|
|
|
|
||
 Regional Thai Cuisine |
|||
|
|
|||
Geographically, Thailand is a
diverse country. Thais generally divide it into four distinct regions. The Central region is largely delta country, dominated
by the Chao Phraya River, and with rich soil. Southern Thailand is peninsula country, with the Andaman Sea on one side and the
Gulf of Thailand on the other. The North is cool and mountainous. Northeastern Thailand is a vast plateau and flanked by the
Mekong River. Each region has its own distinct ethnic peoples, speaking their own dialect, and practising their own customs.
Until the 1920s and the completion of the railway network, travel
within Thai- land was difficult. Journeys were accomplished by elephant, and it could take several weeks to reach the further
provinces from Bangkok. Consequently, the four main regions, left largely to govern themselves, kept their traditions intact.
The culinary traditions included. It is therefore possible to travel throughout the. country and
experience very different styles of cooking. Or to visit a Bangkok restaurant owned by people from one of the regions, and
specialising in that cuisine. Or to sit in a restaurant and pick out dishes that have originated in the North, Northeast,
Central and Southern regions. All of this diversity has come together under the general heading "Thai
food", and helps to explain why there is such a tremendous variety t of foods available in a country whose population, at
around sixty million, is not an exceptionally large one. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the menu of a "typical
Thai restaurant" is actually a Bangkok menu; for Bangkok is what is termed a "primate city" by sociologists, a city that
politically, economically and culturally dominates all the other cities in a country. When we sit down to a Thai meal, therefore, we are experiencing the
many different styles and flavours of the country. The curries and seafood of the South; the courtly dishes of the North; the
herby, earthy recipes of the Northeast, with their river fish; the sheer inventiveness of the fertile Central region. Add to
this the Chinese influence, which has itself been profound, and the contributions from other ethnic peoples, and you have a
most wonderful melting pot.  |
|||
|
The North |
|||
Thailand as a kingdom first began to take shape in the mountainous
North, with a number of city states that eventually became a loose federation known as lanna, centred around Chiang Mai.
Later, the Thais migrated southwards and Sukhothai became the first true capital of Siam. After, Sukhothai came Ayutthaya,
even further to the south; and then, of course, Bangkok. The romoteness of the North meant that it functioned more as a vassal
state than as and integral part of the country, and consequently kept its own traditions, language, dress, architecture and
food. Because of the cooler
mountain climate, there is a lager variety of vegetables than in other regional Thai cuisines, and roots and herbs have a
strong presence. There are many sour and bitter flavoures, especially apparent in the soups, such as Kaeng ho, a soup made
with pickled bamboo shoot.The Influence of neighboring Mynmar and Laos is a strong one in the
cuisine. People of the North prefer glutinous rice to white rice, rolling it into balls with their hands, and dipping into
dishes and sauces. Somtam, the spicy green papaya salad highly popular in the Northest, is also a familiar dish in the North.Form Myanmar come Khao soi, a curry broth with egg noodles and chicken
pork or beef; and kaeng hang lay, a pork curry seasoned with ginger, tamarind and turmeric. curries are thinner in this region
with the two most popular curry dishes being Kaeng yuak, made with banana palm hearts; and kaeng Khanoon, made form the
aromatic jackfruit.Sausages are a speciality. The best known is sai ua, which blends
aground pork with dried chillies, garlic, shallots and lemon-grass to produce a spicy red sausage. There is also a sausage
called naem maw, prepared in a clay pot with ground pork, pork rind and sticky rice, plus garlic and chilli. This is eaten
uncooked, the mixture having fermented to create a strong sour taste.The North is noodle heaven, the ethnic mix of Yunnanese, Shan and
Burmese having produced a seemingly endless range of kuay tiaw and khanom chin dishes. In Chiang Mai, the khao soy egg noodles
eaten with chicken or beef curry and number of spicy and sour side dishes were brought in by the caravans of Yunnan Moslems.
Wunsen noodles are another Chinese import; made form mung bean starch, they are a part of curries, soups and stir-fires.
