EATING IN THAILANDSTAPLES & SPECIALITIES
There are many varieties of rice in Thailand and the country has been
among the world leaders in rice exports since the 1960s. The highest
grade iskôw hŏrm má·líí ( jasmine rice), a fragrant long grain that is so
coveted by neighbouring countries that there is allegedly a steady under-
ground business in smuggling out fresh supplies. Residents of Thailand’s
north and northeast eat kôw nĕe·o, ‘sticky rice’, a glutinous short-grained
rice that is cooked by steaming, not boiling. In Chinese-style eateries,
kôw đôm, ‘boiled rice’, a watery porridge sometimes employing brown or
purple rice, is a common carb.
Rice is customarily served alongside main dishes like curries, stir-
fries or soups, which are lumped together as gàp kôw(with rice). When
you order plain rice in a restaurant you use the termkôw þlòw, ‘plain
rice’ or kôw sŏoay,‘beautiful rice’.
You’ll fi nd four basic kinds of noodle in Thailand. Hardly surprising,
given the Thai fi xation on rice, is the overwhelming popularity of sên
gŏo·ay đĕe·o, noodles made from rice fl our mixed with water to form a
paste, which is then steamed to form wide, fl at sheets. The sheets are
folded and sliced into various widths.
Also made from rice,kà·nŏm jeen, is produced by pushing rice-fl our
paste through a sieve into boiling water, much the way Italian-style
pasta is made.Kà·nŏm jeen is a popular morning market meal that is
eaten doused with various spicy curries and topped with a self-selection
of fresh and pickled vegetables and herbs.
The third kind of noodle,bà·mèe, is made from wheat fl our and egg.
It’s yellowish in colour and is sold only in fresh bundles.
Finally there’swún·sên, an almost clear noodle made from mung-bean
starch and water. Often sold in dried bunches,wún·sênn (literally ‘jelly
thread’) is prepared by soaking in hot water for a few minutes. The most
common use of the noodle is in yam wún sên, a hot and tangy salad
made with lime juice, fresh sliced prík kêe nŏo (tiny chillies), shrimp,
ground pork and various seasonings.
Curries & Soups
In Thai, gaangg (it sounds somewhat similar to the English ‘gang’) is
often translated as ‘curry’, but it actually describes any dish with a lot
of liquid and can thus refer to soups (such asgaang jèuttt) as well as
the classic chilli paste-based curries for which Thai cuisine is famous.
The preparation of the latter begins with a krêu·ang gaang,created by
mashing, pounding and grinding an array of fresh ingredients with
a stone mortar and pestle to form an aromatic, extremely pungent-
tasting and rather thick paste. Typical ingredients in a krêu·ang gaang
Thailand is the
world’s leading
exporter of rice,
and in 2010
exported 9.03
million tonnes of
the grain.Thai Food by
David Thompson
is widely consid-
ered the most
authoritative
English-language
book on Thai
cooking. Thomp-
son’s latest book,
Thai Street Food,
focuses on less
formal street
cuisine.NOODLE MIXOLOGYIf you see a steel rack containing four lidded glass bowls or jars on your table, it’s proof
that the restaurant you’re in serves gŏo·ay đĕe·o (rice noodle soup). Typically these
containers off er four choices: nám sôm prík (sliced green chillies in vinegar), nám þlah
(fi sh sauce), prík þòn (dried red chilli, fl aked or ground to a near powder) and nám·đahn
(plain white sugar).
In typically Thai fashion, these condiments off er three ways to make the soup
hotter – hot and sour, hot and salty, and just plain hot – and one to make it sweet.
The typical noodle-eater will add a teaspoonful of each one of these condiments to
the noodle soup, except for the sugar, which in sweet-tooth Bangkok usually rates a
full tablespoon. Until you’re used to these strong seasonings, we recommend adding
them a small bit at a time, tasting the soup along the way to make sure you don’t go
overboard.