When I found out I was coming to Thailand more than two years ago, one of the most common reactions I got from friends was, “Oh man, the food is going to be AMAZING!”
Thai food has quite the reputation outside of the countries borders, and for good reason: it is pretty delicious. So what is Thai food all about?
Rice as a Staple
To begin, nearly every Thai meal includes rice. In fact, the phrase กินข้าว (gin khao) that generally means to eat or to eat a meal literally translates as “eat rice.”
This is typically a white jasmine rice, though brown rice is for sale and I have seen a very small minority of people prefer that over white rice. Each person at the table gets their own plate of rice and usually a fork and spoon.
Utensils Used in Thailand
Yes, you read that right, a fork and spoon. Thai food is not eaten with chopsticks, as is a common misconception. Chopsticks are sometimes used here, but typically only for Chinese influenced dishes, like a noodle soup.
King Chulalongkorn brought back these utensils from his European tour in 1897. Before then, Thais ate with their right hand, similar to Indian cuisine. Though, the utensils here are used a bit differently. Where the fork is the main tool in Western dishes, here it is used to push food onto the spoon, which is then used to deliver food to the mouth. You may also use the Asian style tablespoon on its own if you don’t have enough forks to go around. It’s pretty efficient and something I’ll probably continue to do after service.
Complexity of Flavors in Thai Food
On the surface Thai food may seem relatively simple, but in reality it is prepared with the complex interplay of each of the four major flavors kept in mind. Each dish has its own special balance of spicy, salty, sweet and sour going on; some dishes even come served with what I like to call a condiment caddy with cups of dried pepper flakes, fish sauce, sugar and vinegar for you to match the flavors to your liking.
When eating with other people, a variety of dishes, each kind of showcasing a flavor are put in the middle of the table. Often, there’ll be a fish, some curry dish, some meaty dish, maybe a Thai-style salad, fried vegetables, raw vegetables to dip in a chili-fish dip to go with the rice. To eat, you either use your spoon or the small serving spoon in the dish to spoon a couple of bites worth of the dish onto your rice and then eat that, then go back for more or for another dish.
If you are eating alone, then it’s acceptable to make or order a single plate for yourself, such as fried rice or noodles, noodle soup, stir-fried basil or any other dish.
The Truth About Pad Thai
I’m going to end this post with one more truth bomb for you. Perhaps the most famous dish that people associate with Thailand, pad Thai, for one isn’t really eaten here in Thailand and for two, probably isn’t even a Thai dish. But stay tuned for some dishes and recipes that I have encountered frequently here in Thailand.