If I Could Change One Thing About Thai Food

[chiangmaibruce]

So CMB, basically you're saying that you are such a pig that eating around bones takes too much time for u? lol What kind of answer do you expect to that.

A pig?? Oh, that's charming. I 'm just a growing boy, that's all

"Eating around bones" would be a luxury ... with the little bits of organic shrapnel I'm talking about you would need to be armed with a pair of tweezers and a mouth like a rat, to do that

And yes, Jetset, i'm up here already and slurping on that aloy Khao Soy like there's no tomorrow

[rockyysdt]

I could really do without the fish sauce.

Very poor farmers who can't afford to regularly eat relatively expensive meat such as chicken, pork and oxen, are able to balance their diet with fish sauce (plah rar). Plah rar is rich in protein, vitamins, iron and calcium.

Unfortunately the salt content is far too high, and if not properly processed can lead to food poisoning and liver ailments.

If you don't want to jeopordise your relationship with your thai girlfriend don't get between her and her plah rar.

I agree with you though.

I can also do without the fish sauce.

[Ulysses G.]

I would change it to the kind of Chinese food found in the best restaurant cities like Hong Kong, Singapore, San Francisco and New York with lots of good veggies. Get rid of the sugar, broken bones, fish sauce and super-hot spices!

[Samuian]

.... fish sauce (plah rar). Plah rar is rich in protein, vitamins, iron and calcium.

Unfortunately the salt content is far too high, and if not properly processed can lead to food poisoning and liver ailments.

Just to clarify the difference:

Nam Plah = Fish Sauce is made from sun dried fermented squid, shrimp or small fish is used instead of salt!

Kapi = Shrimppaste, made from dried shrimp, used in many dishes as well as Curries

Plah Rar = is fermented whole fish, mostly freshwater fish and is a condiment and this stuff can give all kinds of trouble!

Ah' and yes, I wouldn't change anything in thai cooking, thai dishes and I do not put any sugar in my noodle soup - do you?

Edited August 12, 2008 by Samuian

[rockyysdt]

.... fish sauce (plah rar). Plah rar is rich in protein, vitamins, iron and calcium.

Unfortunately the salt content is far too high, and if not properly processed can lead to food poisoning and liver ailments.

Just to clarify the difference:

Nam Plah = Fish Sauce is made from sun dried fermented squid, shrimp or small fish is used instead of salt!

Kapi = Shrimppaste, made from dried shrimp, used in many dishes as well as Curries

Plah Rar = is fermented whole fish, mostly freshwater fish and is a condiment and this stuff can give all kinds of trouble!

Ah' and yes, I wouldn't change anything in thai cooking, thai dishes and I do not put any sugar in my noodle soup - do you?

When staying in the village they'd prepare two or three dishes and steamed rice for the family meal.

Due to my input, one of these dishes was plah rar free.

That and the sugar are the two things I'd change.

Can't wait to have some more stir fried freshly harvested baby bamboo with mushrooms and sticky rice. My favourite.

[PhilHarries]

Must admit I eat what I like and don't eat what I don't like. I like just about all Thai food but there are a few dishes I avoid like those fish cakes, tod man pla(?). Supposed to be a classic Thai dish, well I've tried them many occasions and just plain don't like them.

Not bothered unduly about sugar, salt, msg and even the occasional serving of pla rah (but not too much). If they could reduce or cut out the salt, sugar and msg without altering the flavour unduly I'd go for it, being healthier, but otherwise no.

About the only thing I don't like is those hard pea like veggies that appear in many dishes. But then I just eat as many as I can stomach and leave the rest to one side to be buried by uneaten rice to save embarrasment. I did say hard because that's the way restaurants seem to do them although I have had them softish at a friends house and they were much more palatable. Maybe I should eat at better restaurants.

I'm also not that keen on that green small tomato sized veg sliced up in curries etc but they are okay in small quantities.

One thing I wish they would do is remove the tails from shrimps. Okay when BBQ'd (usually whole shell then), fried, steamed or raw but when in a curry it's a pain messing with fork'n'spoon or I just have to get my fingers messy (not too bad if you have bog roll on the table but those stupid little paper wipes are useless).

