Thai cuisine


Thai cuisine is the national cuisine of Thailand.
Thai cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with aromatics and spicy heat. The Australian chef David Thompson, an expert on Thai food, observes that unlike many other cuisines, Thai cooking is "about the juggling of disparate elements to create a harmonious finish. Like a complex musical chord it's got to have a smooth surface but it doesn't matter what's happening underneath. Simplicity isn't the dictum here, at all."
Traditional Thai cuisine loosely falls into four categories: , , , and . Deep-frying, stir-frying and steaming are methods introduced from Chinese cuisine.
In 2011, seven Thai dishes appeared on a list of the "World's 50 Best Foods", an online poll of 35,000 people worldwide by CNN Travel. Thailand had more dishes on the list than any other country: tom yum kung, pad thai, som tam, massaman curry, green curry, Thai fried rice and nam tok mu.. Thai cuisine is defined by its characteristic balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy flavors using fresh ingredients, aromatic herbs, and techniques like stir frying, steaming and deep frying.

History

Historical influences

Thai cuisine and the culinary traditions and cuisines of Thailand's neighbors, especially Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, India, Malaysia and Indonesia, have influenced one another over the course of many centuries.
According to the Thai monk Venerable Buddhadasa Bhikku's writing, ‘India's Benevolence to Thailand’, Thai cuisine was influenced by Indian cuisine. He wrote that Thai people learned how to use spices in their food in various ways from Indians. Thais also obtained the methods of making herbal medicines from the Indians. Some plants like sarabhi of the family Guttiferae, panika or harsinghar, phikun or Mimusops elengi and bunnak or the rose chestnut etc. were brought from India. According to the book Mae Khrua Hua Pa by Lady Plian Bhaskarawongse, she found that Thai cuisine had a strong gastronomical cultural line from Sukhothai through Ayuttthaya and Thonburi period vis-à-vis Siamese governmental officers' daily routines and their related cousins. Thai food during the Thonburi period tended to be more similar to that from the Ayutthaya period, except the addition of Chinese food resulted from her prosperous international trade.
Western influences, starting in 1511 when the first diplomatic mission from the Portuguese arrived at the court of Ayutthaya, have created dishes such as foi thong, the Thai adaptation of the Portuguese fios de ovos, and sangkhaya, where coconut milk replaces cow's milk in making a custard. These dishes were said to have been brought to Thailand in the 17th century by Maria Guyomar de Pinha, a woman of mixed Japanese-Portuguese-Bengali ancestry who was born in Ayutthaya, and became the wife of Constantine Phaulkon, a Greek adviser to King Narai. The most notable influence from the West must be the introduction of the chili pepper from the Americas in the 16th or 17th century. It, and rice, are now two of the most important ingredients in Thai cuisine. During the Columbian Exchange, Portuguese and Spanish ships brought new foodstuffs from the Americas including tomatoes, corn, papaya, pea eggplants, pineapple, pumpkins, culantro, cashews, and peanuts.

Regional variations

Regional variations tend to correlate to neighboring states as well as climate and geography. Northern Thai cuisine shares dishes with Shan State in Burma, northern Laos, and also with Yunnan Province in China, whereas the cuisine of Isan is similar to that of Southern Laos, and by Vietnamese cuisine to its east. Southern Thailand, with many dishes that contain liberal amounts of coconut milk and fresh turmeric, has that in common with Indian, Malaysian, and Indonesian cuisine.
Thai cuisine is more accurately described as five regional cuisines, corresponding to the five main regions of Thailand:
In addition to these regional cuisines, there is also Thai royal cuisine which can trace its history back to the cosmopolitan palace cuisine of the Ayutthaya kingdom. Its refinement, cooking techniques, presentation, and use of ingredients were of great influence to the cuisine of the central Thai plains. Thai royal cuisine has been influenced by the Khmer royal cuisine through the Khmer palace cooks brought to the Ayutthaya Kingdom during its conquests of the Khmer Empire. Thai royal cuisine has become very well known from the Rattanakosin Era onwards.
Typically, Thai royal cuisine has basic characteristics that are close to the basic food prepared by general people. However, Thai royal cuisine focuses on the freshness of seasonal products. Other than that, it is crucial that the way in which Thai royal food is cooked should be complex and delicate.
La Loubère, an envoy from France during the reign of King Narai, recorded that the food at the court was generally similar to villager food. What makes Thai royal cuisine different food is its beautiful presentation. For example, they served fish and chicken with the bones removed, and the vegetables were served in bite-sized portions. In addition, if beef is used, it should be tenderloin only.
There are many types of Thai royal cuisine such as ranchuan curry, nam phrik long ruea, matsaman curry, rice in jasmine-flavored iced water or khao chae, spicy salad, fruit, and carved vegetable.
Thai chef McDang, himself descended from the royal family, asserts that the difference between royal Thai cuisine and regular Thai cuisine is fiction. He maintains that the only difference between the food of the palace and that of the common people is the former's elaborate presentation and better ingredients.

