EATING IN THAILAND
DRINKS
in central Thai dishes, which often feature ingredients such as coconut
milk, freshwater fi sh and meats.
Northeastern Thai food is undoubtedly Thailand’s most rustic regional
cooking style, and is most likely indicative of what the ethnic Tai people
have been eating for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Spicy, tart fl a-
vours and simple cooking methods such as grilling and soups dominate
the northeastern kitchen, in which the predominant carb is sticky rice.
Because many northeastern Thais are migratory workers, their cuisine is
available in simple stalls in virtually every corner of the country.
The most obscure regional cooking style in Thailand is undoubtedly
northern-style cooking. Also based around sticky rice, meat, in particu-
lar pork, bitter/hot fl avours and deep-frying play important roles in the
northern Thai kitchen. Given the north’s elevation and climate, northern
Thai food is probably the most seasonal of regional Thai cuisines. For
more on northern cuisine, see the boxed text, p 304.
Southern Thai cooking is arguably the spiciest of Thailand’s regional
cooking styles. It can also be very salty, and not surprisingly, given the
south’s coastline, seafood plays a large role. Turmeric provides many
southern Thai dishes with a yellow/orange hue, and many southern Thai
meals are accompanied by a platter of fresh herbs and vegetables as a way
of countering their heat. Thailand’s south is also a good place to sample
Muslim-Thai cooking, which is probably Thailand’s sweetest cuisine.Drinks
Coff ee, Tea & Fruit Drinks
Thais are big coff ee drinkers, and good-quality arabica and robusta are
cultivated in the hilly areas of northern and southern Thailand. The trad-
itional fi ltering system is nothing more than a narrow cloth bag attached
to a steel handle. This type of coff eeis served in a glass, mixed with sugar
and sweetened with condensed milk – if you don’t want either, be sure
to specify gah·faa damm (black coff ee) followed with mâi sài nám·đahn
(without sugar).
Black tea, both local and imported, is available at the same places that
serve real coff ee.Chah taii derives its characteristic orange-red colour
from ground tamarind seed added after curing.
Fruit drinks appear all over Thailand and are an excellent way to re-
hydrate after water becomes unpalatable. Most námpŏn·lá·máii (fruitA THAI PILSNER PRIMERWe relish the look of horror on the faces of Thailand newbies when the waitress casu-
ally plunks several cubes of ice into their pilsners. Before you rule this supposed blas-
phemy out completely, there are a few reasons why we and the Thais actually prefer
our beer on the rocks.
First, despite all the alleged accolades displayed on most bottles, Thai beer does
not possess the most sophisticated bouquet in the world and is best drunk as cold as
possible. Also, if you haven’t already noticed, the weather in Thailand is often extremely
hot, another reason it makes sense to maintain your beer at maximum chill. And lastly,
domestic brews are generally quite high in alcohol and the ice helps to dilute this, pre-
venting dehydration and one of those infamous Beer Chang hangovers the next day.
Taking these theories to the extreme, some places in Thailand serve something called
beea wún, ‘jelly beer’, beer that has been semi-frozen until it reaches a deliciously slushy
and refreshing consistency.
However, a brief warning: it’s a painfully obvious sign you’ve been in Thailand too long
if you put ice in your draught Hoegaarden.Written, photo-
graphed and
maintained by
the author of this
chapter, http://www.
austinbush
photography.
com/category/
foodblog details
food and dining
in both Bangkok
and provincial
Thailand.