Joanna James
No one visiting Bangkok is exempted from sampling the city's exotic flavours; the streets lined with food stalls and restaurants that offer irresistible flavours leave no chance for that!
A milder version of tom yum, tom kha kai is a soup dish flavoured with sliced young galangal, stalks of lemongrass, chillies, crushed shallots and strips of chicken. All these ingredients make for a very spicy dish unless you add coconut milk to it in order to boil the spicy level down. You will be served the dish with a topping of lemongrass, which is meant to tamper with the level of spiciness, and a bowl of rice if asked for it.
Much like tom kha kai, tom yum goong is another soup dish you can consume in Bangkok. A balanced blend of galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime, shallots, fish sauce and lime juice, with the addition of straw mushrooms and river shrimps, tom yum goong is the most classic Thai dish you can find anywhere in Bangkok.
The famous green papaya salad makes its appearance wherever you are in Thailand, be it apartments in Sukhumvit Bangkok or an upscale eatery, one item you are sure to see on the menu is som tum. The spicy green papaya salad is a classic originated in the north-eastern state of Issan, and now the entire world is familiar with its delights. The distinctive flavour is brought about by pounding green beans, garlic, chillies, cherry tomatoes and raw papaya strips. There can be regional differences: depending on where you are, you'll find versions made different by the addition of peanuts, crab meat and shrimps.
This is the famous red curry everybody's heard so much about. The curry is made of smooth coconut milk, red curry paste and meat. Before serving it to the diner, the chef would add a topping of lime leaves. Though it has a startling red colour, it delivers a mild taste, but if you are daring enough, you can get a dose of red chilli.
Known to everybody else as fried rice, kaho pad is a dish served for lunch in Bangkok. It's a simple dish yet delicious; leftover rice is tossed in a pan along with vegetables and a meat item. If you are up for a challenge, you can make it yourself provided that you have the kitchen facilities offered by the likes of Somerset Maison Asoke.
The unique flavour is achieved by the addition of green chilli. The curry mostly contains coconut milk with extras like bamboo shoots, cherry-sized eggplants, lemongrass, galangal and sweet basil. It is compared to tom yum soup, but this is no soup at all, this is a much thicker and richer curry paired with rice or bread.
The main ingredients of the dish are cashew nuts, chicken and vegetables. But honey, onions, pepper, soy sauce and chillies are responsible for its unique flavour. The dish has a mild taste and is, therefore, suitable for kids.
This is another salad dish you'll find in Bangkok. The dressing is made of sesame oil, lime juice, garlic, soy sauce, palm sugar and fish sauce, but the salad mostly contains chunks of beef. This is quite the common choice you get in Bangkok, but you can make it individualistic by pairing up with a bowl of rice.
Served mainly for lunch or dinner, pad krapow moo is always paired with rice. It is made of minced pork, green beans, soy sauce, fresh chilli, basil leaves and sugar.
This is one of the most popular dishes in Thailand. The mixture of beansprouts, onions, eggs and noodles is made edible by stir-frying it in a hot wok. The other ingredients included in the dish are dried shrimp, fish sauce, shallots, palm sugar, red chilli and garlic.
A true believer that the pen is a mighty weapon, ventures into reaching the minds of every reader with the earnest hope of leaving an indelible stream of thought.
A travel writer who has a passion for fashion and a deep interest in admiring new and exotic attractions around the world.
