Blog post #16 4/16 Rough draft of your Ed. Nar.

"Thai food is very hard to cook!" Many people and even Thais say this to me.  You might expect that Thais should know how to cook Thai food, though many Thais do not know or are even scared to cook Thai food.  In Thailand, it is not expensive to eat out - especially street food.  Many Thais prefer to buy street food rather than cooking food for themselves.  As the youngest daughter, I had my mother and many siblings to cook for me.  Homesick and suffering from culture shock after moving to the USA forced me to learn how to cook Thai food.  After I explored and cooked for a while, I started to get numerous compliments.  I would like to say to everyone that if I can cook Thai food, you can too!

               When I was a kid, I made many mistakes in the kitchen while I helped my mom or my siblings to cook.  I made so many mistakes that I became scared to cook.  For instance, my sister asked me to marinate short pork rib for deep frying.  I was supposed to marinate with brown sugar, ground white pepper, oyster sauce, and minced garlic.  She told me to guess the measurement of the ingredients by taste – no measurements!  Deep fried short rib should be a little sweet because it is served with a spicy sour sauce on the side.  I love the richness of flavorful food.  So to make sure that my ribs were very flavorful, I put three times the amount of spices in that my sister recommended.  The ribs came out terrible!  Not even deep frying them could make them taste good.  Nobody could eat it, not even myself.

After that, I told myself I should just wait outside the kitchen and enjoy eating the food when it was done.  When I moved to the USA, I could not bring my family with me.  Luckily, I got a job at a Thai restaurant.  I started to copy and ask some techniques from the chef.  I started with the basic meals like stir fried mixed vegetables.  When my first Thai food came out not only edible but actually tasting good, I was so proud of myself.  When I gained more confidence and experience, I cooked for my family and friends.  Whenever I feel stressful, cooking Thai food makes me relax.  Who would not enjoy and be happy to eat such lovely food with a great aroma and flavorful textures taste in their mouth?

Thai food is not as difficult to cook as many people think; especially, the favorite menus that everyone likes.  Thai curry has so many varieties of curry: green curry, panang curry, red curry, and so on.  The main basic ingredients in every curry are curry paste, coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce, vegetables, and any type of meat you prefer.  For example, panang curry and red curry are almost the same.  For panang curry I will not add more water, broth, or vegetables.  I stir red curry paste with coconut milk for just a little while.  Then I add the meat into it.  Whenever the meat gets done, I add the rest of the coconut milk.  Then I add sugar and fish sauce to the taste I like.  Many Thai restaurants have made Thai curry too sweet for the American taste which I’d rather not eat on my own Thai food.

When I see the sauce get a little bit thick, it is time to serve it with some hot steamed rice.  Furthermore, if I am in the mood for red curry, I just add water and vegetables into the sauce.  Red curry will have a thinner sauce, but it is not so soupy like a soup.  The juice from the fruits and vegetables (like pineapple, bamboo, etc.) will create its own unique taste.  I can make either panang curry or red curry by just adding water and vegetables.