Nancy Lawrence, director of marketing communications at Mastertaste, began pointing out how Thailand is situated at the crossroads of East and West clipper ship trade routes between the Indian Ocean and South China Sea. “Because of this, much of the culture and cuisine is infused with Chinese, Indian, Persian and Arabian influences,” said Lawrence. Many of the Thai people migrated from SW China (now Yunnan province) so there is a heavy Szechwan influence in the food, she added.
Because of the large Buddhist population, the real traditional Thai food is primarily vegetarian, Lawrence said. Today some will eat chicken and other meat products but the Buddhists still shun beef.
“While the Thai flavor fusion has the familiar hot, sour, sweet and salty flavors, what’s interesting is the Thai people are very much involved in how they mix their flavors,” said Lawrence, pointing to a slide of baskets at a noodle stand where people go in and season their meal with their own combination of hot, sour, sweet and salty ingredients. “It’s not done for them; they like to do it themselves,” she said.
Some items you can expect to find in a Thai kitchen include: lemon grass, satay, Kaffir lime leaf, pad Thai, Sichuan pepper, Tam Yam, Holy basil, Labb Powder, green curry and black jelly fungus. When cooking, very few measurements are used, Lawrence said. “The varieties in taste are a result of the individual cook’s preference in the quantity of each ingredient,” she added.
“No breakfast food as we know it exists in Thailand,” said Lawrence. She said a typical breakfast is plain rice soup or rice soup cooked in chicken broth with seasonings. Lunch would include a noodle bowl or rice plate topped with meat and vegetables purchased from the noodle shops or push carts.
Describing a typical dinner menu, Lawrence said there will be a broad combination of flavors. Starting with an appetizer, for example, Yum Pia Dook (crispy catfish green mango salad) includes sour, unripe mango, biting lime, salty fish sauce and crisped catfish. For the main course, meats are finding their way into Thailand. You may be offered Pud (stir fried vegetables or meat), Yang (grilled meats) or Yum (meat and vegetables with herbs, mixed with spicy, sour or sweet sauce. Coconut milk is a popular ingredient used in a number of Thai dishes.
When it comes to dessert, three main ingredients are used: sugar, flour and coconut. These ingredients are used in a variety of combinations – boiled, fried, steamed or grilled. The end result is hundreds of variations of.
Lawrence said a common snack is fried bugs, saying they are equivalent to our snack of popcorn. They come in a bag like popcorn and are sprayed with a brown chili sauce
“Some trends that we’re seeing today in Thai cuisine are the dishes are relatively light and healthy,” said Lawrence. “The meat/chicken is usually a small portion of the meal with emphasis on fruits, vegetables, fish and noodles. The meals are low-fat and packed with nutrients. They’re exotic and tasty. Because the American public seems to be looking for all of these attributes, Thai food has gained tremendous popularity in the U.S.”
Lawrence noted the differences of authentic Thai cuisine and the Americanized version of Thai food. As an example, she cited a traditional Thai menu from The Blue Elephant in London, which includes stir-fried spicy Crocodile meat with chili, basil, fresh peppercorn and palm heart. “Now when we Americanize it,” said Lawrence, “you get something like what’s served at Vong’s Thai Kitchen in Chicago like Miso-Glazed Tilapia with Bok Choy, snow peas, peppers and Jasmine Rice or Tamarind Glazed Tilapia. Now I don’t think salmon or tilapia can be considered a Thai food but we manage in this country to take some of the traditional roots of any culture and Americanize it to our taste.”
Lawrence referred to the “myth of peanut sauce” as another difference between authentic and Americanized Thai food. “The sticky, sweet, gooey stuff we all love is not traditional Thai peanut sauce,” she said. “Again, it was produced by American food manufacturers to satisfy our palates. There are two true Thai sauces. One is Satay, which does have peanut in it but it also has red curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, tamarind and sugar. The other is Tod Mun sauce which uses sliced cucumbers, vinegar, ground fresh chilies, sugar and ground peanuts on top of spicy fish cakes.”
What are the drivers in making Thai food more popular? “Thai food represents healthy eating, so that is a main driver,” said Lawrence. Also, the popularity today of “all things ethnic” adds to its success, she said. “Today, eating ethnic food is associated with being somewhat sophisticated.”
