Food

Thai food is full of flavors, a blend of the spicy, the subtle, the sweet and sour, and is meant to be equally satisfying to eye, nose and palate. A proper Thai meal should consist of a soup, a curry dish with condiments, a dip with accompanying fish and vegetables. There must be a harmony of tastes and textures within dishes and the entire meal. You should eat with chopsticks and spoon, the food being cut in small enough pieces to forbid the use of knives.

Thai cuisine doesn't have very specific breakfast dishes. Very often, a Thai breakfast can consist of the same dishes which are also eaten for lunch or dinner. Fried rice, noodle soups and steamed rice with something simple such as an omelette, fried pork or chicken, are commonly sold from street stalls as a quick take-out.

The following dishes tend to be eaten only for breakfast:

Chok - a rice porridge very commonly eaten in Thailand for breakfast.

Khao khai chiao - an omelet with white rice, often eaten with a chili sauce and slices of cucumber.
Khao tom - a Thai style rice soup, usually with pork, chicken or shrimp.
Phrik nam pla is served with nearly every meal. It is fish sauce with fresh chillies. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in Thai cuisine.Here’s an overview of some popular dishes.

Tom yam - hot & sour soup with meat and coconut milk.

Khao phat - One of the most common dishes in Thailand, fried rice, Thai style. Usually with chicken, beef, shrimp, or pork.




Pad Thai - a dish of stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chilli pepper, plus any combination of bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken, or tofu, garnished with crushed peanuts, coriander and lime. Pad Thai is one of Thailand's national dishes.



Curries
The major ingredients of Thai curries are fresh herbs. A simple Thai curry paste consists of dried chilies, shallots and shrimp paste. More complex curries include garlic, galangal, coriander roots, lemon grass, kefir lime peel and peppercorns. Here's three popular ones.

Kaeng matsaman or Massaman curry - an Indian style curry, usually made by Thai-Muslims, of stewed beef and containing roasted dried spices, such as coriander seed. It contains potatoes.

Kaeng khiao wan or Green curry - a coconut curry made with fresh green chillies and flavoured with Thai basil, and chicken or fish meatballs. This dish can be one of the spiciest of Thai curries.
Kaeng phet (lit. 'spicy curry') or Red curry - a coconut curry made with copious amounts of dried red chillies in the curry paste.
Som tam (green papaya salad) - a spicy green papaya salad with dried shrimps, tomatoes, green beans and peanuts. I tried it once and got food poisoning because the vegetables were probably soaked in tap water before hand. I was in bed for 48 hours, so I won’t be eating any of this again!




Desserts

Khao niao mamuang - My favorite : sticky rice cooked in sweetened thick coconut milk, served with slices of ripe mango.



Drinks
Alcoholic beverages from Thailand include Mekhong whiskey and Sang Som (also called whiskey even though it's a rhum).

Several brands of beer are brewed in Thailand, the two biggest brands being Singha and Chang.

Yummy treats

Certain insects are also eaten in Thailand, especially in the North. Many markets in Thailand feature stalls which sell deep-fried grasshoppers, crickets, bee larvae, silkworm, ant eggs. Interesting.

And let's not forget toads, found at any local markets!

Before


After


Bon appétit!!