Food, markets and meals of Thailand, Laos & Cambodia - Part I

The day began with a trawl through Thai food bazaar in our hotel; the Majestic Grande, a 25 storey five star affair with costs nearer three star level. It has its dining room on 7th floor with the swimming pool set outside and visible from other skyscrapers around it. Breakfast was included and had two sections – Continental and Asian, the latter consisting of largely Thai and Chinese style dishes. I would tuck into the Asian section with real gutso given that Chinese is my faviourite.

People in SEAsia are wonderful cooks and have the magical ability to concoct something out of nothing. Their staple cereal is rice which comes in different flaviours and colours and is served in many ways. You would have rice that is steamed, that is sticky and that is sticky and steamed. Rice is not boiled but placed in a bamboo container and steamed over boiling water. Rice comes in various hues of white, yellow, brown and violet. Usually sticky rice is a breakfast dish or comes as part of starter, while steamed rice is eaten with main course. They tend to eat with hands in rural areas but with a fork and spoon otherwise. The fork is used to shovel food on to the spoon and just as in the west you would not put knife into your mouth, the not so cosmopolitan SEAsians look aghast if a fork is put into the mouth.

Now the more one can say about the spices, the less it would be. Spices form the backbone of all dishes and these folks have the ability to tingle all your taste buds – simultaneously. From sweet and sour to hot/spicy and mild, from tangy to pungent, from hot to cold: no wonder Bangkok is known as the Kitchen of the world as Thais merge Asian with European tastes. They use spices differently to how Indians do – no powdering, pickling or preserving spice pastes for Thais who use fresh spices everytime. Meat of all kinds is served along with a range of fish and poultry dishes. In some Chinese influence restaurants it’s not unusual to find a section on the menu that says ‘Insects’. Thais are known to eat fried insects which I’m told has a crunchy and nutty feel (do keep a glass of lager handily placed next to you should the guts rebel).

While all this was of no interest to Amita, I had a great time. For vegetarians, most restaurants and street vendors would cook all the dishes that contain meat by putting vegetables instead. Broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, sweet potato (I could hardly find potato anywhere in this trip), carrots, pak choi – that quintessential Chinese spinach with a wonderful taste, beans, corns and other vegetables make up for what the vegetarian misses out in meat dishes, although without any regrets. Whilst veggies generally tend to ensure that no meat, fish or eggs are in their dishes, beware that you specifically ask that no fish or oyster sauce is used in vegetarian cooking as every Thai dish has traces of it!