The meat cleavered chicken and fish (mainly) with all the bone fragments is a bit of a pain but they do the same, or worse, here in VN so I guess I'm used to it. I do remember my first trip to Thailand we went to a restaurant and I ordered bird curry. What came up was a curry sauce with veggies and the smashed up remains of bird(s) that could not have been much bigger than pidgeons. Oh and I have just recalled the frog curry my missus ordered once. Same same smashed up roadkill. All part of life's rich tapestry.

[Spee]

Must admit I eat what I like and don't eat what I don't like. I like just about all Thai food but there are a few dishes I avoid like those fish cakes, tod man pla(?). Supposed to be a classic Thai dish, well I've tried them many occasions and just plain don't like them.

Same here. When I find something I like, I stick with it.

I do really like tod mun plah but like anything else, it has to be properly prepared. The first time I tried to make them at the house, all I got was "mai aroi." I made them too thick and cooked them too long. The ingredients have to be fresh and the cakes thin and not too big, and not overcooked. Then they are "aroi mahk." The stuff made in western restaurants to me tastes definitely not fresh and definitely frozen.

[NHJ]

I would change it to the kind of Chinese food found in the best restaurant cities like Hong Kong, Singapore, San Francisco and New York with lots of good veggies. Get rid of the sugar, broken bones, fish sauce and super-hot spices!

100% agree with you, thaifod is very poor when it comes to flavour and health (kidney and stomach), too much hidden salt(fish sauce) and lack of spice, poor meat used (fat or chicken kidney) not enough vegetables and way too much chili wich is wasting the taste of the dishes.

good thing is to teach your girlfriend to make a more healthy and flavour food, i was surprised to try few thai dishes without chili and find them to be a lot better at my taste compared to their chili version(tom yam kung, kai nam prik pao and many others).

[chiliwasabi]

thaifod is very poor when it comes to flavour and health (kidney and stomach), too much hidden salt(fish sauce) and lack of spice, poor meat used (fat or chicken kidney) not enough vegetables and way too much chili wich is wasting the taste of the dishes.

good thing is to teach your girlfriend to make a more healthy and flavour food, i was surprised to try few thai dishes without chili and find them to be a lot better at my taste compared to their chili version(tom yam kung, kai nam prik pao and many others).

how do you make kai nam prik pao without chilli (prik)? Can you have it without chicken too?

I can't imagine Tom Yum without chilli, the unique and lovely flavour would be ruined! I have a sore ankle so I'll stay off my soap box for now. I agree with some of what you say about hidden salt etc. but when we reach the anti-chilli territory I always find myself somewhat perplexed as it is a often wrongly misjudged and scorned spice which plays a very important place in my gastronomic life. Give it a fair go, in moderation if need be, but don't shut it out totally

[Bagwan]

I wonder though if this is the price you must pay for the depth of flavour we all know and love with Thai food?

You have no mandate to speak on my behalf. There are some Thai dishes that I can and do eat but the vast majority are totally visually unappealing to me. Tasting anything when the amounts of chili and ginger drown everything else out is beyond the capabilities of my taste buds. It seems to me at times that the Thais, as some Americans, regard the ingestion of excessive amounts of chili as confirmation of their malehood. I much prefer the subtle flavourings of European and Chinese cuisine and 'her that does the ironing' - an Isan lady of wondrous beauty and comportment - is coming round to that view also.

Perhaps some TVer who is a cooking whiz could advise whether you can have one without the other (preferably the flavour without the inedibles).

Mayhaps a certainly porcine featured character who has been in the news of late, and shortly may well be seeking alternative employment, could help you in this respect?

[NHJ]

thaifod is very poor when it comes to flavour and health (kidney and stomach), too much hidden salt(fish sauce) and lack of spice, poor meat used (fat or chicken kidney) not enough vegetables and way too much chili wich is wasting the taste of the dishes.

good thing is to teach your girlfriend to make a more healthy and flavour food, i was surprised to try few thai dishes without chili and find them to be a lot better at my taste compared to their chili version(tom yam kung, kai nam prik pao and many others).

how do you make kai nam prik pao without chilli (prik)? Can you have it without chicken too?