Serving

Thai food was traditionally eaten with the hand while seated on mats or carpets on the floor or coffee table in upper middle class families, customs still found in more traditional households. Today, however, most Thais eat with a fork and spoon. Tables and chairs were introduced as part of a broader Westernization drive during the reign of King Mongkut, Rama IV. The fork and spoon were introduced by King Chulalongkorn after his return from a tour of Europe in 1897 CE.
Important to Thai dining is the practice of khluk, mixing the flavors and textures of different dishes with the rice from one's plate. The food is pushed by the fork, held in the left hand, into the spoon held in the right hand, which is then brought to the mouth. A traditional ceramic spoon is sometimes used for soup, and knives are not generally used at the table. It is common practice for both the Thais and the hill tribe peoples who live in Lanna and Isan to use sticky rice as an edible implement by shaping it into small, and sometimes flattened, balls by hand which are then dipped into side dishes and eaten.
Chopsticks were foreign utensils to most ethnic groups in Thailand with the exception of the Thai Chinese, and a few other cultures such as the Akha people, who are recent arrivals from Yunnan Province, China. Traditionally, the majority of ethnic Thai people ate with their hands like the people of India. Chopsticks are mainly used in Thailand for eating Chinese-style noodle soups, or at Chinese, Japanese, or Korean restaurants. Stir-fried noodle dishes such as drunken noodles, pad see ew, and pad thai, and curry-noodle dishes such as khanom chin nam ngiao, are also eaten with a fork and spoon in the Thai fashion.
Thai meals typically consist of rice with many complementary dishes shared by all. The dishes are all served at the same time, including the soups, and it is also customary to provide more dishes than there are guests at a table. A Thai family meal would normally consist of rice with several dishes which should form a harmonious contrast of flavors and textures as well as preparation methods. Traditionally, a meal would have at least five elements: a dip or relish for raw or cooked vegetables is the most crucial component of any Thai meal. Khrueang chim, considered a building block of Thai food by Chef McDang, may come in the form of a spicy chili sauce or relish called nam phrik, or a type of dip enriched with coconut milk called lon. The other elements would include a clear soup, a curry or stew, a deep-fried dish, and a stir-fried dish of meat, fish, seafood, or vegetables.
File:Kaeng pla thu and tom mara.jpg|thumb|A plate of raw vegetables and herbs, together with nam phrik kapi, is often served as a complementary dish at southern Thai eateries.
In most Thai restaurants, diners will have access to a selection of Thai sauces and condiments, either brought to the table by wait staff or present at the table in small containers. These may include phrik nam pla/nam pla phrik, dried chili flakes, sweet chili sauce, sliced chili peppers in rice vinegar, Sriracha sauce, and even sugar. With certain dishes, such as khao kha mu, whole Thai peppers and raw garlic are served in addition to the sour chili sauce. Cucumber is sometimes eaten to cool the mouth with particularly spicy dishes. They often feature as a garnish, especially with one-dish meals. The plain rice, sticky rice or the khanom chin served alongside a spicy Thai curry or stir-fry, tends to counteract the spiciness.
When time is limited or when eating alone, single dishes, such as fried rice or noodle soups, are quick and filling. An alternative is to have one or more smaller helpings of curry, stir fries and other dishes served together on one plate with a portion of rice. This style of serving food is called khao rat kaeng, or for short khao kaeng. Eateries and shops that specialize in pre-made food are the usual place to go to for having a meal this way. These venues have a large display showing the different dishes one can choose. When placing an order at these places, Thais will state if they want the food served as separate dishes or together on one plate with rice. Very often, regular restaurants will also feature a selection of freshly made "rice curry" dishes on their menu for single customers.