Thai cuisine is very different from the usual people in the middle zone of Russia, for our taste it is very exotic and diverse. Its basic principles and ingredients are taken from a closely-knit Chinese cuisine, but are enriched by their local cooking traditions. A nationwide feature is the use of rice, corn, soy and products from it, and of course, all kinds of vegetables and spices, whose name is sometimes completely unknown to us.
Porridge and flour dishes in Thai cuisine
All kinds of porridges of rice, corn, millet or kaolin are used both in lieu of bread and as full garnishes for other dishes. Soybean is very popular in Thai cuisine and is used not only as a substitute for meat, but also as an indispensable ingredient in the preparation of all kinds of sauces, salty pastes, soy milk, butter and unusual curd tofu.
A large role is assigned to flour products - all sorts of lozenges and small breads, a huge number of different types of noodles, pampusham mantou, pies and vontones, dumplings and ravioli of very unusual colors, with the addition of exotic spices and numerous products cooked in batter.
Vegetables and condiments
Vegetables are an important addition to any of the dishes, and they are always present on the table in various forms. Salted, pickled, sour and dried vegetables are widely used. The favorite vegetable dish of Thais are young boiled bamboo shoots, used both as an independent dish, and as a garnish.
The most common for us products from Taiwan are potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, radish of different kinds, green bean pods, garlic, spinach and other vegetables and herbs. There are also a large number of different types of vegetables, herbs and seasonings, the name of which we have never even met, and whose use in various dishes at first glance seem completely incompatible and impossible. Such unusual and very exotic dishes include soy cottage cheese in red sauce, pancakes with onion and pepper, a special salad of pickled cucumbers "sao-huang-ka-liang-ban", boiled rice cooked with the blood of an animal, an omelette with a radish,"tea eggs" - "cha-e-dan" and other types of snacks.
Thai meat dishes
Meat dishes in Taiwanese cuisine are most often prepared from pork and poultry. Most meat dishes are served directly from the fire, they are cooked on small braziers in the presence of the client.
Very popular roast and boiled pork in a special sweet and sour sauce, marinated with onions and seasonings chicken, chopped poultry meat with unusual nut sauces, meat in butter sauce, various pastes from seafood and soya paste "huguo".Sometimes poultry meat can be replaced by fish, frog, and various seafood. Special preference for seafood is given to oysters.
For the preparation of meat dishes, we also use quite unusual snake, dog, insect, turtles and other exotic animals, but this is not the daily food of the Thais, and such dishes are very expensive.