Thailand cuisine, or Cuisine of Freedom

The Thais are very proud of their national dishes and are very hospitable. They are friendly — that’s why Thailand is called the Country of Thousand Smiles. The word “Thai” is translated as “free” so Thailand cuisine is a real cuisine of Freedom. Here you can start with any course — even with desert. And nobody would look aslant! Change of courses is rather free, as a rule all the dishes are served simaltaneously. Soup is the only obligatory course.

Rice

Rice is the basis of many Thai dishes, the word “to eat” in Thai means “to eat rice”. There dozens of types of rice cooking in Thailand. The best for Thailand cuisine is long-grained polished rice, it is also called Thai fragrant rice (jasmine rice with natural fragrance). Besides it is rice that saves fragile stomachs of the Europeans from burning exotic character of Thailand cuisine — one shouldn’t take some water after piquant dishes. It is much better to take a handful of rice after them. There are two sorts of rice: white friable rice khao suay and sticky rice khao nieo. Dishes made from khao suay are eaten with a spoon, rice is put into it with a small folk that one holds in his left hand. Sticky rice is eaten with a right hand, small lumps are rolled up.

Spices

Sometimes one need about forty types of spices to cook Thai dinner! Five gustatory elements are combined in Thai dishes — piquant (chili), sweet (coconut milk and basil), salty (fish sauce nam pla), sour (lemon sorghum), bitter (fresh herbs). Eastern medicine considers the combination of all five tastes the most useful drug. By the way, chili in Thailand is used not only in cookery but in medicine too. During World War II local healers used it to treat open wounds.

Sweets

Sweet dishes are rather important for Thailand cuisine in spite of the fact that the Thais do not like them. However the foreigners do not feel delight when they taste Thai cakes and ice-cream made of coconut, sticky rice and banana. The only exceptions are foy thong, sweet meringue, and khanom luuk chup — coconut mass with jelly, something like marzipan. Tempting balls in the form of exotic fruit are made of this mass.

Fruits

Thailand is surely the centre of exotic fruits. Here one can observe only 20 banana sorts. The Thais themselves eat them unripe with a great amount of spices. Coconuts are ripe for the whole year round ant it is a coconut that makes Thai cuisine very specific. Coconuts for Thailand are like potato for Russia. Papaya is used for cooking piquant salad som tam — slices of unripe papaya, dried shrimps, garlic and chili.

Some fruits are also worth tasting — rhambutan (tastes like grapes), pomelo (something like grapefruit) and durian. By the way, the latter has very unpleasant smell and one can be fined for bringing it to the hotel.

Drinks

As a rule, the Thais take some icy water or ice tea after eat. Alcohol doesn’t match with burning spices that’s why it is served rather rarely. So the Thais drink beer. There is a “snake” cocktail in Thailand — it is the mixture of local whisky and snake blood. They say one feels slight drug intoxication after taking this “rattle” drink.

Insects

Fried scorpions, locust, cockroaches, worms… In Thailand they are considered a snack like chips but more useful. Fried scorpion is the most expensive; it is served with a thin flat cake and light sour sauce.

Recipes of Thailand cuisine on our site