I've lived in Thailand for several years now and one of the greatest pleasures here is the food. What always strikes me is how delicious and cheap the food is here. I also enjoy the recipes here on Thailandblog, they make my mouth water.
Every morning I start my day with a visit to the local market. The smells of fresh fruit, herbs and cooked dishes fill the air. I often buy a bag of rice with mango, a sweet and refreshing breakfast that only costs one euro. I also buy some fresh fruit such as mangosteen and bananas.
For lunch I like to enjoy a plate of Pad Thai. This is a dish of fried noodles with egg, some vegetables and sometimes some shrimp or chicken. It is prepared in front of you, at a small stall along the road. It costs almost nothing and the flavors are fantastic. The fresh lime and peanuts that they sprinkle on top make it complete.
In the evening I often try something different. A favorite of mine is the green curry with chicken. The curry is rich and full of flavour, with coconut milk, bamboo shoots and basil. This dish with a bowl of rice only costs a few euros, but it is so filling and satisfying.
What I also appreciate is how fresh the food is here. Many of the ingredients are locally grown and sourced from the markets, straight from the farmer. This makes every dish not only tastier, but also healthier.
The experience of eating in Thailand is truly unique to me. It's not just the food itself that is delicious, but also the whole experience surrounding it. It is a pleasure every day to be able to eat here without spending a lot of money.
Submitted by Ronald
Dear Ronald, I can totally relate to your story, I also enjoy Thai cuisine every day and even after 45 years of Thailand experience I occasionally come across something new, I am the kind of person who wants to try everything.
But if you have been following Thailand blog for a while, you should know that the Brussels sprouts supporters now want to destroy your story, they are now going to respond and tell you that nothing beats “Dutch cuisine” insofar as it already exists, according to nothing better than DE roodmerk to get back to the coffee story.
There are stories about sprayed vegetables, poor hygiene and what the farmer does not know he does not eat, read it and laugh about it and continue to enjoy Thai cuisine.
I also enjoy the Thai food and yes, the price is very attractive. But it is simply a fact that Thai farmers inject an incredible amount of poison and also substances that have long been banned in Europe because they are highly carcinogenic. That's why I try to buy organic as much as possible and make my salad myself. Nevertheless, I regularly go out to eat and then realize that I am ingesting agricultural poison. I try to compensate for this by taking extra supplements, such as vitamins and minerals, but also amino acids such as glutathione: https://www.menshealth.com/nl/gezondheid/a44442778/antioxidanten-glutathion/. It is known that farmers who ingest a lot of poison have a higher risk of Parkinson's: https://nos.nl/artikel/2490568-steeds-meer-mensen-met-parkinson-ook-twintigers-en-dertigers
In Thailand I only buy fruit with a thick skin because then you ingest less poison. So never strawberries or berries, they are pure poison bombs. Someone who knows this stuff once told me that if you squeeze sprayed strawberries, you can simply use the juice again as crop protection, pure poison. Still good to think about.
In the 50s-80s/90s, Dutch regularly grown food also contained poison and yet there are 20% elderly people in the Netherlands and this is also the case in TH. Is poison dangerous then?
Humans came from somewhere in Africa and eventually became Eskimos. The strongest conquer and that is a beautiful machanism for humanity and whether it is a disease or poison it should not matter, but humanity will save itself. The participants are sometimes faint of heart in that respect. Eternal life does not exist, but accepting it or wanting to postpone it with theoretical matters such as extra supplements is at odds with the idea that nutrition should be sufficient.
Health cannot be created.
Well, GeertP, I am absolutely not a 'Brussels sprouts supporter' or THE Red Brand addict, but that does not mean that I uncritically worship Thai cuisine, as some on this blog do. Too many dishes suffer from an overabundance of flavor enhancers and esophageal blistering, tear-jerking chili peppers, leaving little or nothing of 'flavor' in my eyes. In that sense, I think Thai cuisine is highly overrated, and I find 'better' food cultures elsewhere in Asia.
But if you like it, you should continue to enjoy it, it remains a matter of taste and the ancient Romans already said it: 'de gustibus non est disputandum', there is no arguing about taste. Everyone has their own right!
On average, I spend 6 to 8 months a year in Thailand and enjoy the food there every day. I will never, ever be seen eating a hamburger, spaghetti, pizza, or any other Western food during those months. I make many dishes myself, otherwise I eat at a simple stall on the edge of the road or in a simple Thai restaurant. And chili peppers? Delicious, sometimes the hotter the better.
Sorry, I found the food in Thailand boring after 3 weeks and always tasted the same. Effective street food was better than most restaurants. But you end up eating the same pad Thai in Bangkok as I do Lanta or Phi phi. Red curry is normally my favorite. Ultimately, it is impossible to eat without stomach problems afterwards.
I have lived here in Isaan for 12 years, I no longer have Isaan food, it is not very tasty, and I sometimes wonder if this food here is so healthy, I highly doubt it.
so my food is bought at Makro or Big C, not on the market where there is no control whatsoever.