I can't imagine Tom Yum without chilli, the unique and lovely flavour would be ruined! I have a sore ankle so I'll stay off my soap box for now. I agree with some of what you say about hidden salt etc. but when we reach the anti-chilli territory I always find myself somewhat perplexed as it is a often wrongly misjudged and scorned spice which plays a very important place in my gastronomic life. Give it a fair go, in moderation if need be, but don't shut it out totally

hi, i was waiting that one

in the kai nam prik pai, the main taste is coming from something red contained in a can, i believe this is special cooked chili, when i ask without prik it means without any fresh chili added.

chili is a spice like another, if you put too much pepper or too much salt, your dish will be hard to eat, chili isn't an exeption at this rule, a great dish is made with balance between all ingredients, if one is too strong, you'll taste only this one, especially true with chili as it's burning and thus reducing/removing your ability to taste.

we found something funny with chili, often thai dishes are served with a small soup, we eat spicy, then drink a little of fresh water, the soup has now a strong sugar taste due to the chili effect.

[chiliwasabi]

hi, i was waiting that one

in the kai nam prik pai, the main taste is coming from something red contained in a can, i believe this is special cooked chili, when i ask without prik it means without any fresh chili added.

chili is a spice like another, if you put too much pepper or too much salt, your dish will be hard to eat, chili isn't an exeption at this rule, a great dish is made with balance between all ingredients, if one is too strong, you'll taste only this one, especially true with chili as it's burning and thus reducing/removing your ability to taste.

we found something funny with chili, often thai dishes are served with a small soup, we eat spicy, then drink a little of fresh water, the soup has now a strong sugar taste due to the chili effect.

The main taste for Nam Gai Prik Pao is in fact Nam Prik Pao which is a chilli paste made with dried long red chillies, dried shrimp etc etc. We tend to make our own at home but it is available in a jar. I've never seen it in a can but i assume this is the red stuff you are talking about. If fresh chilli is added it is "usually" just a garnish.

As for chilli being a spice like any other as it's taste is mostly similar whether there is a little or a lot (unlike pepper or salt). It is the spiciness that varies which only alter the "heat" of the meal and the resulting affects. Just because it may cause a burning sensation of varying degrees (depending on tolerance of whoever is eating it) it does not overpower the taste.

We all react to situations differently, someone who is overcome by the spiciness may be rendered incapable of appreciating the flavour - but the flavour is still there.

[NHJ]

just a reminder, if chili is burning you at a point you can't resist, don't try to drink water, drink milk, caseine(a milk protein) will kill the chili burn.

it might be good to have a glass ready when you try some new dish with your girlfriend

Edited September 5, 2008 by NHJ

[gampaan]

Sounds like alot of you all came a long way to eat at McDonalds...

[paddlinsteve]

As a vegetarian (of 21 years' standing), I'm not at all bothered by meat gristle or shrimp tails. However, I do wish they'd start using a vegetarian alternative to fish sauce and oyster sauce. I'm not too keen on aji na moto either.

There's one other thing. Today my wife was frying chillis and filled the flat with really toxic fumes causing us both to nearly collapse in a coughing fit. Is there another way to prepare chillis that's slightly less toxic, I wonder?

Edited September 26, 2008 by paddlinsteve

[sleir]

I really had to chuckle when I read all these silly, ignorant posts of most of you. It's certainly alright for everyone to have a different taste in food, but trying to "educate" others why their food is bettervery silly, just like posts with "all spices should be balanced and therefore not too much chilli, suger blabla"-nonsense.

balance ? 1g of salt, 1g of suger, 1g of chilli, 1g of fishsauce, sounds very balanced and is most certainly tasty as hel_l ! ^^ got it ? good.

A LOT of nonsense is told about chilli. Just because you're not used to it doesn't mean that someone who enjoys it spicier than you is trying to prove his manlihood. If you ask a doctor about chilli he will most likely tell you the following thing: eat as much as you like and your stomach supports.

Apart from killing bacteria and potentially upsetting your digestion a bit chilli does nothing, can't kill you, unlike salt.

