Tips on achieving the real taste of Thailand

Consistently ranked as a top global food destination, Thailand is witnessing renewed global interest in its cuisine, thanks to its focus on fresh, healthy ingredients married with exotic herbs and spices to create colourful dishes that look as good as they taste.

Thai food is characterised by its beautiful colours, exotic ingredients and its fusions of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy flavours. The wisdom of the value of plants, fruits and vegetables, and their proper use, especially in cooking, is a priceless heritage that belongs to the people of Thailand, and indeed to the world. It is for this reason that Thailand has become recognised as the Kitchen of the World.

Thai chefs infuse their dishes of the finest quality meat and vegetables with the distinctive flavours of lemon grass, chilli, coconut, peanut, galangal ginger, tamarind and more, but it can be challenging to ensure your next meal of Tom Kha soup, Thai Green Curry or Pad Kra Pow stir fry served up in South Africa lives up to the high standards of Thailand’s internationally renowned chefs.

Thai Select status

One way to ensure you’re being served authentic Thai cuisine is to eat at Thai Select accredited restaurants. This accreditation, endorsed by the Department of International Trade Promotion Thailand (DITP), guarantees the authenticity of the Thai food being served. Thai Select status is awarded to three- or four-star restaurants serving fine, authentic Thai foods; while the highest Thai Select Premium status is awarded to establishments whose degree of excellence is of five-star or higher quality.

The Royal Thai Embassy Office of Commercial Affairs in Pretoria recommends that if you’re preparing a Thai dish at home, you start by seeking out authentic Thai ingredients and only the freshest vegetables. Top supermarkets will stock most of the necessary ingredients, including Thai Green Curry paste, jasmine rice, coconut milk and lemon grass, but if you’re unable to source certain rare ingredients, you will probably find them at a Thai specialty supermarket. It’s important to check that the ingredients have been sourced in Thailand, to ensure authentic Thai flavour.

Dr Chakarin Komolsiri, Trade Commissioner of the Thai Embassy, notes that the country’s foodstuffs are renowned for their quality around the world: “From its long history of growing, processing and developing its agricultural and food production industries, Thailand has developed into a nation of food experts - from farmers and food manufacturers, to food exporters and acclaimed chefs. This is why Thai food products are in such high demand on the world market, and why Thai restaurants are taking root in so many countries around the world.”

Get the basics right

The basics can make or break the dish, notes Kun Bank, celebrated chef at the Thai Select Premium Padbok Thai Restaurant in Pretoria. His top tips for preparing Thai food at home are:

• When preparing Thai Curry, start by warming the instant curry paste in cooking oil over a low heat until it is fragrant. Then add the coconut milk.
  
• Stir-fried dishes can be ruined by over-cooking. Blanch thicker vegetables, such as broccoli, in boiling water for one minute before adding them to the finely chopped vegetables to be stir fried. Two minutes of stir frying is enough to ensure crunchy vegetables that retain their nutrients.
  
• Rice noodles should be soaked for 10 minutes in water at room temperature before draining them and using them in a dish. Soaking them in hot water will result in soggy noodles. Non-rice noodles should be prepared in the same way as pasta is, and cooked only until they are al dente.
  
• Jasmine rice is best prepared in a specialised rice cooker. At a push, it can also be prepared in a pressure cooker or steamed. Follow the package instructions carefully to ensure that the rice is not too sticky and not under-cooked. Serve the rice and curry separately, topping the rice with spoonfuls of curry as you eat.

Chef Bank of the Padbok Thai demonstrated traditional Thai cooking techniques during a reception hosted by the Royal Thai Embassy Office of Commercial Affairs in Pretoria during the inaugural Food & Hospitality Africa Show 2016. The event showcased fine Thai ingredients from leading food producers and exporters, including Alpha Food and Product Co., exporter of canned fruits vegetables and coconut milk; Bangkok Ranch, manufacturer of duck products; the Q Plus Concept Co., manufacturer of dried herbs and spices for dishes such as red curry and traditional Thai curry; TPM Trading Co., exporter of a variety of rice products, canned pineapple and lychees, basil seed drinks and more; and Wealthy Grain Co., exporters of Thai rice products.