Victoria Johnston--Dylan Heibel

3rd Period
THAILAND
The largest components of Thai food are rice, and heavy spices. The most well known of
these spices used in traditional Thai recipes is curry. The majority of people in Thailand
have three meals a day, as Americans do. Popular breakfast dishes include Joke, a rice
porridge, Kai Jee-o, a type of omelette, and Khao Mun Khai, chicken and rice. Popular
lunch meals are Be-me, an egg noodle meat soup, Pad Pak, fried vegetables, and Pad Bai
Kha Praew, a spicy basil with chicken. Dinners vary from Pad Nhor Mai, a Chicken
served with bamboo shoots, to Kaeng Khee-o Whan, a green curry with beef, and to
Tomyam Kung, a spicy lemongrass soup with shrimp. Some favorite recipes are Tom
Yam Kung, Kaeng Khiao Wan Kai, Phat Kaphrao, Phanaeng, and Phat Thai. Thai food
traditions vary depending on the area of Thailand. The Central, North, and South regions
of Thailand have different tastes and customs for their food. The Central region of
Thailand focuses heavily on the serving and presentation of food, and people there tend
to prefer foods with a sweeter touch. Rice is the absolute staple dish, and is often served
with five or six other dishes to be paired with. These people also prefer to use utensils
such as spoons and forks, instead of chopsticks. The Northern region of Thailand makes
use of its available resources when making food, focusing heavily on vegetables, chili
sauces, rice, or whatever else is in immediate vicinity. Most of this food is focused on
savory flavors, almost entirely excluding the classic sweet and sour aspects of the Thai
food we know. Lastly, South Thailand focuses primarily on chili spices, and has
extremely spicy and salty foods compared to the other Thai regions. They also make use
of plants that grow specifically in the Southern region of Thailand, which are the sataw,
med riang, and look niang.