FAQ:

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How do I know the food is authentic Thai food ?

[First you have to know the definition of great Thai food. Then you need to know about its composition, variation of Thai dishes, the effect of ingredients, and the expectation of the individual dish. Do you know that texture is another key factor of great Thai food? Lingering taste is the phenomenal aspect that makes Thai food stand out above many cuisines. In order to rate Thai food, you also need to know a scenario of a complete composition of a Thai meal.

Thai food has class with great expectation. For general rules to judge Thai food, you must know this: Great Thai food looks good, smells good, tastes good, has the right texture, and contains a lingering taste (the exquisite flavor aftertaste that lasts 20-30 minutes after a meal). In other words, the great prospects of authentic Thai food are: a silent incitement, enticing aroma, well-balanced flavor, good texture (not over cooked or under cooked, it's al dente ), the effective aftertaste, and of course satisfy the expectation of the dish. So to speak: the minute you see, you are drawn; the minute you smell you are starving; the minute it is in your mouth, you are experiencing the pleasant harmonious flavor that you are at a loss to describe; the minute you chew, the taste jumps out; the minute you swallow, it lingers around your throat and resets your palate.  

In addition to those, there is a composition in a Thai meal that you might not be aware of. Composition means the complexity of a sophisticated level in taste and flavor that blends together within a meal. Because Thais use different sourness, sweetness, bitterness, saltiness, and buttery, as well as aromatic herbs and spices to create a dish, among the dishes there are differences in aroma, texture, taste, and flavor. Superb Thai food needs the capability of blending these together harmoniously. A great example is the selection of ingredients for creating a sourness taste. This acidic food source comes from lime, lemon, tamarind, orange, or rice vinegar. The cook has to know the effect of each ingredient, because in Thai cooking, the business of paring sweetness and sourness is one of the key factors of success. Westerners use salt and pepper for the main spices but Thais use saltiness and sweetness for perfecting the taste. Furthermore, Thais combine all the tastes in one meal to create simultaneous and harmonious effects pleasing to your palate. 

Thai dishes are unique in texture and flavor. The way you eat them is almost an art that needs to be acknowledged. Memorable Thai food consists of comparison and contrast in both texture and taste as well as flavors complementary to one another. If you take a bit of curry next bite should be something buttery or salty. If you take a bite of salad, the next bite should be a stir-fry dish. This is an accomplishment that will give you great pleasure and the realization of good Thai food. It is also an excellent way for you to explore Thai food. Be aware that a stand alone meal known as a one-plate meal, like the popular Pad Thai, is not part of the complete composition of a Thai meal; and should not be served with other dishes.

Do you know there are two main streams in Thai cuisine: Royal and Home cooking? While the Royal Thai cuisine concentrates on presentation, home cooking emphasizes perfecting the flavor and taste. Street food, food served with cocktails, and family recipes are mainly home cooking. Regional food is based upon available food sources. When it comes to restaurant food, you might wonder which food you are getting. It depends on the owner and the chef's background as well as their cooking experience. To rate good Thai food is to understand variations of the dish and recognize authenticity in Thai cuisine.]

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Where can I find Thai grocery stores near my location?

[Many Asian grocery stores around the U.S. carry basic Thai ingredients like fish sauce, palm sugar...so on. Click on this link to see the store near your location]

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Is Thai food complicate to cook?

[No, it actually quite simple when you know basic Thai ingredients and cooking techniques. Without the basic knowledge of ingredients and techniques, you will find it difficult to cook Thai food]

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What are Thai Salads?

[There are 3 different kind of salads: Laab,Yaum, and Plar. All are cooked with line juice, fish sauce and sugar. Laab is originate from North Eastern. It is spicy. It flavors with ground roasted rice. Some are not well cooked, the meat is sometimes raw. Yam is more healthy and pleasant to eat. Plar is mainly raw meat or seafood which cooked with lime juice. Most foreigners can not tolerate.]

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What is a galangal ?

[This is another type of ginger root which has it own taste and flavor. It uses exclusively in making curries and exotic Thai soup like thom Kha kai or Thom yaum kung.]

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How many types of Thai dishes ?

