A Balanced Meal

Here we are then with my first post about Thai food. This first subject is probably what I bang on most about and that is Balance, so putting it up here first should get it out of the way, for a while anyway.  What do I mean by balance?

As I said in the video, the problem most folks come up against when trying to cook Thai food is coming to grips with the ingredients which are wildly varied in flavour, texture, aroma and colour.

You have pungent ingredients such as chilli and garlic which both, by the sheer power of their flavour, encroach into the aroma category and of course the both have their own textures

You have aromatics, such as Galangal, Kaffir lime leaf and Lemongrass, which have a woody texture and require long cooking times, others like, holy or Thai basil are soft leaves and so require minimal cooking.

So it’s important at what stage of coking they are added or these beautiful aromas and textures can be destroyed.You have delicate flavours, such as lettuce, cucumber, which are both cooling, one is medium aromatic one has minimal aroma, what about tofu, there are different styles of tofu, all taste different and require different cooking styles. some can be boiled but not fried, some have a stronger aroma than others.

Textures, I suspect the extremes may be tofu and lemongrass, also one has high aromatics and the other has virtually none. So I’ll get to the point…

When cooking with these ingredients, you not only have to know their properties, smell, texture and flavour etc. You have to know what goes well with what! Ie. compliments or contrasts in a pleasant way, how much of each ingredient to use and when to add it in the cooking process.

Trying to understand this process is a long road and why Thai chefs undergo such a long training. I give you a pointer where to learn out how to do this easily further down.

But it doesn’t stop there, like when you’re choosing a good wine to compliment a tasty meal, you should also consider (because a traditional Thai meal includes several dishes) what will compliment what.

An example: A traditional Chicken Red Curry recipe, when prepared properly is spicy (hot) but you should also be able to taste all the other flavours, textures and aromas of ingredients other than chili.

Okay, so you’ve got that bit down, now what should you have with it?

My suggestion would be a light and delicately flavoured soup such as Lettuce and Pork soup, so as you swap between the two dishes (in Thailand you don’t have soup as a starter and then a main course) one refreshes the palate for the other and in this way you get to experience those lovely contrasting flavours at every mouthful.

Of course, the main pitfall in this scenario is too much chilli in the curry, at this point, you lose all the other flavours in the curry, so drinking even a bland but hot soup will exacerbate your poor burning gob so you end up gulping large quantities of beer or water or milk in a severe case.

So treat these ingredients with a little respect and enjoy a balanced meal and a balanced life.

Fell free to comment or ask questions below…

0 comments… add one

Leave a Comment

CLOSE
CLOSE