Thai Recipes
- The food of Thailand is unique among the
cuisines of Southeast Asia. It has the quality and consistency of
Chinese food and the spiciness of Mexican. The genesis and principal
culinary influences on Thai cooking are Chinese and Indian. The hot,
spicy, and distinctive seasonings of Szechwan province's dishes have
many similarities to Thai dishes. This may be partly because the Tai
[the historical ancestors of the Thai, Lao, Shan and other modern
Tai-related ethnolinguistic groups], who originated in the
southwestern provinces of China, later migrated to the Thai
peninsula. Thai gaeng som is a hot and sour soup similar to Szechwan
hot-and-sour soup, for example.
- Thai stir-fried cuisine has neither the
cornstarch thickening and complicated sauces of Chinese cooking nor
the use of dairy products and the heaviness and rich aromatic curry
powder of Indian food. Indian style has influenced Thai food
in the use of spice mixtures or khreuang gaeng, curries, and similar
stewed dishes. Thai food is a distinct cuisine in its own
right, largely due to the ability to the Thai to absorb outside
influences and transform them into something uniquely their own.
Thais eat with a fork and spoon, but not a knife. Ingredients ---
meat and vegetables --- are cut into small pieces to meet the short
stir-fried cooking style. Thai dishes are generally long on
preparation but short on cooking time. Everything is served at
once, and diners take this or that dish according to individual
taste, combining or tasting separately each dish against the bland
background of rice. There is no particular order or structure
of courses served. The meal is planned so that textures,
flavors, and food balance each other.
- The skill of blending the five flavors ---
sweet, sour, salty , bitter, and hot --- is the hallmark of Thai
dishes.
I adore Thai food and here are my favorites...
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