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Thailand Food  

Here I am at a cooking school in Chiang Mai . . . a Christmas present from Lea and an excellent day.  After a month of not cooking it was good to get behind the stove and give it a drive.  We cooked (and ate) six dishes:  Yellow chicken curry, steamed fish in banana leaves (my favorite), noodles in sweet soy sauce, bananas in coconut milk, prawn salad (north eastern style), and chicken with cashews.

My favorite was the steamed fish in banana leaves.  We started by making a simple stir fry sauce from fish sauce, soy sauce, and a small amount of palm sugar.  Set it aside for later use.  

We then chopped fresh pepper leaf, coriander, basil, spring onion, and a couple of small red/green peppers (we learned that these are the hot ones . . . the small green ones being the hottest).  Stir fry the chopped vegetables and leaves in a small amount of oil.  After they are cooked, add your sauce and reduce the mixture.  Add the fresh fish (it will cook quickly) and a chopped kafir lime leaf.  Squeeze some fresh lime juice over the fish.  If the mixture sticks, add water (not oil), but reduce it as it will be placed in the banana leaves for steaming.  

Place the mixture on a pepper leaf and fold in banana leaves (if you don't have a banana leaf use foil); steam the packages and serve immediately.  The tastes are outstanding.

Southern Thailand Impressions

As any food enthusiastic knows, Thai food is legendary.  We have not been disappointed.  We have tried several dishes:  grilled fish, thai noodles, green curry with shrimp, chicken with garlic, stir fried chicken with hot basil, and chicken with chilli.  We have primarily been in the south (Phuket area) so the meals are dominated by seafood.  One of our favorites has been a simply grilled cotton fish.  The fish was grilled whole and served with a sauce (fish sauce, lime juice, and hot peppers -  a red (phrik khii nuu) - and a green one).  The dipping sauce provided a nice blend of tartness, salt, and heat.  I'm sure the sauce has been mixed for a long time to achieve the heat of the peppers. 

Another favorite was the stir fried chicken with hot basil.  The chicken was lightly stir fried with red peppers and possibly fish sauce.  Lots of basil was added towards the end of the cooking.  It was served with hot white rice.

Many of these dishes are simple; but taste great.  In addition to their great taste, the food is extremely inexpensive and can be found in many restaurants.  A typical dinner for the two of us with beer is approximately 10 USD.  I think the secret to the taste is the freshness of the ingredients.  We've seen several fresh produce markets that contain all of the ingredients you would ever need:  red peppers, basil, lemon grass,  limes, etc.   

It is obvious that food plays a major part in the social life of the Thais:  they present the seafood in front of the restaurants for patrons to see; families dine together on the beach at sunset; and everyone seems to take time out for a bowl on noodles during the day.

                            Copyright © 2000 Keith and Leanne McGhee, All rights reserved.