Thai food is internationally famous. Whether chilli-hot or comparatively bland, harmony is the guiding principle behind each dish. Thai cuisine is essentially a marriage of centuries-old Eastern and Western influences harmoniously combined into something uniquely Thai. Characteristics of Thai food depend on who cooks it, for whom it is cooked, for what occasion, and where it is cooked. Dishes can be refined and adjusted to suit all palates.
Originally, Thai cooking reflected the characteristics of a waterborne lifestyle. Aquatic animals, plant and herbs were major ingredients. Large chunks of meat were eschewed. Subsequent influences introduced the use of sizeable chunks to Thai cooking. With their Buddhist background, Thais shunned the use of large animals in big chunks.
Big cuts of meat were shredded and laced with herbs and spices. Traditional Thai cooking methods were stewing and baking, or grilling. Chinese influences saw the introduction of frying, stir-frying and deep-frying. Culinary influences from the 17th century onwards included Portuguese, Dutch, French and Japanese. Chillies were introduced to Thai cooking during the late 1600s by Portuguese missionaries who had acquired a taste for them while serving in South America. Thais were very adapt at “Siameseising” foreign cooking methods, and substituting ingredients. The ghee used in Indian cooking was replaced by coconut oil, and coconut milk substituted for other dairy products.
Overpowering pure spices were toned down and enhanced by fresh herbs such as lemon grass and galanga. Eventually, fewer and less spices were used in Thai curries, while the use of fresh herbs increased. It is generally acknowledged that Thai curries burn intensely, but briefly, whereas other curries, with strong spices, burn for longer periods. Instead of serving dishes in courses, a Thai meal is served all at once, permitting diners to enjoy complementory combinations of different tasters.
A proper Thai meal should consist of a soup, a curry dish with condiments, a dip with accompanying fish and vegetables. A spiced salad may replace the curry dish. The soup can also be spicy, but the curry should be replaced by a non-spiced item. There must be harmony of tastes and textures within individual dishes and the entire meal.
Thai cuisine is more accurately described as five regional cuisines, corresponding to the five main regions of the country:
Bangkok cuisine of Bangkok and Metropolitan area, most of all cuisine base on Teochew and Portuguese influence.
Central Thai cuisine of the flat and wet central rice-growing plains, site of the former Thai kingdoms of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya, and the Dvaravati culture of the Mon people from before the arrival of Siamese in the area.
Isan or northeastern Thai cuisine of the more arid Khorat Plateau, similar in culture to Laos and also influenced by Khmer cuisine to its south, as evidenced by the temple ruins from the time of the Khmer Empire.
Northern Thai cuisine of the verdant valleys and cool, forested mountains of the Thai highlands, once ruled by the former Lanna Kingdom and home of Lannaese, the majority of the Northern Thailand.
Southern Thai cuisine of the Kra Isthmus which is bordered on two sides by tropical seas, with its many islands and including the ethnic Malay, former Sultanate of Pattani in the deep south. Some food base on Hainanese and Cantonese influence.
Thai cuisine and the culinary traditions and cuisines of Thailand’s neighbors have mutually influenced one another over the course of many centuries. Regional variations tend to correlate to neighboring states (often sharing the same cultural background and ethnicity on both sides of the border) as well as climate and geography. Northern Thai cuisine shares dishes with Shan State in Burma, northern Laos, and also with Yunnan Province in China, whereas the cuisine of Isan (northeastern Thailand) is similar to that of southern Laos, and is also influenced by Khmer cuisine from Cambodia to its south, and by Vietnamese cuisine to its east.
Southern Thailand, with many dishes that contain liberal amounts of coconut milk and fresh turmeric, has that in common with Indian, Malaysian, and Indonesian cuisine. In addition to these four regional cuisines, there is also the Thai royal cuisine which can trace its history back to the cosmopolitan palace cuisine of the Ayutthaya kingdom (1351–1767 CE). Its refinement, cooking techniques, presentation, and use of ingredients were of great influence to the cuisine of the central Thai plains.
Chili peppers, originally from the Americas, were introduced to Thailand by the Portuguese and Spanish.
Many dishes that are now popular in Thailand were originally Chinese dishes. They were introduced to Thailand by the Hokkien people starting in the 15th century, and by the Teochew people who started settling in larger numbers from the late 18th century CE onward, mainly in the towns and cities, and now form the majority of the Thai Chinese. Such dishes include chok (rice porridge), salapao (steamed buns), kuaitiao rat na (fried rice-noodles) and khao kha mu (stewed pork with rice). The Chinese also introduced the use of a wok for cooking, the technique of deep-frying and stir frying dishes, several types of noodles, taochiao(fermented bean paste), soy sauces, and tofu.The cuisines of India and Persia, brought first by traders, and later settlers from these regions, with their use of dried spices, gave rise to Thai adaptations and dishes such as kaeng kari (yellow curry) and kaeng matsaman(massaman curry).
Western influences, starting in 1511 CE when the first diplomatic mission from the Portuguese arrived at the court of Ayutthaya, have created dishes such as foi thong, the Thai adaptation of the Portuguese fios de ovos, and sangkhaya, where coconut milk replaces unavailable cow’s milk in making a custard. These dishes were said to have been brought to Thailand in the 17th century by Maria Guyomar de Pinha, a woman of mixed Japanese-Portuguese-Bengali ancestry who was born in Ayutthaya, and became the wife of Constantine Phaulkon, the Greek adviser of King Narai. The most notable influence from the West must be the introduction of the chili pepper from the Americas in the 16th or 17th century. It, and rice, are now two of the most important ingredients in Thai cuisine.
During the Columbian Exchange, Portuguese and Spanish ships brought new crops from the Americas including tomatoes, corn, papaya, pea eggplants, pineapple, pumpkins, culantro, cashews, and peanuts.
Street Food: Sukhumvit – Although this area (named after the traffic-packed road that runs through it) is now an upscale neighbourhood full of expats, Starbucks and sushi bars, Sukhumvit still bears testament to the fact that, wherever money is, good food of all types will follow.
Of all the chicken noodle vendors in Bangkok, Guaythiew Pik Gai Sainampung (392/20 Sukhumvit Road between Sois 18 and 20) stands out for its cleanliness, charmingly cluttered decor, and delicious soup noodle menu. The speciality of the house, after which this old-fashioned shophouse is named, is guaythiew pik gai , a soup noodle dish in which your choice of sen mee (rice vermicelli), sen yai (thick rice noodles), or giem ee(Chinese-style handrolled noodles) is doused in a long-simmering chicken broth and topped with chopped peanuts, julienned green beans and chicken wings that have braised overnight.
Hainanese-style chicken rice ( khao mun gai ) – steamed or boiled thigh or breast meat plopped atop a mound of rice greased with chicken fat – is an iconic Thai street food dish. Locals get their fix with a morning stop at Tang Meng Noodle (corner of Sukhumvit Soi 49) which, despite its name, is actually prized for its succulent chicken and tangy, garlicky dipping sauce. Other standouts on the extensive menu are the guaythiew yen ta fo (soup noodles in fermented tofu broth) and pad krapao moo (rice topped with minced pork stir-fried with chillies and holy basil).
Food from Isaan (in Thailand’s north-east) is the most popularamong Thais, thanks to its simplicity and searing spiciness. Get a fix of the “holy trinity” of grilled chicken ( gai yang ), sticky rice ( khao niew ) and grated vegetable salad ( som tum ) at Nomjit Gai Yang (corner of Ekamai Soi 18), one of the neighbourhood’s most longstanding and well-regarded vendors of Isaan cuisine.