Tapping into her Thai-Chinese roots, Surya Preechapiputpong, chef and co-partner at a new delivery kitchen, is here to offer a fresh perspective to Thai food with a myth-buster guide
Given its similarity to Indian cuisine, it hasn't taken us too long to warm up to Thai food, especially the soups and curries that are infused with the flavours of coconut milk, chilli, ginger and coriander. However, much like Chinese cuisine, there are significant differences between the real deal (the one you've had on your Bangkok trip) and the one that is tweaked to suit our palate here.
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Surya Preechapiputpong is chef-partner at Thaiphoon, a newly-launched experiential delivery kitchen that she runs with husband John Macedonius Fernandes. Thaiphoon is inspired by Preechapiputpong's Thai heritage and the traditional noodle shop that she ran in Thubluang, a village in the province of Nakhonpathom. Her broth noodle bowls and curries are an amalgamation of herbs and spices with spicy, sweet, crunchy, and chewy variations.
Surya Preechapiputpong
Preechapiputpong learnt cooking by watching her mother, and thinks of Thai food as an inclusive cuisine that's all about malleability and adaptiveness. “It takes in many sub-cultures of the bordering countries into its fold to create a unique version that is an offshoot of its own heritage,” she tells us. With her signature Kuay Tiaw Gai Tun, Suki Nam, Bamee Kiew Tomyum Gai, along with crowd favourites like Massaman and Laksa, she hopes to lend a touch of authenticity to the array of Thai offerings in Mumbai. But before that, Preechapiputpong wants to bust prevailing myths regarding Thai food in India.
Thai curries have a thick consistency
Like most Indian homemade curries, Thai curries-red, green and Massaman-have different variations across Thailand. However, there's no hard and fast rule when it comes to consistency. While the curries are rich due to the coconut base, they are not visibly creamy like, say, the gravy in butter chicken.
It is hot and spicy
It's a misguided notion that Thai food is fiery. It's more about the texture, colour and use of ingredients with medicinal benefits in order to impart flavour. Chillies aren't added to render heat, but to balance the taste and eliminate the microbes. You don't have to bite into a pepper flake, lemongrass or galangal to savour the flavour. They exist in a subtle form in most dishes. The dried red chillies in the red curry and the fresh green chillies in the green curry contribute a different flavour profile to each. As for Massaman, the spices-nutmeg, cinnamon-aren't really Thai; they were brought by Arab traders and became an integral part of the cuisine in South Thailand that saw trade flourish.
It's too greasy
In Thai cuisine, most dishes are stir-fried, while others are either grilled, blanched or steamed. There are several soups, curries and rice and noodles that are mostly pan-fried, and scrumptious. Like any other cuisine, there are deep-fried dishes, but you can't generalise.
It's fancy and elaborate
Frankly, it's quite the opposite. Real Thai food is simple and inexpensive. It is all about appealing to the senses. That's why, presentation plays a huge role in our cuisine. That said, the recipe is fairly straightforward and made using low-cost, local ingredients. It's the reason why street food and takeouts are popular. For us, decor is of little importance, and we can travel miles to get food from a street stall we particularly like.
Ingredients are tough to come by
For cooking elaborate Thai food at home, you'll be required to stock a few things in your pantry: two kinds of soy sauce-light soy and dark soy (you can throw in sweet soy too), shellfish sauce (fish sauce), palm sugar, yellow bean sauce, dried shrimp (optional), rice flour and dried chillies (available in most Indian homes). Fresh ingredients like galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and basil are now easily available as Thai Mix with any local vegetable vendor, who stocks exotic veggies because they are grown locally. Both these packaged and fresh ingredients are easily available online as well. Yes, they are different from Indian staples, but it wouldn't take you long to rustle up a quick Thai meal if you have these ingredients handy.
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