“People in Thailand are always playing around with the recipes anyway,” she said.Ĭhongchitnant grew up in Hat Yai, near the southern border with Malaysia, where she ate pad see ew made with egg noodles instead of the standard rice ones later, the family moved to Bangkok, where restaurants advertise their use of spaghetti and linguine. (Thai noodle vendors often use flat woks, for the same reason.)Īlthough finding “authentic” ingredients can be a challenge, insisting on authenticity is often counterproductive, said Chongchitnant, who posts detailed recipe videos on her popular YouTube channel, “Hot Thai Kitchen.” “What you need is a pan that holds onto heat,” with a flat bottom that comes into direct contact with the flame. “Even if you can get a wok hot enough to sizzle, adding the ingredients cools it way down,” she said. (Source: Alana Paterson/The New York Times) The soy sauce collection of Thai chef Pailin Chongchitnant in her kitchen in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Thai restaurants outside Thailand, for many reasons, rarely cook food to Thai tastes.) But for those who live abroad, home cooking is often the only way to satisfy their cravings. Noodle stir-fries are classic street food, cooked to order by vendors who can wield giant woks and dip into dozens of bowls of ingredients. (Source: Alana Paterson/The New York Times)Įven for expert Thai cooks, getting these dishes just right in a home kitchen doesn’t come easily. Pailin Chongchitnant, a Thai chef, in her kitchen in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. “That’s what a really good pad see ew is like,” she said. “The sweet makes you crave salt, and the salt makes you crave sweet.” In Thai, she said, “glom glom” is the term for that can’t-stop-eating-it quality. “You know how caramel cheese popcorn is a perfect food?” said Pailin Chongchitnant, a chef in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is also because they have built-in “rot chaat dee” - the balance of tastes (hot, sour, salty, sweet and bitter), textures (crunchy and soft, chewy and crisp) and flavors (fishy and herbal, rich and light) that Thai cooks - and fans of Thai food - appreciate. These dishes are especially popular, said Limanon, not only because they are widely available, extremely inexpensive and legendarily delicious. Also Read | From Phad Thai Noodles to Som Tam Salad: Which Thai recipe would you like to try?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |