Thai Curry

Thailand is famous worldwide for its food and anyone who has sampled the delights of real Thai food will agree that it ranks amongst the most delicious cuisines in the world. Thai food is sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, sometimes salty but almost always spicy. Here is an overview of some of the types of food you will find on the Thai dinner table:

Curries Thai curries are quite thin and more like a soup than their Indian counterparts. They often contain coconut cream which gives them a sweet flavour but are usually spicy. The following are some examples of Thai curries:

• Green Curry (Geng Kiaow Waan) – A favourite amongst foreigners, this is a sweet, green coloured curry with a generous amount of coconut cream. It is usually served with chicken and a vegetable called ‘Makeuah’ which is similar to an egg-plant or aubergine and is often quite spicy.
• Red Curry (Geng Phed) – Similar to its green counterpart, this is also a popular dish with visitors to Thailand. It has a softer flavour than the green curry and is particularly delicious when made with duck and exotic fruits.
• Masuman Curry – Originating from Muslim culture, this curry is not as spicy as the green or red but is still quite sweet. It is also usually quite thick and is served with potato and chicken legs and is made from a peanut base.

Thai Curry

Stir-Fry Dishes The variety of Thai stir-fry dishes is almost endless, with each dish having countless variations. Here are a few of the more popular examples:

• Stir-Fried Chicken/Pork with Holy Basil – Be prepared as this one is often very spicy. It consists of ground pork or chicken simply stir-fried with holy basil. It is delicious when eaten with a fried egg, and is a popular quick lunch for people all over Thailand.
• Pad Thai – Pad Thai is one of the signature dishes of Thailand. Rice noodles are stir-fried with egg, bean sprouts, a special Pad Thai source and usually shrimp. It is eaten with ground peanuts, spring onion and flaked chilli and freshly squeezed lime.
• Hoy Tord – This is usually made at the same place as Pad Thai and is another signature dish of Thailand. Fresh mussels are fried with bean sprouts and batter to make a crispy seafood pancake type thing. It is usually eaten with chilli sauce.

Stir Fried Noodles

Salads Salads in Thailand are very different from the Western version, which are usually quite bland and full of greenery. Thai salads have an intensely sweet and sour dressing which is always spicy. There are many different varieties with many restaurants in Thailand selling just salads. There are two main types of salad – Papaya based salads and Yams:

• Som Tam (Papaya salad) – Famous for their potent spiciness, these are a right of passage for anyone who claims to like spicy food. They are made in a pestle and mortar by crushing unripe papaya, tomatoes, lime, garlic and a good handful of chillis. There are many different varieties of this classic dish including a salty crab version (Som Tam Bpuu).
• Yam – This is similar to a Som Tam but without the papaya. Common versions include Yam Talee (Seafood salad), Yam Wunsen (Glass noodle salad) and Yam Ma Praow (Young coconut salad)

Spicy Thai Salad

Soups Soups in Thailand are watery and often quite sour. They get their taste from ingredients such as lemongrass and galangal which can’t be eaten but infuse the soup with their flavour.

• Tom Yam Gung – The most famous of all Thai soups and the name of a popular Thai film, this is a sour thin soup which is often served with shrimp or seafood (Tom Yam Talee.) The soup is flavoured with lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lime and chilli.
• Tom Kaa Gai – This is a sour soup made with chicken and coconut milk to give it a distinctive white colour. The flavour is dominated by galangal although it has got chilli and lemon grass contributing as well.
  

  Tom Kaa Gai