02 November 2009

Session 3 of the Southeast Asian Cuisine Series: Thai Cuisine

By Shirley Ghozalli. Edited by Moira Blake. Photos are kindly provided by Imelda Lestariprakerti.

On Wednesday, 21st October, session 3 of the Southeast Asian Cuisine Series took place in T-Block, focusing on Thai cuisine. On this occasion, Fasai Puengudom, a first year student from Thailand, introduced 3 Thai dishes: Pad Krapow (= fried beef with basil leaf), Yum Tuna (= tuna salad with Thai style sweet sour dressing), and Kai Jeow (=fried eggs).

The Southeast Asian Cuisine Series is a project being carried out by the students as part of a paper called "Southeast Asia", taught by lecturer Lan Huong Nguyen. The paper investigates the politics, economic development, and international relations of the diverse countries of the Southeast Asia (SEA) region.

The ingredients from all the dishes are easy to obtain from the local market: fish sauce, chilli, lemon, basil leaf, and lemon grass. To most foreigners, the most popular Thai dish is Tom Yum, but according to Fasai, it is not an everyday food and is usually served on special occasions, including festivals and holidays. "In a communal dining hall at schools and workplaces in Thailand, the most common food offered is fried food. It only takes a short time to prepare and is easy to make. We use many kinds of ingredients to create many different types of fried food."

"Thai people love their food to be spicy and to have a strong taste. Bland food doesn't go well with us. Even in every noodle shop in Thailand, with every bowl of noodles, you can find side condiments, usually fish sauce and vinegar, each mixed with chopped chillies, and also peanuts, pepper, sugar, and ground chillies."

The next and final session of the Southeast Asian Cuisine Series, Vietnamese Cuisine, will be held on Wednesday, 18th November. Students and staff members are encouraged to participate in this last session. For more information, please contact the session leader, Imelda Lestariprakerti.

Some of the ingredients for making Thai dish

The chef of the day, Fasai Puengudom

Ready to be served: Pad Krapow (= fried beef with basil leaf), Yum Tuna (= tuna salad with Thai style sweet sour dressing), and Kai Jeow (=fried eggs)

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