[E very Thai dish has been directly influenced by geographical regions and culture. Soup comes in a variety of ways. The common soups that you see in day-to-day life are thom jeurt or kaeng jeurt, thoon, thom yaum, thom som, and thom khong. Thom jeurt is usually water based (clear broth) with either salt or fish sauce and sugar. The spice used is pepper. Thoon is the way of long cooking meat or poultry in the spice broth that reduces water to three-fourths or half. Thom yaum is cooking with fresh herbs like chilies, lemon grass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaf. Some soups require spicy sour soup base. Thom khong is usually cooked with the whole dried fish. Most have an unpleasant smell from the dried fish and can be very spicy. Salad comes from three major types: laab, yaum, and plar. Each part of the country may have different names but the fundamental ingredients are the same, only the way of cooking is different. Laab has ground roasted rice for the main component. It is made from grilled meat or pan stir fried without oil. If the meat is grilled, the dish is called nam-tok. Watch out! This dish may have raw blood as a part of its ingredients if you order it in some restaurants. Yaum comes in a variety of dishes that are cooked from fresh vegetables, meat, poultry, or fruits. Plar is a raw dish. Curries dishes. Stir-fry, deep-fry, grill, steam, and dipping sauces.

O ne plate meals are common in modern Thai cooking especially at lunch or a midday snack. They are easy to cook and usually make a balanced meal, served with a side dish.]

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How many types of Thai curries ?

[ There are 12 main curry pastes that are commonly used in Thai cuisine: Red, Green, Yellow, Sour, Karee, Par, Panang, Masaman, Kua, Chu-chee, Phirk Khing, and Leang. There is an additional Thai curry powder called Phong Kari. ]

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Know Thai tastes ?

[ There is specific knowledge about tastes that you need to know: sweet, sour, salty, buttery, spicy, and lingering. Sweetness is derived from white sugar (nam tan srai), brown sugar (nam tan oui), soft palm sugar (nam tan peep), hard palm sugar (nam tan phuuk), coconut sugar (bea-sre), or honey (nam phaung). Sour taste comes from varieties of acidic fruits and plants. Each type has its own specific taste and aroma. Here are the types commonly used in Thai cooking: tamarind (ma-kam peark), lime (ma-nao), rice vinegar (nam som), and edible leaves like young tamarind leaf (yod ma-kam) and Som njung leaf (bai som-njung). Salty mostly comes from sea salt and flavoring added sea salt that comes in a liquid form. Fermented products of various kinds of seafood are commonly used. Fish sauce is a classic product that is fermented anchovy or shrimp with sea salt and other food flavorings added. There are three types of Thai soy sauces: white, black, and sweet.]

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Understand the textures in Thai cooking

[There are specific textures in Thai cooking, so you will need to know how to perfect them: crispy, crunchy, soft, tender, tough, rough, thickened (creamy), and watery. Crispy mainly comes from pan fried or deep fried in vegetable oil Crunchy comes from deep fried or pan fried dried food in hot oil. Soft is mostly cooking until meat or vegetables change property. Tender mostly refers to dry outside and juicy inside. Tough means you have over cooked the meat. Slimy occurs when there is a lot of starch or natural oil in meat, poultry, or fish which comes out while cooking. Thickened is referred to in two ways, reduction by half or using less water content like thick coconut milk (coconut cream) or tamarind juice. Watery is the opposite of thickened. ]

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Rice cooker save time

[Traditionally Thais cook their rice in a large pot with a lot of water. The rice is cooked until soft. Then the water is drained. The pot is put back on the stove and continues to cook to get rid of the water vapor inside the pot. The easy way is to cook the rice in the rice cooker. The basic rule is to put water about ¾” (2 cm) above the rice. ]

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Mortar and pestle

[This is a classic Thai cooking tool. The large clay mortar is used exclusively for making papaya salad. The stone set is used for pounding curry paste. Food processor does not give the right texture and consistency for making a paste. Pounding can extract the oil and the heat of pounding can help in mixing the ingredients. This is why these tools are crucial in Thai cooking. ]

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Classical & Traditional Home-style Thai Cooking.
Copyright © 2002-2007 [Thai Essence],  All rights reserved.
Revised: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 4:58 PM .