Khanom chin nam ngiew is soft thin rice noodles with pork rib, tomatoes and back bean sauce.No visit to the North is
complete without sampling a Khan toke dinner. The name derives form a khan, or bowl, and a toke, a low round table made of
woven bamboo, plain of lacquered. Guests sit on the floor, usually watching a cultural performance, and serve themselves form
the assorted dishes of northern specialities placed on the table. |
|||
|
The Northeast |
|||
Like the North, the Northeast was also long regarded as remote form
Bangkok and its direct influence. The Lao kingdoms on the other side of the Mekong River held greater sway over the region
until the French drew up their Indochinese boundaries in the late 19th century, forcing the vast plateau that Thais call Isan
more firmly into the embrace of Bangkok. Even so, the Lao
influence remains powerful in that the majority of people in the region are of Lao ethnic grouping, and that the local dialect
is Lao. A further strong influence is that the Khmer, from Cambodia, whose kingdom earlier extended into this region; there
are many Angkor Wat period moments throughout Isan, and Khmer is the dominant dialect in parts of the lower Northeast. The rivers that flow through the plateau do not empty into the Gulf of
Thailand but veer eastwards into Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, and on to the South China Sea, thus depriving this region of a
rich delta country. Glutinous rice is preferred to the white variety. Roasting and grilling
gives a strong savoury flavour to much of the food, as douse the inclusion of herbs and pickled ingredients. Chillies also
tend to be used with greater gusto here, to liven up a meal that might otherwise be somewhat impoverished in terms of content.Somtam is an art here. The green papaya is pounded in a mortar with
time juice, garlic, fish sauce and a number of other ingredients. A popular style has dried shrimp, cherry tomatoes and
roasted peanuts. Another has pickled field crab and very pungent fish sauce named pla ra. Eating somtam can be and
eye-watering experience, and the absorbent properties of sticky rice are greatly appreciated. Kai yang or grilled
chicken, is another Isan special, the art lying in the preparation of garlic, coriander root, black pepper and fish sauce that
is rubbed over the chicken before it is cooked slowly over hot charcoal. A variety of dips are served with the chicken, and
sometimes a heap of garlic shavings. Lap is a kind of salad made by tossing minced meat, poultry or freshwater fish with fresh
mint leaves, spring onion, lime juice, grounded dried chilli, and uncooked rice that has been dry-roasted to a brown colour.
Neua nam tok is another salad, using lap-like ingredients, with beef that has been charcoal-grilled so that the fat runs out:
the Thai name translates as "waterfall beef".An Isan meal will include a spicy soup made from lemongrass, galangal,
spring onions, kaffir lime leaves and chilli. There are many variations, with beef tripe and liver, or chicken and tamarind
leaves heading up the list of favourites. A hotpot known as chaew hawn is made in individual heated pots, the raw ingredients
placed in the boiling broth by the diners.Peculiar to the region is the giant Mekong catfish named pla beuk that
can be caught only a certain time of the year, usually in May, when it is stored frozen for the restaurants that specialise in
this delicacy. |
|||
|
Central Plains |
|||
Central Thailand is delta country, many rain-fed rivers flowing
southwards over the flat terrain to create a fertile soil in which almost any crop can flourish. In appearance, the land is a
vast checkerboard of paddy fields, orchards and vegetable gardens, fed by the rivers, by streams, and by a network of canals
that supplies farm irrigation and freshwater fisheries, and acts as a means of transport. Although the presence of
Bangkok in f the heart of the Central Region has acted like a magnet to draw in regional influences, there are still many
local specialities that mark out the food styles here as distinctively Central. The best rice is grown in this region, notably
the hom mali, or jasmine rice, that is so highly rated as a Thai export. There are three curries typical of the region;
namely, the familiar green curry (Kaeng khieo wan) to which is usually added poultry or fish; a hot curry known as kaeng phet,
and a milder version called kaeng phanaeng. All are based on coconut milk.Tom yam, the famous hot and sour soup, originates from the Central
Region. There is also a creamy coconut milk soup made with chicken called tom kha kai. Yam, the tangy salads, are a Central
invention. Haw mok, llittle banana leaf cups of a souffle-like mix made from red curry paste, egg and coconut milk, with
seafood added, are a popular snack item. Phat phet is a stir-fry with basil and curry paste. Most meals in the Central Region
will include an omelette of some kind, either a plain one served with a thick sweet chilli sauce, or with oysters added. There
is a more substantial omelette filled with ground pork, tomato and onion, called khai yat sai.The Chinese influence is especially strong in the Central Region. You
will find it in the plain soups that usually include tofu, ground pork and green squash, in the clay pot dishes, and of course
in the noodle dishes such as kuay tiaw.Travel a little within the Central Region and you will find some real
local specialities. At Nakhon Pathom, to the west of Bangkok, you will find sticky rice and coconut steamed in a length of
bamboo. This is known as khao lam. You will also find it at Nong Mon Market in Chon Buri Province, near Pattaya, a roadside
market about kilometre in length that is also famed for its dried fish. Chanthaburi, close to the Cambodian border, has its
own noodles fried with crab meat. A distinctively flavored leaf, chamuang, grows in the forests here, and is used in curries.
