Taking the mystery out of Thai dining
May 3rd, 2010 | By: Lynn Rehn
Easy, step-by-step help ordering Thai.
Two years ago I hesitated to go to a Thai restaurant because I was not sure how, or what, to order. That was a mistake.
Thai cuisine is a fabulous balance of spicy, salty, sour, sweet, and bitter, with attention to details such as texture and appearance. Nuts such as peanuts, cashews, or walnuts are used to accent a number of Thai dishes, adding a layer of flavor and texture.
Serving a soup or appetizer before a meal is the Thai concession to the American way of dining. I learned this while dining at Noodle Boat on Gilman Boulevard; my server, Kunticha Komonwanich or “Toon” told me that traditionally Thai food is served all at once, so at dinner you and a friend would share a dish such as curry with beef, which would come with rice; some pad (or phad) thai, a noodle dish, with chicken or tofu; and a soup, such as tom yum, a hot and sour soup. Then you would put some rice on your plates and share the curry and the noodles. (It is not unusual to have noodles and rice together.)
A wonderful way to explore standard Thai food is to grab a pal and head to Similan Thai Cuisine, at the new Overlake Center, or O’Char, at Pickering Place; both have lunch combinations that let you dip a fork or chopsticks into several kinds of Thai food, including noodles, rice, and curry. Generally, you choose the type of protein you want in your dish—pork, chicken, beef, seafood, or tofu—and then decide how much heat you want according to a heat scale indicated by the number of stars or chile icons (one to five in some establishments).
Noodle dishes can incorporate egg noodles, stick rice noodles (very thin, like angel hair pasta), or wide rice noodles, which can be larger than pappardelle pasta (some can even be 2-inch-wide sheets). As a note of etiquette, only noodle dishes are eaten with chopsticks, and most servers will bring them without being asked. The rest of the meal should be eaten with forks and spoons.
Pad thai, a stir-fry of rice noodles with egg, bean sprouts, ground peanuts, and green onion, is the most familiar of the many Thai noodle dishes. The server will ask you which protein you would like to have cooked with it. Pad thai is as popular in Thailand as hamburgers are in America.
Rice dishes are stir-fried with your choice of brown or white rice. If you love Indian curries, you will greatly enjoy exploring the red, green, and yellow curries, as well as massaman curry, made with massaman curry paste that is incorporated into a stew with potatoes, a meat (usually beef), carrots, peanuts, and coconut milk.
I love Thai salads, which are often high in protein, low in fat, and full of flavor. Some are set up so you can wrap ingredients in lettuce or other types of leaves and apply the sauce and condiments yourself.
One tasty dish you assemble, wrap in a leaf, and eat is mieng kam. Amm Sermboon, the general manager of Similan, described each ingredient, including raw ginger, lime thinly sliced with the rind on, dried shrimp, peanuts, and Thai chiles, and the health benefits associated with it.
Over the last two months I have enjoyed locally prepared pad thai, red curry, calamari, deep-fried whole trout, grilled salmon in sweet sauce, spring rolls, tom yum, and rice thread noodle soup. Dishes I plan to try, suggested by Head Chef Krichja Kamkhan Thee of Similan, include barbecued Cornish game hen, roast duck curry, and the massaman curry. My friend Toon recommends her favorite pad garlic, yellow curry, and Queen of Banana, served at dinner at Noodle Boat, one of the more well respected Thai restaurants in the country!
It is all waiting for you, right here in town. Don’t make my initial mistake and wait to explore the tasty world of Thai foods.
