I love Thai food. I mean, I liked it a lot before but it’s a
full on affair now. The only regular Western food I’ve had since we touched ground is
yoghurt and muesli (thank you, German travelers!). Otherwise, it’s soups, stir
fries, curries, and yes, lots of street food.
Let me start with the why on this new love. Being a
Thai cook is an all-in deal. You get a workout, first at the market collecting
your garlic, chilies, scallions, meat, mushrooms, and various shrimp pastes,
pates, and parts. Then, you go to your garden or patio to collect the rest – basil,
kaffir lime, ginger, galangal, ginseng, and who knows what other culinary and
medicinal plants that take seed in this verdant country. The women, from
what I understand, are primarily the ones that make the curry pastes. After
washing, chopping, and carefully deciding correct proportions for the curries
(apparently Thai’s don’t use recipes, they follow what has been passed down),
they put it all in their huge mortal and start pounding away. It is said that a
good wife can be determined by the sound of her curry making. Seriously. In any
case, this is about a 15 minute intense arm workout for just one curry, which potentially explains
why so many tiny Thai women also give damn good Thai massages.
Zak and I took a cooking class to test our prowess at Thai
cooking, and I’d say we didn’t do so bad! We made papaya salad, egg rolls, Pad
See Ew, chicken & cashew stirfry, and two curries: green and Masaman, an
Indian influenced curry (by the inclusion of turmeric).
Korea is coming up for us all too quickly, and though I am
sure that we’ll enjoy good food there too I will be taking my new Thai skills
for some good home cooking! ~Ashley
More photos here!
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