Cuisine of Thailand

Influence and Western popularity : Thai food is known for its enthusiastic use of fresh (rather than dried) herbs and spices as well as fish sauce. Thai food is popular in many Western countries especially in Australia, New Zealand, some countries in Europe such as the United Kingdom, as well as the United States, and Canada.
Serving : Instead of a single main course with side dishes found in Western cuisine, a Thai full meal typically consists of either a single dish or rice khao (Thai: ข้าว) with many complementary dishes served concurrently.
Rice is a staple component of Thai cuisine, as it is of most Asian cuisines. The highly prized, sweet-smelling jasmine rice is indigenous to Thailand. This naturally aromatic long-grained rice grows in abundance in the verdant patchwork of paddy fields that blanket Thailand's central plains. Steamed rice is accompanied by highly aromatic curries, stir-frys and other dishes, incorporating sometimes large quantities of chillies, lime juice and lemon grass. Curries, stir-frys and others may be poured onto the rice creating a single dish called khao rad gang (Thai: ข้าวราดแกง), a popular meal when time is limited. Sticky rice khao neow (Thai: ข้าวเหนียว) is a unique variety of rice that contains an unusual balance of the starches present in all rice, causing it to cook up to a sticky texture. It is the daily bread of Laos and substitutes ordinary rice in rural Northern and Northeastern Thai cuisine, where Lao cultural influence is strong.

Noodles, known throughout parts of Southeast Asia by the Chinese name kwaytiow, are popular as well but usually come as a single dish, like the stir-fried Pad Thai (Thai: ผัดไทย) or noodle soups. Many Chinese cuisine are adapted to suit Thai taste, such as khuaytiow rue, a sour and spicy rice noodle soup.
There is a uniquely Thai dish called nam prik (Thai: น้ำพริก) which refers to a chile sauce or paste. Each region has its own special versions. It is prepared by crushing together chillies with various ingredients such as garlic and shrimp paste using a mortar and pestle. It is then often served with vegetables such as cucumbers, cabbage and yard-long beans, either raw or blanched. The vegetables are dipped into the sauce and eaten with rice. Nam prik may also be simply eaten alone with rice or, in a bit of Thai and Western fusion, spread on toast.
Thai food is generally eaten with a fork and a spoon. Chopsticks are used rarely, primarily for the consumption of noodle soups. The fork, held in the left hand, is used to shovel food into the spoon. However, it is common practice for Thais and hill tribe peoples in the North and Northeast to eat sticky rice with their right hands by making it into balls that are dipped into side dishes and eaten. Thai-Muslims also frequently eat meals with only their right hands.
Often Thai food is served with a variety of spicy condiments to embolden dishes. This can range from dried chili pieces, or sliced chili peppers in rice vinegar, to a spicy chili sauce such as the nam prik mentioned above.

Ingredients : The ingredient found in almost all Thai dishes and every region of the country is nam pla (Thai น้ำปลา), a very aromatic and strong tasting fish sauce. Shrimp paste, a combination of ground shrimp and salt, is also extensively used.
Thai dishes in the Central and Southern regions use a wide variety of leaves rarely found in the West, such as kaffir lime leaves (Thai ใบมะกรูด). The characteristic flavour of kaffir lime leaves' appears in nearly every Thai soup (e.g., the hot and sour Tom yam) or curry from those areas. It is frequently combined with garlic, galangal, lemon grass, turmeric and/or fingerroot, blended together with liberal amounts of various chillies to make curry paste. Fresh Thai basil is also used to add fragrance in certain dishes such as Green curry. Other typical ingredients include the small green Thai eggplants, tamarind, palm and coconut sugars, lime juice, and coconut milk. A variety of chilies and spicy elements are found in most Thai dishes.
Other ingredients also include pahk chee (cilantro), rahk pahk chee (cilantro roots), curry pastes, pong kah-ree (curry powder), si-yu dahm (dark soy sauce), gung haeng (dried shrimp), pong pa-loh (five-spice powder), tua fahk yao (long beans or yard-long beans), nahmahn hoi (oyster sauce), prik Thai (Thai pepper), rice and tapioca flour, and nahm prik pao (roasted chili paste).
Although broccoli is often used in Asian restaurants in the west in pad thai and rad na, it was never actually used in any traditional Thai food in Thailand and is still rarely seen in Thailand.

foods and drinks

Perhaps you have seen the old food pyramid in a newspaper or magazine or you might have seen it on the doctor's surgery wall. There is now a new food pyramid, which is easier to read and use.The old food pyramid stacks four food groups on top of one another. The largest food group is at the base and this is bread, cereal, rice, and pasta. Next, up you have fruit and vegetables. The second from the top is dairy, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and beans and right at the top, with the smallest space, is fats and oils. You can use this food pyramid to tell at a glance how much of each type of food you should be eating.With the new food pyramid, there are downwards rainbow colored stripes symbolizing each food group. The new food pyramid also makes it clear how many cups or ounces of each food you should eat per day because not everybody is sure how big a "serving" should be exactly.How Important is to follow the Food Pyramid?Doctors agree that eating a balanced diet is good for your health. Combining grains, fruit, vegetables, dairy produce, and fats is nourishing and gives your body everything it needs. If you are a vegan or vegetarian, you can still use the new food pyramid but you will need to substitute some of the items for alternatives, such as replacing meat with beans or pulses.All Foods are allowed but Not EqualNo foods are banned from the new food pyramid but there are some foods, which should be eaten in moderation. If fried chicken is your favorite dish, it will not do you any harm to eat it. You will probably not want to eat it every day but once in a while is fine. Chicken is healthy and lean and fried chicken recipes contain some oil but it is fine to consume some oil each day. In fact, the body needs fats as well as other nutrients.You might like to have a fruit and grain rich breakfast and a vegetable rich lunch to balance out your indulgent fried chicken recipe in the evening. Alternatively, you might want to serve it with corn on the cob, beans, or a green salad but there is no reason that you cannot enjoy your favorite foods and be healthy at the same time.Banning all fried food or sugars from your diet is going to make you feel deprived. Eating everything in moderation is good for you and is also enjoyable. Unless your doctor has given you a special dietary plan for health reasons, the saying "a little of what you fancy does you good" is very true and the body is sophisticated enough to extract the nutrients out of what you eat to use and send the waste on its way.The main thing to know about the new food pyramid is that it encourages you to eat a balanced diet. "Balanced" does not mean a fried chicken in one hand and a pound of French fries in the other but it does mean that eating a wide range of foods is good for you.So, if you were unsure about what the new food pyramid means, you can rest assured that your favorite foods are definitely still on the menu!