Thailand's National Flower

Thailand's National Flower

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Pla-Tub-Tim

Thai cuisine blends elements of several Southeast Asian traditions. Thai cooking places an emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong spices. However, some are delicate and understated. We were served a whole steamed fish the other night. My Thai friend tells me that it is called 'Pla-Tub-Tim. The fish was beautifully garnished with Chinese cabbage, ginger, carrots, shallots, and small Chinese plums. The interior was flavored with lemon grass, slivered and flattened. The overall flavor was quite subtle.

As with other Asian cuisines, balance, detail and variety are of great significance. Thai food is known for its balance of three to four fundamental taste senses in each dish or the overall meal: sour, sweet, salty, and bitter. Renowned authority on Thai cooking, David Thompson, says that, "Thai food [is] about the juggling of disparate elements to create a harmonious finish. Like a complex musical chord, it's got to have a smooth surface but it doesn't [necessarily] matter what's happening underneath. Simplicity isn't the dictum here. ... to a Thai ... it's the complexity they delight in."

The recipe for Steamed fish with plums is as follows: Open the dorsal (bottom) portion of the fresh water fish and insert flattened, softened lemon grass.
  1. Fresh fish
  2. 8-10 minutes steaming time. 8 minutes for a smaller fish or 10 minutes for a bigger fish. Use your best judgment, and don’t forget to set your kitchen alarm.
  3. Discard the fishy and cloudy fish “water” after steaming. Contrary to common belief, it doesn’t add  flavors to a steamed fish dish. If any, it will leave a bitter–from the fish guts if the fish was not cleaned properly–and fishy taste.
  4. Rock sugar. Wonder why the soy sauce is so good that you can just eat plain steamed rice with the soy sauce mixture?  Rock sugar is the secret.
  5. Use oil. Heat up some oil in your wok and pour it over the fish before adding the soy sauce. It gives your steamed fish that perfect sheen before you top it with the soy sauce mixture.
  • slivered ginger and carrots
  • scallions (the leafy part)
  • parsley (cilantro)
  • Chinese plums
  • Chinese cabbage
  • Lemon grass (slivered and pounded flat)
This amazing fish is served whole, garnished with lightly steamed vegetables (see above). The finished product is delicate, but is a sensory delight.


"With rice in the fields and fish in the waters" runs a stone-carved inscription in Thailand. Those waters include rivers, lakes, ponds, canals (also known as khlongs), and the flooded rice paddies. Freshwater fish have long been an integral part of the Thai diet. Freshwater fish is in abundance in northern Thailand.

Visitors from Europe and the U.S. are probably more familiar with trout as a freshwater fish and, in recent years, these fish have been farmed and produced at one of the Royal Projects on Doi Inthanon. The market tends to cater to the more prestigious hotels and restaurants in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. However, the local freshwater fish is every bit as delicious.  Because the flesh of river fish tends to taste delicate it lends itself to the subtle combinations of herbs and spices so appreciated in Thai cuisine.

The following lists some of the fish served in traditional Thai restaurants. By the way, "Pla" is the Thai word for "fish"; "Nam Pla" (fish sauce) is the substitute for salt used in most Thai cooking.

Pla Chorn: from the catfish family, it is prepared as a soup or in savory "cups'. The soup -- Tohm Yaam Pla Chorn -- is lemony spicy and thick with chunks of fish meat, chopped tomato and baby white onions. The savory "cups" -- Hor Mok Pla Chorn -- are actually small casings crafted from banana leaves. Fish meat and shredded cabbage is layered in the "cup" and gently steamed.

Pla Doog: Also of the catfish family, is prepared in two different styles.

1.) Yaam Pla Doog Foo; the fish is steamed and the flesh is separated from the carcass. The meat is "teased" into thread-thin strips which are flash-fried to a crunchy crispness. This "nest" of golden crispiness is served on a bed of lettuce with a spicy sauce of lime juice, chili and peanuts.

2.) Pla Doog Tawd Paad Prig -- deep fried chunks of the meaty flesh which, when crisp, are combined with a platter of fried vegetables, chilies and herbs.

Pla Grai: This fish is uniquely marked with a line of 5 to 10 "eyes" along the underside. The flesh is of a very soft texture, and is usually ground/minced and mixed with flavorsome herbs and shaped into small patties. These fish cakes are deep-fried until cooked through and served with a sweet dipping sauce as a starter. The dish is called Tawd Mun Pla Grai. A dish of Hor Mok Pla Grai can be prepared similarly to Hor Mok Pla Chorn above.

Pla Boo: A smaller and excellent alternative to Pla Chorn, this fish is usually served whole. In the dish -- Pla Boo Neung Manow -- the fish is placed on a flat fish-kettle and gently poached, over charcoal or low heat, in a piquant broth of its own juices, limes and slivers of fresh ginger. Served on the fish-kettle and garnished perhaps with finely chopped spring onion sand minced garlic, this dish makes a flavorful and aromatic centerpiece for any dining table. Pla Boo Tohm Sohm is a soup with mild tamarind, ginger, and shallots.

