Showing 91 - 100 of 269
Sushi on a roll
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 04/09/2016
» Sushi, the Japanese rolled rice favourite, has made itself completely at home in Thailand. It has quickly acquired the status of a younger sibling of sukiyaki, which arrived here more than 50 years ago. Over half a century, sukiyaki has adapted to local preferences and become completely naturalised in Thailand, now having little in common with the original Japanese dish.
A culinary melting pot
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 28/08/2016
» Think of a favourite dish and then consider the various ingredients that come together to make it. You'll see that they are drawn from many different sources, some of them borrowed from other culinary traditions. One good example is pad Thai. Almost everything that goes into it is Chinese, from the small-gauge rice noodles to the tofu, beansprouts, hua chai po (Chinese turnip), Chinese leeks, dried shrimp, peanuts and even the duck eggs (in the past, ducks in Thailand were raised by Chinese). In terms of its ingredients, this familiar dish is Chinese from top to bottom, although whether it was a Thai or a Chinese cook who first prepared it, I don't know.
Beware short, sharp shocks
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 21/08/2016
» Many people would argue that, among the different kinds of meat used in cooking, fish is the best because it is the most beneficial and least harmful to the body. It does have its drawbacks, though. One is the question of freshness. A lot of time can pass between the time when a fish is caught and the time a buyer eats it. Most of its freshness can be lost.
Having enough on your plate
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 14/08/2016
» By the term "one-dish meal", most people mean a meal where a single plateful will fill them up. But using satiety as the basis if the definition doesn't really work, because people have different capacities. Some eat very little, while others prefer a big meal. For example, some food shop customers might not feel full after finishing off a plate of pork fried rice and order a plate of kui tiao sen yai raad naa (broad rice noodles with meat in gravy) as a follow up, or start off with pork noodles and then move on to a bowl of yen ta fo. Both examples show that it takes a combination of these dishes to fill up some members of the clientele, and that both cooked-to-order food shops and noodles shops will offer a variety of dishes.
Gone but not forgotten
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 07/08/2016
» Many old Thai dishes that were familiar to people of a few generations ago are gone now, but among the old dishes, a number have been revived and are appearing on menus again. In many cases there have been revisions and adaptations, however, with new ingredients introduced as substitutes for original ones that are hard to find now, or that may no longer be available at all.
Cracking duck eggs' appeal
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 31/07/2016
» If you compare a duck's egg with a hen's egg, which one comes out on top? The right answer is that each one has its strong points. Most people prefer hen eggs, however, and it is easy to find them for sale in any fresh market or supermarket where they are bought in much greater amounts than duck eggs. Cooked-to-order food shops don't keep duck eggs at the ready for customers, who are very unlikely to ask for them.
Old names for a new sensation
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 10/07/2016
» When a popular food or way of eating remains a favourite over time, it lodges deep in people's memories. Even if the food in its original form changes or disappears completely, new ones that come in to replace it will often be referred to by the famous old name.
Where there's smoke
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 26/06/2016
» It may seem a little superfluous for me to start writing today about stoves and how useful they are. After all, people have been using them for many thousands of years.
Tom yam steps up to the plate
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 19/06/2016
» In a Thai meal where some of the dishes on the table are served "dry" (without broth or a liquid sauce) -- fish or shrimp fried with paper and garlic, for example, or beansprouts stir-fried with tofu -- a soup with a spicy bite is needed to provide a satisfying balance of flavours. A tom yam is exactly right, and is often the first choice.
Milking it for all it's worth
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 12/06/2016
» It is national policy to make sure children drink milk. Besides the milk they get at home, there is also the milk they are given free at school. This policy has been in effect for a long time because it was felt that Thais were physically small and the milk would help to make them big and strong, like Westerners.