Thailand -

Thailand

Thai cookery places emphasis on lightly-prepared dishes with strong aromatic components. Thai cuisine is known for being highly spiced. Balance, detail and variety are important to Thai cooking. Thai food is known because of its balance of five fundamental flavours in each dish or the general meal: hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty and (optional) bitter.

Although considered a single cuisine, Thai food would be more accurately described as four regional cuisines corresponding to the four main areas of the country: Northern, North-eastern (or Isan), Central and Southern, each cuisine sharing similar foods or foods derived from those of neighbouring countries and regions: Burma (Myanmar), the Chinese province of Yunnan and Laos to the north, Cambodia, Laos in addition to Vietnam to the east and Malaysia to the south of Thailand. In addition to these four regional cuisines, there is also the Thai Royal Cuisine which can trace its history back to the palace cuisine of the Ayutthaya kingdom (1351-1767 CE). Its refinement, cooking techniques and its use of ingredients were of great influence to the cuisine of the Central Thai plains.

The culinary traditions and cuisines of Thailand's neighbours have influenced Thai cuisine over many centuries. Regional variations tend to correlate to neighbouring states in addition to climate and geography. Southern curries usually contain coconut milk and fresh turmeric, while north-eastern dishes often include green lemon juice. The cuisine of North-eastern (or Isan) Thailand is heavily influenced by Lao cuisine. Many popular dishes eaten in Thailand were originally Chinese dishes which were introduced to Thailand mainly by the Teochew people who make up the majority of the Thai Chinese. Such dishes include chok (rice porridge), kuai tiao 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, noodles and soy products.

Certain insects are also consumed in Thailand, especially in Isan and in the North. Many markets in Thailand feature stalls which sell deep-fried grasshoppers, crickets (jing reed), bee larvae, silkworm (non mai), ant eggs (khai mot). The culinary creativity even extends to naming: one tasty larva, which is also known under the name "bamboo worm" (non mai phai), is colloquially called "freight train" (rot duan) because of its appearance.

Most of the insects taste fairly bland when deep-fried, somewhat like popcorn and prawns, which is still fairly tasty, but when deep-fried together with kaffir lime leaves, chillies and garlic, the insects become a good snack to accompany a drink. In contrast to the bland taste of most of these insects, the maengda or maelong da na has been described as having a very penetrating taste, much like that of a very ripe gorgonzola cheese. This giant water bug is famously utilised in a chilli dip called nam phrik maengda. Some insects, such as ant eggs and silk worms, are also eaten boiled in a soup in Isan.