The Cuisine of Thailand

Alpha loves food. One of Alpha's newest cravings though? Thai food. After traveling to Thailand (eat Thai food for ten days straight), you'd think we'd be sick of it? Nope. If Thai food is offered, we will definitely eat it.

Thai cuisine places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components. It is well known to be quite spicy! Balance, detail and variety are also very important to Thai cooking. There are four fundamental tastes that have to be balanced. They are: sour, sweet, salty and bitter - but that one's optional, they probably substitute spicy in for that! Thai food can differ depending on location, there are four main regions in Thailand - Northern, Northeastern, Central and Southern; each sharing similar foods. There is also influence from the neighboring countries of Burma, the Chinese province of Yunnan, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia.

So, if there's a Thai restaurant near you and you're feeling adventurous - definitely go!! If you're not to keen on spicy foods I'm sure you can get it non-spicy, many times they ask you how spicy you want it anyways! Here are some Alpha favorites:

Pad Thai (Phat Thai) - Probably the most well known Thai dish anywhere around the world. It is one of Thailand's national dishes. It is stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chili pepper and can include an assortment of vegetables or meats (bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken, tofu) - you can have a combination as well. It is served with crushed peanuts, coriander and lime or lemon. It's popular for it unique and differing tastes, if you're new to Thai food go for Pad Thai! It's not overly spicy and doesn't have a funky taste. It's similar to Chinese fried noodles - but of course has it's own special Thai touch. Most people generally tend to stick with Pad Thai even though there are so many other options!

Khao Phad - Thai Fried Rice. It is typically a central Thai dish. "Khao" means rice, and "Phad" has something to do with being fried! It differs from Chinese fried rice because of the Thai Jasmine rice it is cooked with. It is usually cooked with a type of meat - chicken, shrimp, crab, etc. And then the staple ingredients of egg, onion, and tomatoes. Green onions, coriander and fried garlic and then mixed into it and bam!  Khao Phad. It is served with cucumber slices, tomato slices , lime and springs of green onion. (I always like the chicken fried rice the best - Khao Phat Kai)

Vegetarian Green Curry made with
Tofu! From Ban Thai Restaurant in
Sannomiya, Japan.  

Kaeng Khiao Wan - This is one of the many curries Thailand has to offer. It is more commonly known as "Green Curry" due to the green color of the dish. (Other curries are identified by their color too - Yellow Curry, Red Curry). Green curry tends to be as hot as the red curries - really green curry can get pretty spicy! It's great! However, green curries have a definite and desired sweetness. The main ingredients for the curry is coconut milk, green curry paste, pea aubergine, sugar, fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves and Thai basil leaves. You can also select the type of meat you wish in the curry, however, the best green curry actually used tofu instead of any meat - try it! Make sure you order some rice with your curry, it helps with the spicy! Alpha's favorite dish - she got it every day in Thailand!

Kai Thod Kratiam (Prik) - Thai Garlic and Pepper dish (Chicken). My personal favorite Thai dish. It is exactly like it sounds - it's chicken cooked with fried garlic and peppers. Surprisingly though it isn't spicy at all. It just has an outstanding garlic taste. It doesn't have to be made with chicken though! There's is usually the selection of pork, beef, and shrimp (I just really like chicken). Served usually with cucumber slices, tomato slices, and rice. When eating mix with the rice to get a subtle taste of the garlic chicken - it's superb! Depending on where you go, the dish can be either dry or a little oily - either one is absolutely to die for though!

Phat Kraphao - This dish is simply holy basil with a minced meat - either pork, beef, chicken or chopped prawns. Actually, the minced beef version isn't often eaten in Thailand. It is nearly always served together with  a mixture of fish sauce and lime juice with chopped chilies and sliced garlic - so yeah, it can get pretty spicy! It really was one of the hottest dishes that I had in Thailand. Eat with rice! It will make it easier to tackle the spicy and avoid drinking water - it just moves the spicy around your mouth. Try to order something with more of a milk base - like coconut milk which Thailand is famous for!

Kai Phat Met Mamuang Himmaphan - The Thai version of the the Chinese version of the Sechuan style chicken with cashew nuts (also known as Kung Pao Chicken). This is actually ranked ninth among the ten Thai dishes ordered most often by foreigners. It really is like the Chinese dish, but I would say not as heavy and has that clear Thai hint of taste. It's a mild dish without a strong spicy taste. It's one of those dishes where if you're not used to Thai food, this would be a good option to subtly try to explore Thai cuisine. I sure know Alpha loves it (That's her hand in the picture)

Be adventurous and daring! Try some new food!! Cuisine is always the first step to the rest of the culture, open up!
Love,
ALPHA