Showing 1 - 10 of 10
The lotus eaters
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 16/06/2019
» The lotus flower may be small in size, but culturally, it holds great significance for Thais and Buddhists around the world. The lotus, a plant that emerges from mud and rises above water, is a symbol of purity. Symbolically, it cleanses and purifies. Buddhists use lotus flowers as offerings to convey their sincere respect for monks and venerated figures in Buddhism.
Old versus new
Life, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 21/09/2018
» Culinary art keeps evolving. Nothing is the same when looking back 50 years, when the same kind of food was completely different from today. It is quite difficult to predict future food style. It would be possible that shrimp with spicy soup might add vermicelli or black bean. Or pad Thai might add red tilapia fish. Or soybean milk might replace coconut milk in green curry.
The fish that makes a great catch
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 12/03/2017
» I'm sure that there are many people who have the same relationship with catfish dishes that I do. When they think of a particular favourite -- grilled catfish with boiled neem flowers and the sweet-spicy sauce called nam plaa waan, or the fish deep-fried with spicy seasonings and crisp-fried basil leaves scattered on top -- they crave to eat some right then and there.
The age of perfectionists
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 11/12/2016
» This is the age of data. Making food is easy now because there are cookbooks everywhere and ingredients of all kinds are widely available and easy to buy. Any bookshop will have its cookbook section, offering an array of volumes with clear photographs and precise instructions as to measurements and techniques.
Homegrown ingredients
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 23/10/2016
» If you like cooking for yourself, why not get serious and try growing your own vegetable right at home? The ones that you really need all the time are chillies (phrik khee nuu), lemon grass, galangal, saw-tooth herb (phak chee farang), and the different types of basil, known in Thai as bai kraphrao, bai horapha and yee raa.
Something's in the air
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 11/09/2016
» Food appeals to us not just because of its taste, which can combine sourness, saltiness, sweetness, bitterness and chilli heat with endless variety, but also because of its aroma. But it is not just the combination of meat, vegetables and seasonings together with the cooking technique that automatically creates the fragrance that wafts from a finished dish. It is a careful selection by the cook of ingredients that will create or enhance its aroma.
Gone but not forgotten
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 19/04/2015
» How is it that dishes that were once favourites can disappear completely from memory? There are a number of reasons. One is that the cooks who made them are all gone.
Disobey our robotic food overlord
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 02/11/2014
» Thai food, in all of its plenitude and variety, has spread smooth as silk to every corner of the globe. But now it has come under scrutiny by a government unit that has created a device to define strict standards for recipes.
A banquet of merit
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 09/02/2014
» Around the middle of last month I wrote about foods that came into being as the result of community activities, events where people worked together for a shared purpose. The participants were usually housewives of an older generation, highly skilled women with much experience in preparing food, and the dishes they made were local ones rooted in regional customs and preferences.
A dish sure to lead you to temptation
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 31/03/2013
» A concern for healthy nutrition and a fondness for khao ka moo (Chinese stewed pork leg with rice) are tendencies so strongly opposed to each other that there is no hope of reconciling them. The best way around it, if you run into some irresistible khao ka moo at mealtime, is to vow that if you eat some now, you won't go near it again for a month.