One of the main reasons why Thai food is so delicious is because authentic Thai food is made from a carefully balanced taste of sweet, salty, spicy and sour all at once. It’s called “Umami”, a subtle flavour of tasty, savoury wholesomeness, discovered over 100 years ago.
Anyone who has taken a look through my favourite recipes will have probably spotted that I absolutely love Spanish-style cooking. It has a simplicity based on using only a few ingredients but of really interesting and deep flavours.
Over the last 10 years or so the UK has seen a huge increase in authentic Thai cooking. I don’t mean the fairly bland dishes you can buy in the supermarkets, but proper Thai recipes which like the Spanish use a combination of wonderful herbs and spices native to their homeland.
It’s Not All About Chilli!
Thai food has complex flavours and can be incredibly spicy but there many dishes which aren’t. Thai cooking is about achieving a balance of flavours and their dishes have a lot of variety so there is something for everyone.
A lot of westernised Thai restaurants serve dishes which are heavy on the coconut milk, probably to dilute the chilli. In my experience chilli is a bit like Marmite, you either love it or hate it.
Green Curry For Breakfast?
One curious thing about Thai food is that unlike a lot of the world’s cuisines where certain foods are eaten at different times of day, Thai’s eat any of their dishes anytime of day although there some favourite breakfast meals.
Where’s the Oven?
Good luck finding the oven in a Thai home, they don’t bake food! Our western style carbohyrate loaded baked dishes just don’t exist in Thai cuisine.
Give It a Try
Complex flavours do not mean complicated cooking. It’s all about the combination of ingredients and a straightforward style of cooking. Don’t be put off by thinking Thai food will be difficult to cook, it’s not and the results are well worth it.
