The Thai Kitchen

- Equipment and Utensils
- Essential Techniques
- Cooking Methods
- Traditional Recipes
- Characteristics of Thai Food and Seasoning
- A Note for Vegetarians

Cooking Methods

Certain cooking methods are universal - boiling, grilling and deep-frying - but others are peculiar to a single cuisine, especially one as ancient as Thai.

Historically, the material and shape of the cooking utensil effectively determined the type of cooking that was possible. And with the clearing of forests for the ever-expanding paddies, fuel became increasingly scarce (except in the north of the country and in mountainous areas farther south). Consequently, cooking methods evolved to use precious fuel most efficiently: brief cooking times over gentle heat and slow, lingering grills over dying embers. If an intense burst of heat was required, the embers would be fanned or stoked.

BOILING AND STEAMING

Boiling (dtom)
Cooking in a liquid, usually salted, over a medium heat. Mostly vegetables are coiled; meat and seafood toughen if subjected to a rapid boil.

Stewing or Simmering (ruan)
Minced (ground) meat, fish or other small items, such as shrimps, are simmered in a little liquid or oil in a wok with some salt, stirring over a low to medium heat until just cooked. Traditionally this technique prevented items from spoiling in the tropical heat, but it is now used to ensure they are not overcooked or toughened. This is the most satisfactory way to cook mince.

Cold-Blanching
Not a traditional Thai method, but one some employ with good results. The food is placed in cold, salted water and brought to the boil. The longer it takes to come to the boil, the more the item is cleaned, reducing excessive pungency or oiliness. A little vinegar or lime juice can be added to assist this process. Pork is especially improved by cold-blanching, as are bitter vegetables, such as cassia leaves and bitter melon. Sometimes it may be necessary to repeat the blanching in order to make the ingredient palatable.

Blanching (Luak)
The ingredient is plunged into boiling liquid, often being dipped several times. The liquid is not allowed to return to the boil - generally the pot is taken off the heat. Alternatively, the item is allowed to sit in the liquid until it has changed color or firmed before being removed. This method is used for ingredients that require little cooking; to remove a raw, coarse flavor or aroma; and for items that tend to toughen when subjected to other methods of cooking - mainly seafood.

Slow-Blancing (hung)
This is expecially good for starchy ingredients - like bamboo shoots, potatoes, taro or cassava - where some of the excess starch is sloshed away with the discarded water. The ingredient is brought to the boil in plenty of water, then skimmed or the scum poured off along with some of the water. The heat is reduced and the food is simmered until cooked. This is the traditional way to cook rice. Sometimes the discarded water is replaced by cold water and, once returned to the boil, the process may be repeated.

Steaming (neung)
Although the Thai have steamed rice, especially sticky rice, from time immemorial - originally in a perforated clay 'lid' attached to the top of an earthenware pot, but now more commonly in a woven bamboo conical basket - the steaming of other ingredients may have been introduced by the Chinese. Steaming is now used throughout Thailand, but less commonly in the remote countryside, and is often employed for special occasions or to cook celebratory dishes, such as a whole fish. Food is placed in a steamer over boiling water, then the lid is quickly replaced, sealing the item and ensuring that it steams over a rolling boil. Be careful if steaming on a plate, as the underside of the food will take longer to cook.

Double-Steaming (dtun)
Double- or indirect-steaming ensured melting tenderness. The food, usually cut into large pieces, is put into a bowl, often with some aromatic ingredients. It is covered with a boiling liquid, sealed, then placed in a steamer for several hours. This method is used to extract flavor from items that can sustain prolonged cooking, and when incorporating Chinese medicine into food.

GRILLING

Grilling or Roasting (bing)
Grilling over a low to medium heat or coals until the food is golden or crisp, but not necessarily completely cooked - as for pia grop (crisp fish). Often the item toasted is already cooked, and this method invigorated its perfume and flavor while slightly crisping it.

Grilling (yang)
Grilling over a low heat until cooked - for example, catfish might be grilled slowly over embers for hours until it is impregnated with smoke and honey-golden. Other items are not always subject to such prolonged cooking.

Chargrilling (pao)
This form of grilling is done over a high heat until the exterior is blackened. Unpeeled shallots or garlic, for example, are charred, cooled and then peeled. Charring imparts a smoky, redolent taste. The longer something taked to cook, the smaller it should be cut, for it too large the outside will burn before the food is cooked through. The interior should remain moist or even slightly undercooked.

Dry-grilling (Slap)
Ingredients are threaded onto skewers and then dried in the sun before being grilled.

Grilling in bamboo (larm)
Ingredients are sealed inside a hollow bamboo segment, then grilled slowly (traditionally the bamboo is placed in embers). Although the bamboo blackens, the food inside remains un-charred but is smokily perfumed by the bamboo. Rice, usually sticky and moistened with coconut cream, or vegetables to be served as an accompaniment for nahm prik relishes, are often prepared this way. Typically lunch or peasant food is cooked like this and may be carried, still in its bamboo casing, to be eaten in the fields.

Use only old bamboo stalks, which can occasionally be found at garden nurseries, and soak them in water for several hours before use.

FRYING

Dry-frying or Roasting (krua)
Items such as rice, dried chilies, shredded coconut and spices are often roasted in this manner. In a wok, with no oil or water, they are dry-dried over a low to medium heat, stirring regularly, until golden, fragrant or crispy.

Stir-frying (pat)
Traditional Thai stir-frying was not the fierce and furious cooking method of the Chinese, but gentle frying over radiant heat in an earthenware pot. Stir-frying in the contemporary sense of quickly cooking sliced items in oil over a very high heat in a metal wok, while stirring or tossing constantly, is a Chinese technique that has been incorporated into the Thai repertoire.

One of the characteristic tastes of a good stir-fry is a slight smokiness. This can only be achieved by cooking at an intense heat. The wok should be tempered before its first use: heat the wok until almost white hot, then wipe with a cloth - when slightly cooled - before reheating for use. This not only seals the wok, preventing items sticking, but also imparts the desirable smoky tinge. It is important to make sure the wok is hot before adding the oil, so the latter does not burn or overheat while the wok is heating up.

Crisp-frying (jiaw)
Sliced or shredded items are deep-fried in hot oil, stirring regularly, until crisp, fragrant and golden - as for deep-fried shallots or garlic.

Deep-frying (tort)
Historically, deep-frying was a luxurious technique, since rendered pork fat or coconut oil - the traditional deep-frying mediums - were not plentiful, and the earthenware pots could not withstand the high temperature needed. Shallow-frying was more common, cooking food partially immersed at relatively high temperatures, then turning it over to complete the cooking. Today most Thai cooks deep-fry in the Western manner - although still in a surprisingly small amount of oil - by immersing the item in hot oil and frying over a high heat until just cooked. Sometimes, however, the item is deep-fried at a low heat for a surprisingly long period until it is very crisp, almost fried, such as pla grop (crisp fish).

- Adapted from Thai Food, by David Thompson