A taste of Thailand

"The real measure of Thai culinary skill lies not in the number of ingredients it employs, but in the artistry with which it is used."

Thai chefs have a fast array of flavours in their culinary arsenal. Blessed with a climate that produces vegetables, fruit and meat in abundance, and rivers and seas that offer a copious amount of fish and seafood, the Thai people found inspiration outside their own borders and borrowed freely from others. However, they never lost their own culinary identity, making the outside influences play a Thai tune.

From China they borrowed cooking methods like the wok, stir-frying and steaming. From India they adopted the use of curries. They even incorporated the coconut, one of the most South Pacific of flavours, into their cooking. The ingredient which has come to epitomize Thai cooking, the chili pepper, were introduced by Europeans. Portuguese traders are credited to bringing the chili pepper to the East, where it was embraced by many cultures. Many of the world’s strongest chilies are grown in Thailand.

Many diverse ingredients can be used in the preparation of any one dish, some as diverse as coconut milk, shrimp paste and soy sauce. However, great skill is employed in the combination of the ingredients.

Some of the traditional ingredients of Thai cooking include: basil, beef, chicken, chilies, coconut, coriander, cumin, curry paste, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, lemon grass, limes, mint, mushrooms, noodles, oyster sauce, peanuts, pork, prawns, rice, sesame seeds, shallots, shrimp paste, soy sauce, spring onions, star anise, sugar, sweet corn, tamarind and turmeric.

Chicken with Sweet Corn
(Gai pat yort kao poht)

600 g boned chicken breasts
3 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
500 g fresh baby sweet corn
3 spring onions
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

Cut chicken into strips about 3 cm long and 5 cm wide. Mix thoroughly with 1 tablespoon of the fish sauce and pepper to coat. Leave to marinate for 10 minutes. Cut sweet corn and spring onions in half lengthwise and cut into 4 cm pieces. Heat oil in wok or frying pan and fry garlic until golden. Add chicken and fry until brown. Add remaining ingredients and toss together until thoroughly hot. Add water if sauce is too thick.

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