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| Sunday, 23 May 2004 |
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"An item most in demand is the soup Tom Yam," says "Jim" (Siriponglaijad), the first in seniority of the three Thai chefs, dishing up the Thai fare at Siam House. "Equally popular are Spicy Papaya Salad, Thai Green or Red Curry, Spring Rolls and Phat Thai Noodles. "Tong" (Panya Supayuan), the second-in-command, and "Savan" (Suwangharasi), the third-in-rank, smile and nod in assent. Jim who has been with the restaurant almost since it opened in 1993, is kept busy on feet, demonstrating the hospitality trade of Thailand, hailed as the "Kitchen of the World", and at the time the Sunday Observer camera clicked him into focus, all three chefs were bending over the cups of sauces and condiments, without which a Thai meal would not be complete. "Today, Thai hotels and restaurants have gone worldwide and have become the biggest exporters of food in the world," Lionel P. Fernando, Managing Director, Siam House. The popularity of Thai food is due its subtle blend of nutrition, naturalness, colour and taste and one need not worry about obesity or cholesterol as the food is low in saturated fat, he added. A Thai meal usually is made up of an appetizer (e.g. prawn cakes), a soup (eg. Tom Yam), and a main course of green curry (with green chilli) or a red curry (with red chilli) or a curry with basil or chilli or pepper and ginger, all made up of natural ingredients. "Thai rice come in four varieties of steamed, fried, spiced or pineapple sweet rice," explained Fernando. "The noodles can be spicy or Phat Thai or can come in soup of noodles, which you find many Thai roadside vendors selling." "The desserts come with a rice base, an egg base or a fruit base. Or, else, plenty of fresh fruits like Rambutan, Mangosteen, Sapodilla, Rose Apple, Pomelo, Crab Apple, Mango, Papaya and Durian are served. Sometimes, the Rambutan is served with a piece of pineapple inside." For Thais, food is a delicate balance of sweet, sour, salt and spices. Sweetness is obtained from sugar; sourness from tamarind and vinegar; saltiness from fish sauce and oyster sauce; and spiciness from chilli, pepper, garlic and ginger. Piquancy comes from the use coriander root and leaves and lemon grass. The healing power of Thai food is supposed to be due its naturalness. Food in different Thai regions differs. The fertile central region serves soft, fragrant, boiled rice with local vegetables and fish, with spices such as garlic, salt, black pepper and fish sauce. Rice is served with three to five dishes with a soup, a red curry, salad, vegetables fish, beef or omelette. The most important ingredient here is the sweetness. The north region, which was under Burmese (Myanmar) and Laos, serves a steamed, sticky or glutinous rice. Ginger, tamarind and tumeric are the favoured spices and the dishes are comparatively mild. The north-east's speciality is the heavy seasoning, with a lot of herbs. The south, bordered by the sea, serves a variety of sea foods, lobsters, marine fish, crab, squid, scallops, clams and mussels. Coconut milk, oil, kernels are used extensively. Here, you find a high degree of Muslim influence and Sa Te chicken/beef with spicy peanut sauce. The style of Thai eating is characteristically oriental. All Thai dishes are ordered together, unlike the Western eating habit of ordering various courses separately. Thai dishes are placed on a mobile, circular tray and the family turns it around, helping themselves from each dish. Thai meals times are communal occasions - a family dinner, a get-together of friends or a business meeting. Thais do not enjoy large chunks of meat or fish, and since all meat is removed from the bones, no knives are needed. Chopsticks are used only when noodles are featured in the menu. At a Thai meal, start with a titbit such as Sa Te, fish cakes or puffed rice cake with herbal topping. Then go for a spicy, hot and sour Thai soup. Then dip into a main meal of sweet and sour and spicy. Top the meal with a dessert like custard in pumpkin, taro balls in coconut cream, banana cooked in coconut milk, or go for the joyful variety of fresh fruits which Thailand can offer. Eat as much as you like and be assured that you do not have to worry about being a roly poly plum pudding! |
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| Produced by Lake House |
There is no karaoke. Or music. But the Thai expatriates, tourists or
families from the Colombo business circles coming to Siam House, one of
the best Thai restaurants in town, can expect an authentic Thai dinner,
made from ingredients arrived fresh from Thailand.
