Thai Hotel

Food is like a drug. How true is that? This is especially true for me when it comes to Thai food. Once I get started on any Thai dish, I get addicted to more of the same. But hey, there has to be worse addictions that good food right? Some culinary writers describe Thai food as being similar to Chinese food but with a sting. Well, as someone who has lived in Thailand for a number of years now, I think the aromatic, delicious, hot, spicy Thai food is in a class of it’s own, and there is nothing to compare it’s uniqueness with.

Another fascinating fact with Thai food is the variety. If I lived here for a 100 years and tried a different dish everyday day, I don’t believe I would have time to sample it all. The county is split into 5 regions; North, Northeast, East, Central, and South and each region, province, and sub province, all have their own unique dishes and foodstuffs.

Thai food should not just be categorised as being hot and spicy though, as there are many herbs and spices which are also combined to give the individual dishes their distinctive tastes and aromas.

Ever heard of Thai food described using the 3 S’s of flavor? Spicy, Salty, and Sour. It’s the harmonious blend of these 3 that contribute to this gorgeous gastronomy. Let me break this down a little for you.

Spicy - Chili (Prik)

There’s a whole history on how the chili became a part of Thai cooking and I’ll save that for another article, but basically the Europeans, (Spanish or Portuguese) introduced the Chili into the old Siam in the 16th century, and it’s been and integral part of Thai cooking ever since. People who try Thai food for the first time should do so with extreme caution, as there are some dishes that burn your throat so hard that it’s painful to the inexperienced pallet.

Fish Sauce - Salty

Fish sauce is simply called “Nam pla” which when translated means water fish. In Thai cooking this us the second most important ingredient. Fish sauce is made by brewing fish or shrimp mixed with salt and decanting the fermented result into bottles. On its own it smells quite unpleasant but when added to the cooking or sprinkled over rice, it really does contribute to the exotic flavors of Thai food.

Lime - Sour

The lime known in Thai language as “Manao”, is used at every opportunity in a whole variety of Thai dishes. The main role of the lime is to repress the salty taste and strong odor of fish sauce.

Bon appetite!

Aleck Mann is a proficient writer and webmaster for Look at Food dot com where he writes on such issues as Living Longer and Healthier lives! and Diet Information. He also has many other food and healthy eating related pieces on the site.

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BANGKOK, Thailand — For years, zesty Tom Yum Gung soup has been a mainstay of Thai cooking. And now researchers are thinking it just might have cancer-fighting ingredients as well as good taste. “Tom Yum Gung is Thailand’s most favorite soup,” according to Chef Rolf Schmitz of the Regent Hotel’s Spice Market restaurant. “It’s a shrimp soup with herbal ingredients like coriander, lemon grass, lime leaves and even galangal roots.” Also called hot-and-sour soup, the dish often includes straw mushrooms and a variety of chilies.

A recent joint study by Thailand’s Kasetsart University and Japan’s Kyoto and Kinki Universities has found that the ingredients in Tom Yum Gung soup are 100 times more effective in inhibiting cancerous tumor growth than other foods. Scientists are seeking to extract the chemical compounds that are most effective from soup ingredients, said Suratwadee Jiwajindra of Kasetsart University. Research also is focusing on edible plants in the region. “The ratio of the cancer pattern in Asians, especially southeast Asians, is very low compared with the pattern in the European and Western countries,” Jiwajindra said. In fact, Thais have a much lower incidence of digestive tract cancers than people do in other countries.

Traditional Thai cuisine — famed for its heavy use of herbs and spices — has long been known to have health benefits, Jiwajindra said. And despite its spicy taste, Tom Yum Gung continues to be popular, said Schmitz, calling the soup “definitely the best seller if you look into the statistics.” Every month, the soup is “at the top of the charts,” he added. “A day, I’d say we are making 50-60 cups in a restaurant like the Spice Market,” said the chef.

Thai Recipes

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Welcome to the Gourmet Chicken Series. Today we bring you Thai Pandan Chicken

Ingredients: 1 package chicken wings or small chicken drumsticks, 1 package pandan leaves, oil for deep frying, Marinade: 1/2 can good quality thick coconut milk, 2 tsp. ground coriander seeds,
2 tsp. dark soy sauce, 2 tbsp. fish sauce, 2 tbsp. oyster sauce, 2-3 cloves garlic, 1 thumb-size piece galangal (or ginger) peeled and sliced, juice from half a lime, 1/4 tsp. pandan paste, 1 green chilli, de-seeded and minced (optional)

Method: 1. Place all marinade/sauce ingredients in a food processor. Process well. (NB: that the sauce will turn bright green, which is what you want)

2. Taste test the sauce for salt and spice.
(If not salty enough, add a little more fish sauce. If too salty, add a little more lime. If too spicy, add more coconut milk. And if it’s not spicy enough, add more green chilli.)

3. Pour 1/3 of the sauce over the chicken and mix to combine.

4. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour before cooking, or preferably overnight. (NB: that the longer the chicken marinates, the more “green” it will appear. This is a good sign, as it means the chicken has been infused with the flavor and color of the pandan)

5. Pour the rest of the marinade/sauce into a bowl or container. This will be used later. (NB: If you plan to let the chicken marinate overnight, place covered sauce in the refrigerator)

6. After the chicken is done marinating, take a long pandan leaf in your hand and use it to “wrap” the drumstick or chicken piece.

7. Start wrapping several inches down the leaf to allow enough extra for tying both ends together when you’re done. The leaf needn’t cover the chicken completely - 1 pandan leaf per chicken piece is enough. If using drumsticks, start and end the wrapping at the end of the drumstick (on the bone).

8. Deep fry the chicken pieces (this takes between 10 and 18 minutes depending on the size of the pieces and the heat of your oil), or grill them on the barbeque. Cook until chicken is golden brown and pandan leaves have turned dark/brown.

9. Serve together with the pandan sauce you made earlier (this sauce can be served at room temperature or gently heated up, if preferred. (NB: don’t overheat or cook it, as you will then lose most of the flavor and nutrients of the sauce).

If serving as an appetizer, place the sauce in a bowl in the center of your serving platter for dipping. If an entree, serve with plenty of Thai jasmine rice with the sauce either poured over the chicken, or served on the side. To eat, unwind the pandan leaf from the chicken piece and discard. Dip the chicken into the pandan sauce and eat, or pour some of the sauce over the chicken and enjoy with rice. This makes a terrific party food!

BON AP

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