Eating Thai Style

For the Thai people, eating is always a time for enjoyment.  Food is separated into savory course and a sweet course.   A traditional Thai meal includes variety dishes, which are served as soon as they cooked. Streamed rice is generally served with clear soup, a fried dish, a salad and a spicy sauce. Condiments usually include crushed dried chili, chopped fresh chili, pickled garlic, cucumber, tomatoes and spring onion (scallion). Once the main course has been finished, fresh fruit and a dessert are usually served. Desserts in Thailand are normally based on fruit or coconut and rice or flour; they are often very sweet with a delicate, scented flavor.

Ingredient

The most important ingredient in Thai cooking is rice. In fact when people are called to the table, the phrase used-gkin kao-literally translates as “ a time to eat rice”. All the other foods that make  up a meal-meats, fish and vegetables-are regarded as accompaniments and are referred to as  ghap kao or “things eaten with rice”

Second only to rice in importance in the Thai diet, noodles are consumed in large quantities and are cooked in a vast number of ways.

Aubergines or eggplant are treated and eaten as vegetables, they are, in fact, fruit, and are related to (bell) peppers and tomatoes. Some are very tiny, not much larger than a pea, while others are about the size of tennis balls. Color range from white to pale green, orange, purple and black. Four varieties are used in Thai cooking today.