A veggie of the day
Product of a day
Interesting facts
Thai cuisine
The Thai cuisine clearly differs from the Chinese cuisine in that it leaves open the choice of ingredients and as such is more individual and presents cooks with new challenges.However, its uniqueness stems from the fact that Thais, apart from borrowing from other cuisines, have also created their own specific recipes. The preparation time as well as the herbs and spices used are at the discretion of the cook’s imagination.
Apart from its taste, the appearance of a dish is very important. This is why Thais place such big emphasis on decoration, which has become almost an artform in the case of vegetable and fruit cutting. Meals are often decorated with chives or tomatoe or cucumber slices.
Rice is the basis
Rice is the basis of all meals in the Thai cuisine. It neutralises tastes, which is especially important for hot dishes. It is worthwhile to note that salt is never added when cooking rice. Rice in the Thai cuisine plays the role of bread and potatoes in the European cuisine.
Four tastes plus fire
Thai cuisine consists of four basic tastes: sour (lemon and unripened mango or pinapple, vinegar), sweet (sugar cane or ripe pineapple), bitter (bitter cucumber) and salty (salt, fish sauce). The hot taste is above all of these tastes. The secret to preparing a successful dish is the skillful combination of all these tastes.
There are no measuring utensils used to measure out the ingredients in the Thai cuisine tradition. ‘Apprentice’ cooks learn the skill by observing and helping the more experienced persons in the kitchen.
Gai - chicken
Netu - beef
Kung - prawns
Moo - pork
Pla - fish
Kaeng - curry dishes
Phat - fried dishes
Tom - cooked dishes
Yum - salads
Nam-tahn - sugar
Nam-chaa - tea
Nam-yen - cold water
Nam-ron - hot water
Gleua - salt
Pet - spicey
Rawn - hot
Yen - cold
Wan - sweet
Khem - salty
A-roy - tasty
Recipe of the day
Top 5 recipes
Diets
