Traditional Food, Drink and Eating Customs

Food
Food in Thailand is mainly focused on flavour. Most Thai dishes are spicy and fresh. They are made from vegetables and meats such as pork or beef, and are cooked in strong sauces made from things such as chilli, garlic and lime. But dishes are rarely served alone. Rice is a key part of Thai cuisine. Almost all dishes are served with Jasmine Rice. Stir Fries are dishes with lots of rice as the components are presented on the rice. Curry is served with rice, as the curry is meant to be poured on the rice.

Certain foods foods are used repetitively in many Thai dishes. A significant ingredient is the King Prawn. It is fried in sauce, used in stir fries and curries, and used in soups such as tom yam soups.

Curries
Curries are very significant in Thailand. Massaman curry is a very famous beef curry. It is made from coconut milk, peanuts, potatoes, cinnamon, palm sugar, fish sauce and tarmind sauce. It is a mild, sweet curry, enjoyed throughout Thailand. Panaeng curry is a chilli curry. Balance is important in this dish and it is served with mint to cool the spice. Red, Green and Yellow curry are similar curries, made from the same ingredients. Red curry is a curry made from coconut milk, spicier than Panaeng curry. Green curry is sweeter than Red curry. Yellow curry is made from coconut cream instead of coconut milk, making it thick, and creamy. Jungle curry comes from the northern areas of Thailand. There, there is no coconut milk which makes Jungle curry extremely hotter than other curries. It is considered the spiciest curry of Thailand and is served in most Thai restaurants.

Dessert
Dessert in Thailand is meant to be fresh and sweet, so it is based around fruit. A dessert served in many Thai restaurants is sticky rice, a gluten-free, sweet rice also known as waxy rice, botan rice, biroin chal, mochi rice, and pearl rice. As a dessert, it is served with fruit, commonly mango. A modern dessert in Thai culture is coconut ice cream. It is rich, sweet and creamy.

Drink
Herbal tea is very popular in Thailand, mainly Green tea and Jasmine tea. Coconut juice is also popular, the juice of the coconut sweetened and sometimes served in a half coconut.

Eating Customs
Thai meals are fun occasions. Thais eat with a fork, a spoon and sometimes chopsticks. The fork is used to push food onto the spoon. The spoon is used to eat soup and food. A knife will not be found when Thais dine, as the food is already cut up. In Thailand and at Thai resturaunts, diners share their food and a meal is never ordered for just one person. People take small portions from each dish, only what they can eat in a few mouthfuls, and come back for more as soon as they have finished.

In a resturaunt, the senior ladies are the people who order, traditionally, and the bill goes to the richest person. Many Thai people are picking up on Western customs, such as eating with a knife and fork, but a lot of old Thai traditions and superstitions are still in use to day. For example, it is considered very bad luck to leave your chopsticks in a bowl. It is good manners to leave a bit of food left on your plate to show that you are full, but if you leave rice on your plate it is considered wasteful.

Recipes
Coconut Ice Cream

Green Curry

Jungle Curry

Massaman Curry

Panaeng Curry

Red Curry

Sticky Rice with Fruit

Tom Yam Soup

Yellow Curry