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12.6 Regional Dishes

Northern Thai food Northern food is quite distinctive. Instead of the soft, boiled rice of the Central Plains region, northerners prefer a steamed sticky variety and traditionally eat it with the fingers rolling small handfuls into balls which are then used to scoop up more liquid dishes. Coconut milk, which is widely used as an ingredient in much of central and southern Thai cooking, plays an unimportant role in the North, where the curries are usually clear rather than thickened. The fondness for ‘khao neow’, or “steamed sticky rice” shows the influence of neighboring , as do the northern kinds of ‘nam prik’, the basic sauce that comes with every Thai meal, which range from a relatively mild minced and tomato mixture ‘nam prik ong’ to a very hot ‘nam prik tadaeng’ made mainly of dried red chilies. Burmese influence is seen as well, particularly in such popular dishes as ‘gaeng hang lay”, a pork curry that uses ginger, tamarind and turmeric for its distinctive flavor and ‘’, a curry soup with egg noodles and chicken , pork or , topped with shallots, pickled vegetables and slices of lime. One of the favorite regional specialties is ‘name’, a spicy pork eaten in a wide variety of ways and probably the delicacy northerners miss most when they move away. While some are highly seasoned, the curries and salads, ‘yams’ of the North are generally milder than those of central and northeastern Thailand, although chili-hot sauces are always available for those who want a stronger flavor. The traditional form of meal in the North, especially when guests are being entertained, is the ‘’ dinner – ‘khan’ meaning ‘bowl’, and ‘toke’ a low round table made of woven bamboo, or in a fancier version, red lacquerware. Diners sit on the floor around the table and help themselves to assorted dishes placed on it. Sticky rice is always provided, and nowadays, plain rice as well, along with one or two curries, a minced-meat dish, a salad, raw and pickled vegetables, fried pork rind, and a variety of sauces and seasonings. Dessert will generally be fruit.

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Vocabulary 1. Thickened -ขน 2. Turmeric - ขมิ้น 3. pickled vegetables - ผักดอง 4. delicacy - อาหารอันโอชะ 5. woven bamboo - ไมไผสาน 6. lacquer ware - เครื่องเขิน 7. fried pork rind - แคบหมู 8. seasonings – เครื่องปรุง

a. True or False

______1. Soft, boiled rice is eaten with the fingers in the North of Thailand. ______2. Curries are usually thick in the North because of coconut milk. ______3. Food from both Laos and Burma can be found in the North. ______4. Ginger, tamarind and turmeric are kinds of ingredients that add flavor to food. ______5. Diners sit on the floor in a ‘khantoke’ dinner.

b. Match the English names with their Thai names.

______1. curried noodles a. เนื้อเค็ม ______2. barbecued chicken b. ขาวเหนียว ______3. sun dried beef c. แหนม ______4. sticky rice with beef d. ขาวซอย ______5. fried pork rind e. ไสอั่ว ______6. northern spicy sausage f. ขนมจีนน้ําเงี้ยว ______7. spicy pork sausage g. แคบหมู ______8. white noodles with spicy meat sauce h. ไกยาง