Street Food Adventures
The street food scene in Thailand offers an immediate immersion into the flavours that make Thai cuisine beloved worldwide. In Bangkok, carts line busy streets with offerings such as Pad Thai, spicy Som Tam (papaya salad), and the ever-popular Mango Sticky Rice. Chiang Mai introduces Khao Soi, a creamy coconut curry noodle soup that embodies the unique taste of Northern Thailand. Phuket, meanwhile, offers seafood, with fresh catches being served right by the beach.
Cooking Schools
For those looking to take a piece of Thailand home, several cooking schools offer tourists the chance to learn how to prepare authentic Thai dishes. These sessions teach not only cooking techniques but also immerse participants in the process of selecting ingredients at local markets, providing a deeper understanding of the flavours that make up Thai cuisine.
Notable schools include:
● Thai Cooking Academy: With locations in Bangkok, Phuket, and Hua Hin, this academy is renowned for its "hands-on" courses that range from fruit carving to vegetarian and professional cooking classes. Students can select dishes they wish to learn, making each class uniquely tailored to individual tastes. The school enhances the learning experience by providing each student with a recipe book, perfect for recreating the dishes at home.
● Maliwan Thai Cooking School: Located near the bustling Khao San Road in Bangkok, Maliwan offers a four-hour class that includes a traditional market visit. This provides a full cultural immersion, starting from ingredient selection to the cooking of authentic Thai dishes. The school is perfect for those looking for a comprehensive introduction to Thai cooking in a short period.
Flavours of Thailand
Thai cuisine offers an incredible variety of dishes that reflect the country's diverse regions and cultural influences, offering distinctive dishes from various parts of Thailand that showcase the richness of Thai flavours:
From the North:
● Gaeng Hang Lay: A Burmese-influenced curry that is popular in Northern Thailand. This pork curry is rich, slightly sweet, and tangy, featuring tamarind, ginger, and turmeric among its ingredients, making it distinct from other Thai curries.
From the Northeast (issan):
● Som Tam: Perhaps one of the most famous dishes from this region, Som Tam is a spicy green papaya salad that combines all four tastes of Thai cuisine: sour lime, hot chilli, salty, savoury fish sauce, and sweetness added by palm sugar.
● Laab: Also known as Larb, it's considered the national dish of Laos but is incredibly popular in Northeastern Thailand. It's a spicy salad made from minced meat (chicken, pork, or beef), mint leaves, lime juice, fish sauce, and roasted ground rice.
From the Central Plains:
● Tom Yum Goong: This is a hot and sour soup that is perhaps one of Thailand’s most famous dishes. It typically features shrimp (goong), mushrooms, tomatoes, lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves.
● Massaman Curry: A rich, relatively mild Thai curry that reflects the influence of Persian and Indian cuisine. Massaman is typically made with chicken, beef, or lamb, and is cooked with potatoes, coconut milk, and a mass of spices including cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
From the South:
● Gaeng Tai Pla: This is a pungent curry from Southern Thailand made from fish innards and fermented fish sauce (pla ra), and it features a robust, spicy flavour typical of Southern Thai cuisine.
