Thailand is perhaps the most popular country in Southeast Asia for Russian tourists. Majestic palaces and mountains, Buddhist temples, rich culture and ancient traditions of the Kingdom of Siam, the only country of the Indochina Peninsula free from colonialists, certainly attract the attention of travelers from all over the world. Many people like to visit Thailand to relax on the pristine beaches of the islands, admire the stunning underwater world, and heal at the mineral springs.
Food in Thailand
In Thai cuisine, cooking traditions of many countries are intertwined: Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia. Therefore, in any Thai cafe or gourmet restaurant there is expanse, and thrill-seekers will also be pleased.
However, a person needs to be careful when trying Thai dishes. Some are so sharp that they can "knock out a tear" and cause a fire in the throat. Milk will not kill the burning sensation, because it is not used in Thailand.
Thai dishes, as elsewhere in Asia, combine five flavors: pungent, sour, sweet, bitter and salty. Thais put pineapple in a spicy shrimp soup, they can offer fried banana as a garnish for meat, season the dessert with chili.
Two foods that are considered universal in other parts of the world are not common here: bakery and dairy products in the kingdom are not used as widely as in other parts of the world. You cannot buy milk, butter and sour cream here, although bread is sold. Rice takes the place of bread. Thais eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack: both in the form of porridge and as a main dish or side dish.
However, rice is the main source of carbohydrates throughout Southeast Asia. In Thailand, it has been cultivated for more than five thousand years, and the kingdom ranks sixth in the world for the production of rice grains. Thais eat loose and sticky rice.
Chili pepper is very actively used here. Use chopped peppers, powder from them, pepper paste, which is prepared with fish sauce, shrimp paste, garlic.
Fish sauce and shrimp paste are also important ingredients in Thai cuisine. The sauce is made from rotten fish during long-term fermentation. Shrimp paste is prepared in the same way, but in a few days.
Thais like to put on the table not just fruits, but figures carved from them with the help of special knives. Such edible decorations are sure to be put on the festive table. It is almost an art that in the days of Siam was a hobby of secular ladies.
The diet of a Thai consists of three meals of approximately the same food, the division into breakfast, lunch and dinner, as such is not. Dense hot dishes in the morning - meat, soup, rice, all this with spices - is the norm for a Thai.
On the way, Thais have a snack with food purchased from street vendors, a kind of fast food. Food is prepared right there, before your very eyes: rice, noodles, soups, fried meat, fish, seafood, corn, rolls.
Dinner in Thailand is leisurely, all dishes are served in one meal, as a rule, there are at least 12 of them. Fork and spoon serve as cutlery, chopsticks are rarely used. You can't find variety in drinks: cold coffee, tea with condensed milk, barley beer.
For a Russian person it is unusual, for a Thai person, like snapping seeds, they are salty fried insects.
Top 10 Thai dishes
Tom Yam soup
The real king of soups, ranks eighth in the list of the 50 most delicious dishes in the world. The soup has a very specific taste due to the abundance of spices. Lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, lime juice, ginger, fish sauce and, of course, chili are added to the broth. Tom Yam is prepared with meat, fish, chicken, shrimps. True, in the Thai sense, the soup differs from what we are used to: in Tom Yama, only broth and ingredients are edible, spices are added for flavor and are inedible. This is a very spicy soup, so rice is always served with it.
Fried rice
Thai fried rice: khau phat and khau phat sapparot. The first is fried rice with eggs and vegetables, the second is with pineapple. A very simple, light dish. Good as a side dish with vegetables and eggs, but it can also be an independent dish if cooked with beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, squid, crabs. Fried rice is always served with sauces, sweet soy sauce is especially good for this dish.
Pad Thai Noodles
A very popular street dish that you can eat almost anywhere. This is fried rice noodles with eggs, soy sprouts, fish sauce, tamarind juice, chili. Pad Thai noodles are prepared with pork, beef, chicken, shrimp, seafood, tofu, herbs and spices are added. Served with lime, peanuts and cilantro. In some regions of the country, eggs and shrimp are not added to Pad Thai.
Thai curry
This dish is eaten with boiled rice, sometimes with fried cakes. Curry is prepared based on a special paste of shrimp (beef, chicken), chili, onion, garlic, lemongrass, kafir-lime, cilantro. Green, yellow and red curries differ in the composition of the spices, the hottest is the green one. Massaman curry is made with coconut milk, roasted cashews or peanuts, tamarind, cardamom and fish sauce. Curry has a spicy flavor and aroma.
Fried chicken with cashews
Chicken pieces and nuts are fried in vegetable oil until golden brown, to which garlic, oyster sauce, palm sugar, green onions, and dried chili peppers are also added. It turns out to be a very tasty, slightly spicy dish, but if you ask, they will always meet you halfway and put less spicy seasonings.
Chicken in sweet and sour sauce
This dish will be prepared in any restaurant. You will be served tender chicken fillet stewed with tomatoes, pineapples, baby corn, lime juice, spices and soy sauce.
Rotis puff pancakes
A sweet filling is laid out on a thin sheet of puff pastry - banana, pineapple, strawberry. It is folded into an envelope and fried on both sides in a hot, oiled frying pan until golden brown. Ready pancakes are greased with condensed milk. Puff pancakes come with other fillings - with meat, vegetables.
Catfish Salad
A very popular Thai salad made from green mango papaya, cucumbers, tomatoes, mangosteen, asparagus beans, banana flowers, chili peppers, garlic. Season the salad with fish and soy sauce, sprinkle with sun-dried shrimp and ground roasted peanuts. Thais often add unpeeled crabs to Catfish, but this is not for everybody.
Asparagus in oyster sauce
Light warm salad of asparagus fried in oyster sauce with the addition of spices. The most popular option is with shrimps. Asparagus in oyster sauce goes well with fried rice.
Khanom Bing
It is a sweet dessert with fruit, coconut and smoke aromas. Rice is boiled for a long time in coconut milk with sugar to make a soft porridge. Then put a portion of the porridge on a slice of banana, wrap it in a banana leaf and grill it. It creates a warm, sweet mass inside a crispy banana leaf.
