oriented cook, with a coffee grinder.
Telephone: 604-596-8828 Fax: 604-594-8320 Address: #102, 8318- 120 Street, Surrey, B.C. V3W 3N4 Canada E-mail: (general Information) |
     
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