Thai Food, naturally low in calories
| Thai food is a mixture of styles and tastes from all over Asia and has been influenced greatly by the Chinese. The mainstay of every Thai meal is rice, Thailand's principle agricultural export, be it boiled, fried or ground into flour then turned into noodles. There are also many kinds of sticky rice, a specialty of the northeastern region, which is steamed in a wicker basket and often sweetened as a dessert. |
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Tom Williams |
| The basic ingredients in Thai food are beef, pork and chicken
usually chopped. into small pieces. Fish, crabs and freshwater Prawns from the canals and
paddies also make up a large part of the diet.With the country's long coastline, seafood
also plays a part in the diet of many people. Thai food has a reputation for being hot and spicy due to the popularity of chili. This is not always cooked with the food but is offered in the form of a fiery sauce. A salty thin brown sauce made from fermented fish (nam-pla) is also usually offered at every meal. Thailand has many unique fruits, herbs, vegetables and spices which help to give it such unusual flavors; A. Thai meal will often consist of tastes ranging from one extreme to the other; bitter, sour, salty and sweet all at: the same time. |
| Finding somewhere to eat in Thailand is no problem at all, there are thousands of restaurants, from the most luxurious imaginable to a wok and a few tables set out on the sidewalk. Most stomach complaints experienced by newcomers are due to the spices and unusual herbs used in the preparation of Thai food, and not the cleanliness of the ingredients. An important Thai phrase to learn is "mai pet"(not hot)this lets the cook know you are not used to extremely hot and spicy food. |  |
| In Bangkok there are three main types of inexpensive
restaurants. "Gup kow" wich sells curries, soups and meat to eat with boiled
rice. These are easy to use as the dishes are usually laid out and you only need point.
"Raan Issan", Issan food shops sell northeastern style food. Especially popular
is "som dtam", grated papaya pounded in a mortar with crab or tiny prawns.
Grilled chicken and beef eaten with sticky rice is also a popular favorite. The last type
is Chinese style stir-fry serving up a range of fried rice and noodle dishes. Because of the heat and wide use of chilies in Thai food it is advisable to wash down your meal with iced water or if available, freshly squeezed fruit juice. Enjoy! |
