Listen to the Thai name pronunciation
The names of Thai dishes usually communicate their main ingredient, their cooking technique or, at times, their origin. Yet, a large element in the charm of Thai cuisine are dishes bestowed with unusual – sometimes downright poetic names – such as “crystal dragon” (mang gaawn khaap gaaeo, มังกรคาบแก้ว), “galloping horse” (maa haaw, ม้าฮ่อ) and “fat horse” (maa uaan, ม้าอ้วน).
Early Siamese literature was produced, patronized and supported, as well as controlled and consumed, by the aristocracy; it reflected the life of the court elites. In contrast, Sunthorn Phu, the “poet of the people”, was the first classical Thai author who was not a member of the nobility. His humble origins and his use of popular language and simple forms of verse appealed to a wider audience.
Thai Human Imagery Museum,
Nakhon Pathom
Sunthorn Phu was born in 1786, in the days of the early Rattanakosin era, and 19 years after the destruction of the capital Ayutthaya by the Burmese army in 1767. It was also a mere four years after King Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok (Rama I) of Chakri Dynasty came to power in 1782, bringing to an end a chaotic period of power struggles and revolutions in which Siamese, Burmese, provincial warlords and Chinese merchants, along with missionaries and soldiers, were fighting for dominance.
Sweet and sour fruit slices are served with a nutty, sweet-savory peanut sauce condiment that balances the fruits’ natural tartness, and decorated with coriander leaves and julienned fresh long red pepper for a sophisticated finish. The paste-like condiment is typically made from the Three Kings of Thai cuisine (coriander root, garlic and ground white pepper) fried together with chopped shallots, minced pork belly and shrimp meat, along with crushed roasted peanuts, and seasoned with fish sauce [or salt], and palm sugar.
Yam sohm choon is a sour green mango salad served with grilled fermented shrimp paste; roughly chopped shallots; sweet pork condiment, deep-fried fluffy grilled catfish and seasoned with fish sauce, palm sugar and lime juice and topped with deep-fried dry chilies cut into small pieces.
If you follow Thai movies and TV dramas, you probably remember Sohm Choon, the adorable boy ghost character from the period romance movie Reun Mayura (1997), which was a love story between a beautiful woman and a handsome man living in different periods of time.
Naam phrik lohng reuua (น้ำพริกลงเรือ) – Literally translated as “boat embarking chili relish”, this particular boat seems to have drifted a long way from port and these days, the actual dish served in Thai restaurants is far away from the original version. We want to tell you the real story behind this dish and to present you with the original version’s recipe in its true character – as if the boat is still moored at the dock.
Considered by some to be the most famous, and the most delicious, dish in Thai cooking, the story of Massaman curry is interwoven with trade, politics and religion in 17th-century Siam. The story is filled with mighty kings, legendary explorers and unsolved mysteries, adding an air of magic and power to this already-heavenly perfumed dish, and thickening the plot of this full bodied, coconut-based curry’s birth.
This is an aromatic stew that leans into the sweet spectrum of the palate. An all-time Thai favorite, moo palo was introduced locally by the Chinese-Cantonese and Tae Chiew immigrants who flocked to the Kingdom in the early nineteenth century.
The name of this dish originates from two Chinese words: pah ziah and lou.
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