Of course a thai cook will also talk about balancing different spices, and will most likely succeed very well, as they're experts in that, but certainly at a completely different level than you're used to.

What you find tasty or not depends on your background, your culinaric "education" and your mental flexiblity to adapt.

Cuisines can still be rated by relatively transparent criterias such as variety of spices, foods, difficulty to prepare, range of cooking techniques, health etc.

And leading chefs all over the world highly regard thai cuisine and some of the highest rated chefs (michelin) freely admit of having been inspired by it.

So.. assuming most of you are americans/british I'd say you just admit you're blissfully ignorant and everyone happily returns to their burgers, deal ? ^^

Edited September 27, 2008 by sleir

[chiliwasabi]

my wife was frying chillis and filled the flat with really toxic fumes causing us both to nearly collapse in a coughing fit. Is there another way to prepare chillis that's slightly less toxic, I wonder?

Yes there is. Go outside.

[robbo1]

my wife was frying chillis and filled the flat with really toxic fumes causing us both to nearly collapse in a coughing fit. Is there another way to prepare chillis that's slightly less toxic, I wonder?

Yes there is. Go outside.

I love thai food my wife is issan and when in Thailand well every one knows how it goes

If you want western food go to Phuket any of the big centres but me I love eating food of the streets in good old Loei fresh and arroy mak mak

[Tyke]

Small bones can be annoying but do add quite a bit of flavor to some dishes. if I could change only one thing it would be to reduce the amount of sugar added by about 90%.

Yeah, and salt

[seyenne]

Things i don't like in Thai food? - IT'S NOT SPICY ENOUGH!!!

Seriously, the fish sauce is necessary for a good noodle soop as well as other curries and fried eggs. However, i agree that some meat dishes are not as farang friendly as they could be. I really like thai food and in the 2 years that i've been here i was consuming alot of it. (aids free).

Example, i'm ordering a beef noodle soup, but all i get is fat combined with sinews and other organic objects but not real meat. (that varies alot from noodlesoupstand to noodlesoupstand). I don't like the cheap? rice that is shining white, sticky like hel_l and soft as noodles that are boiled too long.

One thing that i will never understand is how thai people can love to eat gristle. My girlfriend always says she's born in the dog year, that's why she's so up to it (bones, gristles). But i've obsevered that it is quiete common among thai people and actually preferred over normal, clear "boring" meat

[Bangyai]

Like it all....well except for things with more than 4 legs that don't live in the water but why do they have to put so much MSG in everything ??? Its a drag having to tell them not to use it all the time.

[freitag1]

It sounds like all the Thai food people are referring to is street food. I agree with that, that 90% of street food can be pretty weird for us western people. I love Thai food and always eat in restaurants. Sometimes I get probably the same as a street food vendor sells but I can be pretty sure the meat is better. If I bite on anything in a dish like a bone or whatever that I can't / don't want to chew its over for me. I don't eat that dish anymore.

I really don't see the problem if you eat in better Thai places...

Some people don't like the taste but that's just some individual thing and nothing wrong with that but if you look for quality food go to quality places.

[chiliwasabi]

It sounds like all the Thai food people are referring to is street food. I agree with that, that 90% of street food can be pretty weird for us western people. I love Thai food and always eat in restaurants. Sometimes I get probably the same as a street food vendor sells but I can be pretty sure the meat is better. If I bite on anything in a dish like a bone or whatever that I can't / don't want to chew its over for me. I don't eat that dish anymore.

I really don't see the problem if you eat in better Thai places...

Some people don't like the taste but that's just some individual thing and nothing wrong with that but if you look for quality food go to quality places.

I guess, like most of these discussions, the opinions are pretty subjective as my idea of eating in "better Thai places" doesn't necessarily mean I wont be sitting on a mat on the footpath/sidewalk. At least at the street vendors you can generally see the quality and sanitary standards of what you are going to get. So called "quality places" don't necessarily have better hygiene or a higher quality of ingredient.

Having said that I also eat at the "higher end" restaurants on occasion but while the cutlery and bowels may be of a higher grade the food is rarely so.

(Edit: Spelling)

Edited October 14, 2008 by chiliwasabi