There is a chilli paste dip from the coastal areas of the eastern Central Region, made from crab, egg, and yellow chilli.Travel southwest of Bangkok to the town of Phetchaburi and you will
find khanom maw kaeng, a baked custard. There are many varieties but they are all based on mung bean, egg and coconut milk.
Slightly further south, along the coast, Cha-am and Hua Hin are renowned for their seafood. Cha-am has a picturesque harbour
where oysters are brought in fresh by the tremendous variety of curries created by the Mon ethnic grouping. |
|||
|
The South |
|||
Southern Thailand consists of a slender peninsula stretching down to
Malaysia, and is dramatically different from the rest of the country in both scenery and culture. Lush jungle, craggy
limestone mountains and long stretches of beach are the most familiar features of the landscape, rendered fertile by eight
months of rain a year and a near-equatorial sun. Cultivated areas tend to be huge rubber and coconut plantations rather than
the rice fields and orchards of other parts of Thailand. The mosque adds its
distinctive dome to the landscape, for the South is home to most of Thailand's Muslims, its largest religious minority. They
are mostly concentrated in the provinces adjacent to Malaysia, where Malay is spoken as commonly as Thai. In other southern
provinces such as Songkhla and Phuket, Chinese predominate.Southern food reflects all this diversity, together with other aspects
of the past when traders form India and Java sailed into the numerous ports of the peninsula. The coconut, so much part of the
scenery, is used to the full, its milk thickening soups and curries, its oil for frying, its grated fresh as a condiment.
Cashew nuts and pineapple also grow in volume, and form a familiar part of the cuisine. The warm seas produce an abundance of fish, big lobsters, crabs,
mussels squid, prawns and scallops, prepared simply by steaming or frying, or more elaborately by cooking in a clay pot with
noodles. Southerners like their food chilli-hot, and are also fond of the bitter taste imparted by a flat, native bean called
sataw.A dish very typical of the South is Kaeng tai pla, a very hot curry
made with fish stomach, green beans, pickled bamboo shoots and potato. Fresh turmeric turns this and many other southern
curries a distinctive yellow. There is even a dish that is called simply "yellow curry" (kaeng leuang), made from fish, green
squash, pineapple, green beans and green papaya. With its many Malay, Javanese and Indian influences, together with its own
creativity and abundance, the South Produces an extraordinary range of curries, made from just about anything.The Chinese dish of thin rice noodles known as Khanom chin appears here
in a spicy Malay style fish curry sauce, served with dishes of cucumber, pineapple, pickled cabbage and other fruits and
vegetables. There is a chicken speciality known as kai betong (named after the town of Betong on the Thai-Malaysian border)
that consists of steamed chicken seasoned with soy sauce and then stir-fried with green vegetables. Roti, a round flat wheat
bread descended from the Indian breads, is a real southern favourite, totally assimilated into the local culture. There is a
large range, including some satisfying breakfast rotis.Coffee, grown in the South, is a popular beverage and coffee shops can
be found throughout the region. In some parts, the coffee will be roasted on the premises with a charcoal-fired boiler, and
served with a range of snacks that can include steamed buns filled with pork or bean paste, dumplings filled with shrimp or
pork, the thick rice soup, and a form of doughnut called pa thong ko.
|
|
(c) 1996 - 2008
Web Sawadee PCL.
reproduction without permission prohibited. |
