Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Curries
The overseas celebrity of Thai cuisine, curry (
gaang
) enjoys an entirely different
position on home turf. It is a humble dish that is usually eaten for breakfast or lunch.
At roadside stands, especially in southern Thailand, big metal pots contain various
curry concoctions of radioactive colours. When you ask vendors what they have,
they'll lift the lids and name the type of meat in each:
gaang gài
(curry with chicken),
gaang Ъlah
(shorthand for sour fish curry). In Bangkok, street-side vendors and
small shops will display their curry-in-a-hurry in buffet-style trays. In either case, you
point to one and it will be ladled over rice. Use a spoon to scoop it up and push the
lime leaves to the side (they aren't edible).
All curries start with a basic paste that in-
cludes ground coriander seed, cumin seed,
garlic, lemongrass, kaffir lime, galangal,
shrimp paste and chillies (either dried or
fresh). Thai cooks used to make these from
scratch but these days they go to the market
and buy it in bulk. The curry paste recipe var-
ies from region to region:
gaang mát·sà·màn
(Muslim curry) uses star anise, considered a
Thai-Muslim spice. Most visitors know their
curries by their colour, mainly red (from dried
red chillies) and green (from fresh green chil-
lies). Green curry is a classic central-Thai
dish.
A true Thai curry will be a fairly thin soup
containing curry paste, some meat and au-
bergines (eggplant); depending on the type of
curry, it may or may not have coconut milk. A
garnish of basil leaves might be added at the
end of cooking. The four flavours (salty,
sweet, spicy and sour) should be at play but,
to cater to foreigners, some curries will be ex-
cessively sweet and thick from too much sug-
ar and coconut milk.
Street-Vendor Meals
1
KÔW PÀT -
FRIED RICE.
2
GŎO·AY ĐĔE·O PÀT KÊE MOW
-
STIR-FRIED NOODLES WITH
BASIL, LOTS OF CHILLIES AND A
CHOICE OF MEAT (USUALLY
CHICKEN).
3
PÀT GÁ·PROW
- FRESHLY
SLICED CHILLIES, HOLY BASIL
AND A CHOICE OF CHICKEN OR
PORK STIR-FRY SERVED OVER
RICE.
4
PÀT PÀK KÁ·NÁH -
STIR-FRIED
CHINESE KALE, OFTEN
