Thai cuisine combines Asian recipes, slow cooking techniques and multiple types of curry to make delicious dishes. Learn all about Thai food in this article.
Every now and then, it’s important to shock your tastebuds a bit. Thai cuisine combines Asian recipes, slow cooking techniques and multiple types of curry to make delicious dishes.
Two of the most well-known Thai dishes are Lamb Massaman and Pad Thai, but these meals just scratch the service of Thai cuisine.
Thai food is one of the only Asian cuisines that use fresh ingredients more often than dried or preserved ingredients.
For example, many Thai dishes include fresh veggies steeped in a broth made from coconut milk, along with basil, lemongrass or galangal leaves.
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What is Thai Cuisine?
Thai food makes up the national cuisine of Thailand. Various elements of Southeast Asia are blended together to create lightly prepared dishes.
Thai fare has a strong aroma and is made from both spicy ingredients and different types of curry, including red, green and Panang.
An ingredient that you’ll find in just about every Thai dish and finger food is nam pal, an aromatic, strong fish sauce.
Thai food is well known for its balance of the four main tastes: sour, sweet, bitter and salty.
While Thai food may seem like it’s simple to prepare, it’s actually quite complicated to balance these four distinct tastes in one harmonious dish.
.Spicy Thai Food
You may notice that Thai food is especially spicy. The chillies that are used in cooking are responsible for that zap of flavour.
Chillies became popular in Thailand and the rest of Asia during the 1600s. Today, chilli is used in all different forms, including dry, pickled and fresh.
If you’re dining out, you can request that the chef change the amount of spice in a Thai dish to either cool it down a bit or make it even spicier.
Some dishes need a certain amount of spice in order to preserve unstable ingredients.
Sauces and Other Sides
Many Thai foods are served with coordinating sauces and condiments. One popular accompaniment is made up of fish sauce, chopped chillies, garlic and lime juice.
Other popular sides include dried chilli flakes, sliced chilli peppers floating in rice vinegar, sweet chilli sauce or a spicy chilli sauce called sriracha.
If Thai sauce gets too hot for you, it’s recommended to munch on a piece of cucumber to cool your mouth.
Thai Desserts
While Thai meals most often finish off with fresh fruit, there are a few sweet desserts to choose from, too. Most Thai desserts include coconut, rice and either jasmine or pandan for extra flavour.
Dense Thai cakes or egg-based dishes are heavily influenced by Portuguese cuisine. Thai desserts are often both sweet and savoury.
Traditionally, desserts are made primarily from fresh fruit. Pieces of fruit that have been cut into different shapes are often served with sticky rice, especially in Western restaurants.
Just like other Thai dishes, Thai desserts often have a strong taste and flavour. Desserts tend to be extremely sweet in order to counteract an overly spicy meal.
Coffee, tea or even alcohol are usually consumed along with dessert.
Ryan Berman is a food safety specialist and health researcher. He has been working closely with the restaurant and catering industries to improve health standards. Visit Short Order to find out more about safe food storage.
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