Pla Nua – On: Is a rather flat body, high back, and long fish, with clean appearance. One should be careful about bones though the flesh is quite delicious. There are several dishes that can be prepared with this fish -- depending on cooking styles:
  • Tawd Gratium Prig Thai --fried and topped with salty garlic, Shoo Shee -- fried and topped with chili sauce.
  • Paad Prig Khing -- fried and topped with ginger and spices.
  • Tohm Sohm -- mild spicy and sour soup of ginger,shallots, and tamarind.
  • Gang Sohm -- mild spicy and sour soup of vegetable with this Pla Nua - On.
Pla Yeesok: This fish has beautiful golden scale rows between long rows of black. This fish also has delicious meat with few bones. It can be cooked in lemony spicy soup called Tohm Yaam Pla Yeesok. It can also be prepared in a Thai-styled salad, Yaam Pla Yeesok, as well as in Laab Pla -- marinated minced fish meat with herbs, peppermint, chili, and vegetable.

Pla Tapian: This fish has tasty meat but plenty of skinny bones. This fish can be prepared in three different categories.
1.) Can be prepared as soup known as "Tohm" -- depending on the directions of taste.
  • Tohm Kem Pla Tapian is a salty-sweet soup. 
  • Tohm Yaam Pla Tapian is a hot spicy sour soup.
  • Tohm Ohm Pla Tapian is a soup with mild tamarind and ginger.                                        
2.)  Pla Tapian Tawd is a deep fried dish with garlic.
3.) The fish is grill smoked Pla Tapian Yaang and cooke din different ways.

Pla Taypo and Pla Sawai: Both fish are in the same family with similar size and do not have scales. The former has black marks on left and right sides over each fin. The 2-3kilogram fish can eat everything including manure of both animal sand human beings, which does not bode well for the sensibilities of Westerners. Nonetheless, the meat is tasty, though a rather strong odor which can be eliminated by using garlic, spice, and herbs along with deep frying -- Pla Taypo (or Pla Swai) Tawd.
A second choice could be Pla Taypo (or Pla Sawai) Raad Prig (Shoo Shee) -- fried and topped with chili sauce. A third choice is red curry fish -- Gaeng Ped Pla Taypo (or Pla Sawai). A last choice would be grill smoked --Pla Taypo (or Pla Sawai) Yaang.

Friday, May 11, 2012


There are roughly 74 differing languages among the people who come down from the mountain to sell their vegetables and fruit. The elevation of the mountains is not so high, only about 5,000 feet. Chiang Rai is situated between two mountain peaks, called the Daen Lao Range (located in Burma or Myanmar, as it is now known) & Phi Pan Nam Range, which means, “The spirits are distributing the waters.”  This is a river valley: the Mae Kok River flows out of the Mekong River through these parts, hence the name of the mountain range. The people from the foothills come down with their fruits and vegetables and sell them at the marketplace: scallions, tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, mangoes, etc ...  My house sets outside the former gates to the city, which are no longer there, and beyond the moat, which still exists. I cross over daily to go to school, to church, and to the market place. On the corner is the tea shop where I will go to purchase teapots before I leave. They are exquisitely beautiful!

Today I wandered, along with a colleague, into a Buddhist temple. The monk graciously allowed me to take his picture and then refused payment. The Thai king was once a Buddhist monk. This is a standard rite-of-passage among males. It is an emotional aspect of family life, a part of the culture, and embedded deeply within the national psyche. Buddhism, capitalism and patriotism are basic tenets of life here. They commingle with ease, sharing the same terrain.

The king is deeply revered by the Thai people. Because this is so, every restaurant, bank and school hangs his picture and that of the queen. This tradition is also seen in Buddhist temples. He is a good king, looking after his subjects, taking care of their needs, and caring about them. He is considered something of a role model and a renaissance man: a musician, an inventor, and a photographer.

The king was born on a Monday and the color attached to that day is yellow. Thus, on Monday, many wear yellow. There is a color attached to each day of the week: Sunday is red, Tuesday is pink, Wednesday is green, Thursday is orange, Friday is blue, Saturday is purple. The Thai people value harmony and unity, while we in the West prefer individuality and independence. A little bit of each is helpful. Despite their respect for harmony, Thai people are colorful, vocal and present. They don't lack originality by any means.

The Temple and the streets of Chiang Rai


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The seasons in Thailand seem marked by heat (more or less), and rain (more or less). This is the hot/rainy season. Perhaps there will be a less hot/rainy season, a less hot/less rainy season, and a less hot/more rainy season, but no discernible change in light. Currently, the sky opens up, thunder rolls and cracks. It's quite marvelous. Then comes the deluge. It stops for a moment and then begins again. It is refreshing because it wipes away the smog and the noise for awhile.

The house where I live is spacious. The windows open jalousie style. The house is located behind a wall, with several other houses, inside a wrought iron fence.  It has a communal sensibility. The grounds are immaculately kept.  My neighbor is a Spaniard and his wife is Thai. He teaches at my same school. There is also a couple from the Dominican Republic who teach at the International school.  School begins here on May 16th. I've attended orientation, though I'm still mystified as to the system. I'll be team teaching with a Thai teacher, which will, no doubt, prove helpful in negotiating this new system.

I've traversed Chiang Rai from one end to the other on foot. It's a fascinating place, full of open air markets, temples, gardens, lush growth and flowers.  The Thai people are gracious in the extreme. They have seen to me from the first moment I arrived: taking me for a meal, shopping for essentials, and understanding my strange western ways. I wish we Americans were as gracious to newcomers amongst us. Even strangers try to help me. One gentleman sent his teen-aged son over to inquire if I was lost (I was) and to direct me toward home.

Suwadeekah!