ISAN FOOD

Everybody knows the famous food of Thailand, which is a mix of spicy and sour tastes. Thailand is divided into four main area : North, Northeast, Central, South. Each area has its own culinary specialities.
The taste of the Northeastern (Isan) food is stronger, more salty, sour and hot than elsewhere in the country and some dishes receive the influence of Laos. One unique characteristic of Isan food is that pla ra (fermented fish) constitutes a main dish in almost every meal. It is plainly eaten with glutinous rice or added to other dishes.Basically, eating Thai food is a communal affair joined by two or more people sharing different dishes. So the greater the number of diners, the greater the number of dishes shared. These dishes are eaten together allowing the diners to enjoy the harmonious tastes of the whole meal. A typical Thai meal should consist of a soup, a fried dish, a hot salad (yam), a curry dish or a dip with fried fish and fresh vegetables. Besides, Thai food is normally served with a variety of condiments and sauces, e.g. fish sauce with chilies and vinegar with chilies. If you are trying hot Thai food for the first time, you should take plenty of You should also avoid eating chilies, especially the small red or green ones called phrik khi nu, which is a main ingredient in curries, hot salad and spicy fried dishes. Thai food is eaten with a fork and spoon and no knife as all ingredients are cut in slices or small chunks.

One of the most popular dishes in Thailand,is Som Tam, otherwise known as Papaya Salad. It is also an original northeastern food and is normally eaten with glutinous rice and grilled chicken. The meal is quite simple to make.

Papaya Salad [Som-Tum-Thai] (ส้มตำไทย)

Ingredients
1. Green papaya chopped, sliced 1 cup

2. Fresh bird chili 3-8 pieces

3. Plump tomato cut into half 2 pieces

4. Green Beans cut into 1' length 1 pieces

5. Garlic (small cloves) 1 teaspoon

6. Dried shrimp 1 tablespoon

7. Peanut roasted, peeled 1 tablespoons

8. Fish sauce 1 tablespoon

9. Lemon juice 2 tablespoons

10. Plam sugar 3 teaspoons

Cooking Instruction

1. Crush slightly chilies and garlic.

2. Add green beans, plump tomato, and peanut and crush them until well mixed.
3. Taste by plam sugar, lemon juice, fish sauce.

4. Add papaya, dried shrimp and crush them until well mixed. Remove to the plate for serve. Sprinkle with peanut.

5. Serve along with fresh vegetables such as cabbage, Beans Chinese water spinach


Spicy Papaya Salad[Som-Tum-Lao] ส้มตำลาว

Ingredients
2 cups coarsely graded unripe Papaya

1/2 cup diced tomatoes

1-4 small red or green chilis(in Isaan we often use 10 or more!)

2 garlic cloves

1 long squirt of fish sauce

1 lemon/lime (minao in Thai)

1/4 cup yardlong beans (green beans) if you wishDash of salt, sugar to preference (1 tsp)

Cooking Instruction

1. Combine chili peppers, garlic, tomatoes, salt,sugar, with mortar and pestle.

2. Squirt in some fish oil and squeeze the lemonjuice into the mix. Add the papaya in small groupsto make sure it mixes well.


Green Papaya Salad with crab[Som-Tum-Poo] ส้มตำปู

Ingredients
5 peppers

3 garlic

1 tomato (sliced)

1 eggplant (sliced)

1 fermented crab

1 handfull chopped papaya

1 tbsp. fish sauce

3 tbsp. fermented fish juice (Blarah)2 pieces lemon1 tsp. sugar or palm sugar

Cooking Instruction

1. Pound peppers and garlic together. Add tomato, eggplant, and fermented crab. Then, mix it with fish sauce, Blarah, lemon, and sugar.

2. Use a pestle to press and mix all the ingredients together.

3. Put papaya in and mix it by pestle. Now it's ready to be served.

4. Lay fresh vegetable, cucumber, cabbage, string bean or morning glory for example, on a side.TipUsing a pestle to pound and mix the ingredients with papaya makes the sauce get in the papaya better than stirring. It will also make your Somtam juicy.