4 ms·

I just spent 5 months in Thailand and I don't know that I have any concept whatsoever what real Thai food is. I was staying close to Nana station and frequently

I just spent 5 months in Thailand and I don't know that I have any concept whatsoever what real Thai food is. I was staying close to Nana station and frequently eating at restaurants that I thought were what Thai people eat, not fancy places, and they were super economical. My Thai teachers were asking me about how sweet it was, and I reported back "not very". They said - ah-ha - as if I confirmed something they were already sure of. They said that entire section of Bangkok is fake Thai food adopted to foreigners. Really Thai food would be much, much sweeter and it is common for foreigners to complain about it. In fact, the way my teachers describe it, it sounds like the goal is almost always to maximize every flavor attribute simultaneously, as bizarre as that sounds. So it would be delicious to a Thai if it were super spicy, sweet, and salty.

clairity 5y ago
> "...sounds like the goal is almost always to maximize every flavor attribute simultaneously, as bizarre as that sounds. So it would be delicious to a Thai if it were super spicy, sweet, and salty." from what i heard, the goal is to balance these flavors (plus sour, iirc), not maximize them. that's why there's often the 4 spice jar set at each table, to adjust to taste.
Spionbil 5y ago
>My Thai teachers were asking me about how sweet it was While I haven't had really sweet thai food. I have bought a large variety of snacks at thai grocers. Something that always strikes me is how sweet they are. Whether it's prawn crackers, crisps, seaweed, dried fish or corn snacks. It's all so very very sweet. It's rarely to my western tastes as you say. Though that won't keep me from tasting every variety I can get my hands on.