Thai Food: Tasty, Healthy & Variety

Mike, a Thai student who lives abroad, says "I think the best of Thai food is the spice and herbs. I found out Thai food is very healthy and it combines all of good herbs, bunch of meats and fresh vegetable."

As well as Mike, my Thai friend, Petch, told me that he thinks Thai food is the best because it's tasty, delicious and healthy.

That's all true. I agree. Thai food is famous for herbs, its spiciness and its tastiness. Most Thai food is cooked with basic, natural and fresh ingredients.

When asking people what dish they think it represents 'Thai food' the best, most of them say 'Pad-Thai' (a stir-fried rice noodle) and 'Tom-Yum' (Spicy and sour soup). Some of my friends say they think it should be 'Nam-Prik' (chili paste) because it tastes so 'Thai'. There are so many kinds of 'Nam-Prik' all over the country. Some of them are important ingredients for cooking another dish, for example 'Nam-Prik-Pao' is added into 'Tom-Yum' to create a red-orange color and to add the spiciness.

Sometimes it's hard to specify a certain dish that represents 'Thai food' the best. There are too many dishes that represent 'Thai' tastes. And most of them are popularly eaten in most people's daily lives. However, Thai people's satisfaction of eating does not come from eating large amounts of food at a time. But it comes from eating and nibbling as many dishes with different flavors as possible.

Usually Thai meals are served one of each kind of dish; for example, there are a soup, a stir fry and a vegetable in one meal. Thai people love to eat several dishes at a time. Two people normally order two or three dishes and share. The more people, the more dishes. When eating alone, a person will order one-plate dish such as a noodle soup, a rice with curry and a fried rice.

Most dishes are not created for one flavor. But one dish usually blends many flavors and contains lots of spices. Mostly Thai people will try to balance flavors in one meal for example, in a meal, there will be a spicy dish and a plain dish. In general, there are four tastes in Thai food;

- sweet (from sugar, vegetables or some fruits),

- sour (from lime juice, vinegar, tamarind sauce and some sour fruits).

- salty (from salt, soy sauce or fish sauce) and

- spicy (from chilies and some herbs)

Note: Sometimes tastes are including mild and bitter.

There are no typical times for meals and no specific kinds of food for certain times of a day. Thai people sometimes eat noodles but most of them eat a rice dish everyday in order to feel normal.

Some dishes are cooked for health as a medicine such as eating fish or clams to help on memory and eating a bitter melon soup to relieve a fever.