Thailand Chronicles: Thai Food... Truly Gastronomic Feasts

Temples. And more temples. Often this is all that we ever read about when it comes to the Siam country. Of course we have to admit, Thailand has Asia's most awe inspiring temples. And truly, these temples are one of the country's most visited tourist attractions.

But come to think of it, Thailand has a wide array of food that are tourist attractions in themselves. So one of the reasons people come to Thailand is to sample the gastronomic feasts that makes every tourist (including me and Mr. OSG) come back for more. Sigh... thinking about Thai food just now, makes me miss it even more and thinking how I can hitch myself a free fare back to the Siam country. :) 

Pad Thai at Fifth Street Food Center, MBK Mall

So here is a list of some of our favorite Thai delicacies that we've gotten to feast on, and can't get enough of...

1.) Pad Thai.  If there is a national food, then maybe Pad Thai will get the most votes for being Thailand's national food. Its like you've never really eaten Thai food, unless you've tried Pad Thai. It is served in most restaurants in and around Thailand. It is served in a lot of different ways like the one we had at The Montien where they enclose it in egg - omelet style (below). Pad Thai at The Montien will take you back for about 150baht. per order. The Pad Thai we ordered at The Fifth Street Food Center of MBK Mall, is a bit pricier at 185 baht, but it is the best I've tasted in Bangkok (picture above).

Pad Thai is a dish of stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, fish sauce (Thai: น้ำปลา), tamarind juice, red chilli pepper, plus any combination of bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken, or tofu, garnished with crushed peanuts, coriander and lime, the juice of which can be added along with Thai condiments (crushed peanuts, garlic, chives, pickled turnip, coriander, lime, spicy chili oil, chili powder, vinegar, fish sauce, sugar). It is usually served with scallions and pieces of raw banana flower. (info taken from the Wikipedia)

2) Stir Fried Chicken with Cashew Nuts. or Gai Pad Met Ma-Maung. This dish is a favorite not only among us Asians but among the Westerners as well. I should know since there was this group of tourists who come to eat at the Fifth Street of MBK mall like us, who only orders this yummy dish over and over again! :) What I love about this dish is that it has a sweet and tangy taste that brings out the flavor in the chicken. Plus the cashew nuts makes a nice addition giving off a woody flavor to the dish. There are condiments on the side, like peanuts, chili, and sugar which you can add to your dish according to your liking. Its really considerate of them since not everybody loves spicy food. Well including me at times. :)

Our favorite Stir Fried Chicken with Cashew Nuts dish is the one served at the Fifth Street food center of MBK mall, which costs 150  baht per order, a generous serving which can be shared by two people. But nah, it was too yummy for sharing so we order separate servings. hehe.

3) Pork Satay.  Now when it comes to Satay, I have no qualms on ordering this dish since I love the peanut sauce that comes with it.  I'm not too sure though  where it really originated , whether it came from Malaysia or Thailand. But then, whether you order this from Malaysia, Singapore, or Thailand or even Indonesia, you will surely come back for more.

Satay is a dish of marinated strips of pork (or beef/chicken), then skewered and grilled on the BBQ or broiled in the oven. It is then served with peanut sauce for the ultimate taste sensation. This particular satay dish, we ordered from Ruenton Coffeeshop of The Montien hotel where it looks more of a Tapsilog dish native to us Filipinos minus the peanut sauce. It was served with an aromatic serving of fried jasmine rice with shrimps, and a sunny side up fried egg on top.

4) Pad See Ew or Fried Noodle with chicken/pork/seafood. This Thai dish was introduced to me by Ms. Challika, a Thai local who happens to be a good friend of my cousin. She brought us to Suan Luang Market near Chulalongkorn University to have dinner there "carinderia" (or hawker store) style. From what i learned, Pad See Ew is a Chinese - influenced stir fried noodle dish commonly eaten in Thailand and Laos. What I love about it is the mix of saltiness and sweetness with a tiny hint of spiciness brought about by the cayenne pepper. This one is with chicken which I absolutely love!

Pad See Ew is made with dark soy sauce ("si-io dam"), light soy sauce ("si-io khao"), garlic, broad rice noodles, called "kuai-tiao sen yai" in Thai (commonly abbreviated to just "sen yai" meaning "big strip"), Chinese broccoli, egg, and some form of thinly sliced meat — commonly pork, chicken or beef — or shrimp or mixed seafood -- like picture below. (from the wikipedia).

5) Nam Kang Sai or Thai Shaved Ice  Dessert. Also at the Suan Luang Market, we had the fascination of eating this Thai local dessert that is somewhat similar to our native halo-halo. The only difference is, the Thai version's shaved ice is placed on top of the mixings. There are between 20–30 varieties of mixings that can be mixed in. Among them are young coconut that have been soaked in coconut milk, black sticky rice, chestnuts, sweetened taro, red beans, sarim (thin strands of cooked flour that is very chewy and slippery) and many more.

With a number of mixings to choose from, I just know it would take me forever to come up with my own Nam Kang Sai, so we just let Ms. Challika choose the right combination for us. The colors of the mixings are so bright that they look more to me like eye candy than a dessert for someone to devour. :) This is a photo of the dessert shop at the Suan Luang Market we went to, which according to Challika is quite famous that even celebrities and the Thai Princess often come here to satisfy their sweet cravings.

To Ms. Challika of DHL Thailand, our heartfelt thanks for taking us to dinner and introducing me  and Ate A to Platinum Mall which I will blog about next time. :)