Some titbits of Thai food

Thai people always use spoons and forks to have their meals. They show proper respect to the elders while having food in any occasion. Most of the population in Thailand is Buddhist and that is the reason why the impact of Buddhism can be seen in Thai food. Usually the Thailand food is served with roasted pork or duck topped on it. In that case the fork becomes a must to eat such food. If you are having a noodle soup then chopsticks would be the best choice. The influence of Chinese, Indian and Japanese styles can be prominently seen in Thailand food culture. Some of the Thai dishes are really delicious and tempting because of its color, aroma and healthiness.

Puffed rice cake, hors d’oeuvre, snacks like rolls, satay etc. are some of the tidbits of Thai food. The dips can be made from lime juice, chilies, garlic, fish sauce, etc. Fish sauce and lime juice bring the sour taste in Thai food while chilies are responsible for the spicy taste. The curries are also important in Thai cuisine. The main ingredients in Thai curries are fresh herbs and powdered dried spices. Thai people love to use fresh ingredients. The tinned products are not readily available in Thailand.

Thai salads are always very colorful. The Thai salads are normally sour, sweet and salty which are topped by different kind of meat textures. Desserts have always satisfied the sweet tooth of the Thais. No typical Thai meal is complete without sweet dishes. The Thai people like to take something very sweet after a spicy treat and that way they try to balance the taste bud. Soups are usually taken as a side dish with rice. The Thai soups are very healthy as the best quality of herbs and spices are used in it. Thai people are very fond of eating rice with their meal. They take it as their principal food. Thai dishes are really exotic if they are taken in a proper way.

Chicken curry of Gang Gai in Thailand

Chicken curry is very common in Thailand. Thai people used to taking it almost every day. You will get this at any street vendors roaming in Thailand. Chicken curry is best goes with rice or ‘kanom jeen’ noodles. The popularity of this chicken curry can be seen in the temples where Thai people bring classic dishes like chicken curry to feed various temple patrons and Buddhists monks. Chicken curry can also be a good dish for your guests. This is very easy to prepare and ingredients are also very simple. It requires three cups water, two tablespoons fish sauce, one cup coconut milk, three to five springs of Thai basil, one and half pound eggplant, one tablespoon red curry paste and one chicken breast.

Thai eggplants are usually golf ball sized but you will not get this always. So, regular eggplants will do which are readily available in the supermarkets. Chicken should be cut into pieces. If the chicken is with bones, thighs and legs can be used as bones make this chicken curry tastier.

A first half of the coconut milk should be poured in a pot. The heat can be set at medium low heat. Red curry paste should be added, followed by mixing the paste with the coconut milk. The mix should be stirred continuously. If it is splattering too much, the heat can be lowered. Chicken is usually added when red oil bubbles on top. Curry sauce is usually used to coat chicken. When the chicken is completely cooked and the flesh turns white, you can add eggplant. Rest of the coconut milk, fish sauce and water can be added later. The dish should be boiled till the eggplants become dark. The thickness of the curry depends on the amount of time you are boiling the dish as because the eggplant thickens the sauce. The basil leaves should be added just before serving. These should be quickly submerged to preserve the color. Your dish is ready to serve with rice noodles or rice.

Green papaya salad in Thailand

Green papaya salad is one of the important dishes in Thailand. This is mainly popular among Thai women. This is a northeastern Thai dish is eatable with sticky rice. The other side dishes are beef salad, laab, bamboo shoot salad, etc. Two most popular green papaya salads are best accompanied with salted crab or shrimp. When dried shrimp or peanuts are added, the salad is named as som tum Thai and when it is added with crab, this is called som tum pbooh. The other ingredients remain same in both the cases.

The ingredients can be summarized as one or one and half tablespoons palm sugar, three fourth lime, 2 cups green papaya, five cherry tomatoes, one and one and half tablespoon fish sauce, two chili peppers, one tablespoon dried shrimp, six green beans, one clove garlic, and two tablespoon toasted peanuts which is optional.

If you are preparing vegetarian som tum, dried shrimp should be avoided. You can use fish sauce or soy sauce in place of that. Sometimes lime can be replaced with tamarind and palm sugar can be replaced with regular sugar. The balance of lime juice, fish sauce, peppers, and palm sugar should be properly maintained. In Thailand shredded green papaya is available in every supermarket. Even if you are getting whole papaya, you can peel it and grate it with cheese grater with medium and large sized holes. The seeds should be discarded if there are any. Green papaya salad is usually prepared with the help of a clay mortar, spatula and a wooden pestle.

At first the clove or garlic should be smashed. Green beans and half cherry tomatoes are added afterwards. Chili peppers should be crushed and added to the salad. It should be followed by adding green papaya, toasted peanuts, dried shrimp, fish sauce, palm sugar and lime juice. The pestle is used to push up the mixture in the mortar while spatula is used to push down in order to mix well the mixture. Not much effort is required to prepare the green papaya salad so just go for it and relish it with yours friends and family.

Cooking Thai food - a real art

The art of cooking authentic Thai food include many aspect such as ingredients, preparation, equipments, etc. Cooking Thai food is simple if you have proper knowledge and companion. There are five elements in Thai dishes. These are sweet, sour, spicy, salty and bitter. Thai food recipes are there to prepare Thai food but you should follow a regular Thai food guideline if you are concerned about taste. Taste varies depending on many aspects. Sometimes freshness of the ingredients matters a lot while sometimes it also depends on the cook. If you are preparing a Thai recipe try to concentrate on ingredient but you can also add some flavors according to your own choice. Some of the brands of curry pastes are saltier than the other and so are some fish sauces. In Thai cooking you can do some alteration such as if the taste to too sweet you can add some fish sauce, again if the dish has become too sour you can add some plain water or sugar in it.

Coconut milk is an important ingredient in cooking Thai food. There are two types Hua Ka Ti i.e. creamy coconut milk and Hang Ka Ti i.e. watery coconut milk. Fresh coconut milk can be prepared by soaking grated coconut in warm water. It is then squeezed and the process continues till it becomes dried. The coconut used three times before it is discarded. Freshly prepared coconut milk has better aroma than the tinned one. If using canned coconut milk try to use it in cold temperature. This will help to separate the creamy part and the watery coconut part. The creamy will float in the watery part. In summer you have to refrigerate the can for a long time.

Authentic Thai food is really tasty if you are taking the pain of preparing it in an authentic style.