I've been very lucky to try lots of delicious food in Thailand. It is very different to the food we eat in the UK. Bread and potatoes are a very important part of our diet, but here in Thailand rice and noodles are the most important part of their diet. The Thai people will eat rice or noodles with every meal, even breakfast! Whilst we usually eat cereal or toast for breakfast, the Thais eat a thick rice soup called Khao tom.
This is a picture of noodle soup with chicken. The Thais eat their soups with a spoon for the liquid, and chopsticks to pick up the noodles, vegetables and meat. They never put food in their mouths using their left hand, only the right hand.
This is a picture of chilli flakes and ground peanuts which you can add to your noodle soup. You have to be careful with the how many chilli flakes you add to your meal, as too many can upset your stomach!
The Thais love chillies but they also love coconut cream. Many of the Thai curries (kaeng) contain coconut cream, for example kaeng karii (mild and yellow) and kaeng matsaman (Muslim curry) which is made with potatoes. The idea of using coconut cream in curries came to Thailand from India, long ago. Some Thai soups are also made using coconut cream, such as tom kha kai, a creamy coconut soup.
This photograph is of a dragon fruit. Inside it looks a bit like a kiwi fruit but it isn't as tasty.
This is a photograph of iced tea.
Here is a can of Coke served in a cooler which is a band of foam and helps to keep your drink cool.
This fish was lovely to eat, but as you can see it was served whole. At the same meal I also ate a squid's eye! It didn't taste of much but was very crunchy.
Noodle soup (nam) is one of my favourite Thai dishes. It is made from boiled noodles, pork, chicken or beef, beansprouts and cabbage.
The photograph is of noodle soup with pork balls, which taste like sausages.
This is a picture of noodle soup with chicken. The Thais eat their soups with a spoon for the liquid, and chopsticks to pick up the noodles, vegetables and meat. They never put food in their mouths using their left hand, only the right hand. You can buy lots of different food from street stalls. Sometimes these stalls are permanent and open up in time for lunch. Other street stalls are mobile, and are usually attached to the side car on a scooter.
This picture is of a stall selling noodle soup and fried noodles called phat thai, ("fry up"), which is a delicious combination of eggs, spring onions, ground peanuts and lime and sometimes topped with shrimps.
In the UK we normally have salt, pepper, vinegar, mayonnaise, tomato sau
ce and
ce and brown sauce to add to our meals. In Thailand, they have chillies, chilli sauce, garlic, salt, sugar and fish sauce to add to their dishes.
This picture is of tiny green chillies, which burn your mouth if you chomp on them, and whole garlic cloves. These were given to me with a meal of pork and rice.
This is a picture of chilli flakes and ground peanuts which you can add to your noodle soup. You have to be careful with the how many chilli flakes you add to your meal, as too many can upset your stomach!
The Thais love chillies but they also love coconut cream. Many of the Thai curries (kaeng) contain coconut cream, for example kaeng karii (mild and yellow) and kaeng matsaman (Muslim curry) which is made with potatoes. The idea of using coconut cream in curries came to Thailand from India, long ago. Some Thai soups are also made using coconut cream, such as tom kha kai, a creamy coconut soup.
The Thai people eat coconuts but they also eat lots of different fruits which we do not find in the UK. They do eat bananas, which are much smaller than the ones in the UK and much nicer. They taste really sweet.
This photograph is of a dragon fruit. Inside it looks a bit like a kiwi fruit but it isn't as tasty.
The Thai people also like to make shakes out of lots of different fruits. My favourites are mango or watermelon shakes. Sometimes they will decorate your glass with flowers. I also love to drink iced tea which you can have with milk or lemon. You can buy most of the drinks that we have in the UK, such as Coke, Fanta, tea and coffee. Cold drinks are served with lots of ice and sometimes in a cooler.
This is a photograph of iced tea.
Here is a can of Coke served in a cooler which is a band of foam and helps to keep your drink cool.
The Thais also love to eat roti, a pancake sold from pushcart griddles. The roti are made in front of you and served with your choice of fruit, such as banana, mango, chocolate (usually Nutella), sugar or condensed milk.
This man is preparing to cook a pancake at his stall.
In the UK we are usually served fish in a very clean way, with no sign of the fish's head, tail, eyes or bones. However here in Thailand, fish is served whole and they eat as much of it as they can.
This fish was lovely to eat, but as you can see it was served whole. At the same meal I also ate a squid's eye! It didn't taste of much but was very crunchy.
There are a lot of differences between Thai and British food but you can buy many things which we eat and drink in the UK. There are McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King and many restaurants will serve pizza, hamburgers, sandwiches and chips.
The Thais don't eat as much as we do, but it is too hot to eat a lot. I don't know if Thai people are any healthier than people in the UK, because they add a lot of salt, sugar and spices to their food and a lot of the food is fried, but you rarely see overweight people in Thailand. Their life expectancy is 72 years which is lower than the UK and their diet may have something to do with this.
I hope you have enjoyed learning about Thai food.
Lots of love, from, Thailand. xxxx
