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I remember first encountering Thai food around 1990ish and it seeming pretty exotic then. In the Chicago suburb where I live there are four within the boundarie

by dhosek 5y ago

I remember first encountering Thai food around 1990ish and it seeming pretty exotic then. In the Chicago suburb where I live there are four within the boundaries of the suburb plus another nine in the adjacent suburbs. When I lived in the near north side of Chicago there were easily a dozen Thai restaurants in the area bounded by the river, North Avenue and Wells Street, all of which had really nice decor, locations that couldn't possibly be cheap and menus at ridiculously low prices. I'm still not convinced that they weren't part of some sort of money laundering operation. The big thing that I think Thai offers is that it feels light and satisfying and healthy and delicious all at once in a way that other ethnic cuisines generally don't. The Bohemian cuisine that I grew up with was satisfying and delicious but definitely neither light nor healthy.

tayo42 5y ago
> Thai offers is that it feels light and satisfying and healthy and delicious Can agree but after spending some time learning thai dishes, there are a lot that are really not that healthy. There's a lot of sugar in dishes to offset the bitterness of fish sauce and other ingredients. Coconut creams, milk and oil add tons of calories.
- nont 5y ago
  >Can agree but after spending some time learning thai dishes, there are a lot that are really not that healthy. There's a lot of sugar in dishes to offset the bitterness of fish sauce and other ingredients. As a Thai, I can confirm this. Not really to offset, but make the dish more flavorful. They sometimes use a lot of palm sugar, but... maybe that's a tad healthier than cane.
  - ch4s3 5y ago
    A someone who enjoy the cuisine but isn’t deeply steeped in the methods, I would say it aims for balance in individual dishes in a way the some cuisines do not. There are certainly other culinary traditions that look for balance but they may approach it across a multi course meal, and think of it in different terms. The balance of salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and fattiness in some Thai dishes is quite remarkable though.
- toastal 5y ago
  One thing I find interesting about the foreign perspective on Thai food is considered quite vegan/vegetarian-friendly in the West, but unless it's the recently-finished Chinese Vegetarian festival (เทศกาลกินเจ), it's a bit difficult to get food for those with that sort of diet. Meat, particularly pork, is the default for everything and asking for a meatless main does not get you extra vegetables or a lower price, just less food. The fish and oyster sauces are easy to forget and are in everything. Heck, you don't get table salt to adjust your dish but fish sauce + birdseye chilies (พริกน้ำปลา).
pan69 5y ago
> The big thing that I think Thai offers is that it feels light and satisfying and healthy and delicious all at once in a way that other ethnic cuisines generally don't. To me Thai food has a tendency to be heavy, spicy and sugary. The way you describe Thai food doesn't resonate with me at all. If I didn't know you were referring to Thai food I would have assumed that you were referring to Vietnamese food because that's probably how I would describe that. Disclaimer: My wife is Thai and sampled plenty of Thai food over the past decade.
eBombzor 5y ago
> it feels light and satisfying and healthy and delicious all at once in a way that other ethnic cuisines generally don't. I feel the exact same way for Viet cuisine.

by dhosek 5y ago

tayo42 5y ago

> Thai offers is that it feels light and satisfying and healthy and delicious Can agree but after spending some time learning thai dishes, there are a lot that are really not that healthy. There's a lot of sugar in dishes to offset the bitterness of fish sauce and other ingredients. Coconut creams, milk and oil add tons of calories.

nont 5y ago
>Can agree but after spending some time learning thai dishes, there are a lot that are really not that healthy. There's a lot of sugar in dishes to offset the bitterness of fish sauce and other ingredients. As a Thai, I can confirm this. Not really to offset, but make the dish more flavorful. They sometimes use a lot of palm sugar, but... maybe that's a tad healthier than cane.
- ch4s3 5y ago
  A someone who enjoy the cuisine but isn’t deeply steeped in the methods, I would say it aims for balance in individual dishes in a way the some cuisines do not. There are certainly other culinary traditions that look for balance but they may approach it across a multi course meal, and think of it in different terms. The balance of salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and fattiness in some Thai dishes is quite remarkable though.
toastal 5y ago
One thing I find interesting about the foreign perspective on Thai food is considered quite vegan/vegetarian-friendly in the West, but unless it's the recently-finished Chinese Vegetarian festival (เทศกาลกินเจ), it's a bit difficult to get food for those with that sort of diet. Meat, particularly pork, is the default for everything and asking for a meatless main does not get you extra vegetables or a lower price, just less food. The fish and oyster sauces are easy to forget and are in everything. Heck, you don't get table salt to adjust your dish but fish sauce + birdseye chilies (พริกน้ำปลา).

pan69 5y ago

> The big thing that I think Thai offers is that it feels light and satisfying and healthy and delicious all at once in a way that other ethnic cuisines generally don't. To me Thai food has a tendency to be heavy, spicy and sugary. The way you describe Thai food doesn't resonate with me at all. If I didn't know you were referring to Thai food I would have assumed that you were referring to Vietnamese food because that's probably how I would describe that. Disclaimer: My wife is Thai and sampled plenty of Thai food over the past decade.

eBombzor 5y ago

> it feels light and satisfying and healthy and delicious all at once in a way that other ethnic cuisines generally don't. I feel the exact same way for Viet cuisine.