Los Angeles Thai Restaurants

Jasmine rice, sometimes known as Thai fragrant rice, is a long-grain variety of rice that has a nutty aroma and a subtle pandan-like (Pandanus amaryllifolius-leaves) flavor caused by 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline. Jasmine rice is originally from Thailand. It was discovered as the Kao Horm Mali 105 variety by Sunthorn Seehanern, an official of the ministry of agriculture in the Chachoengsao Province of Thailand in 1954. The grains will cling when cooked, though it is less sticky than other rices as it has less amylopectin.

Jasmine rice is frequently served with Thai and Chinese dishes, as the subtle, nutty flavor and rich aroma are very pleasing to the palate.

Jasmine rice is often compared to Indian Basmati rice, another long grained rice variety. However, Basmati is aged before being sold, and has a different although equally delicious flavor. Both rice varieties tend to be less sticky than other forms of rice, though, and when cooked properly will form fluffy, light piles of slightly chewy, nutty, well-formed grains. Many cooks use the two kinds of rice interchangeably, although most agree that Thai food should be eaten with jasmine rice, if possible.

You can find authentic Thai Jasmine Rice on many Thai Restaurants in Los Angeles.

Shrimp paste or shrimp sauce, is a common ingredient used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisine. It is known as terasi (also spelled trassi, terasie) in Indonesian, Ngapi in Burmese kapi in Thai, Khmer and Lao language, belacan (also spelled belachan, blachang) in Malay, mắm ruốc, mắm tép and mắm tôm in Vietnamese (the name depends on the shrimp used), bagoong alamang (also known as bagoong aramang) in Filipino and hom ha/hae ko in Min Nan Chinese.

It is made from fermented ground shrimp, sun dried and then cut into fist-sized rectangular blocks. It is not designed, nor customarily used for immediate consumption and has to be fully cooked prior to consumption since it is raw. To many Westerners unfamiliar with this condiment, the strong smell can be considered unappetizing; however, it is an essential ingredient in many curries and sauces. Shrimp paste can be found in most meals in Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. It is often an ingredient in dipping sauce for fish or vegetables.

Shrimp pastes vary in appearance from pale liquid sauces to solid chocolate-colored blocks. Shrimp paste produced in Hong Kong and Vietnam is typically a light pinkish gray while the type used for Burmese Cuisine, Lao cuisine, Khmer Cuisine and Thai cooking is darker brown. While all shrimp paste has a notoriously pungent aroma, that of higher grades is generally milder. Markets near villages producing shrimp paste are the best places to obtain the highest quality product. Shrimp paste varies between different Asian cultures and can vary in smell, texture and saltiness. Therefore, the correct shrimp paste should be chosen for the food being prepared.

You can find authentic Thai Shrimp Paste on many Thai Restaurants in Los Angeles.

Fish sauce is a condiment that is derived from fish that have been allowed to ferment. It is an essential ingredient in many curries and sauces. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in Filipino, Vietnamese, Thai, Lao, and Cambodian cuisine and is used in other Southeast Asian countries. In addition to being added to dishes during the cooking process, fish sauce can also be used in mixed form as a dipping condiment, and it is done in many different ways by each country mentioned for fish, shrimp, pork, and chicken. In parts of southern China, it is used as an ingredient for soups and casseroles.

Fish sauce, and its derivatives, impart an umami flavor to food due to their glutamate content.

Some fish sauces (extracts) are made from raw fish, others from dried fish; some from only a single species, others from whatever is dredged up in the net, including some shellfish; some from whole fish, others from only the blood or viscera. Some fish sauces contain only fish and salt, others add a variety of herbs and spices. Fish sauce that has been only briefly fermented has a pronounced fishy taste, while extended fermentation reduces this and gives the product a nuttier, cheesier flavor.

You can find authentic Thai Fish Sauce on many Thai Restaurants in Los Angeles.

Nam prik is Thai chilli sauce or paste. Each region has its own special versions. It is prepared by crushing together chillies with various ingredients such as garlic and shrimp paste using a mortar and pestle. It is then often served with vegetables such as cucumbers, cabbage and yard-long beans, either raw or blanched. The vegetables are dipped into the sauce and eaten with rice. Nam prik may also be simply eaten alone with rice or, in a bit of Thai and Western fusion, spread on toast.

Thai food is generally eaten with a fork and a spoon. Chopsticks are used rarely, primarily for the consumption of noodle soups. The fork, held in the left hand, is used to push food into the spoon. However, it is common practice for Thais and hill tribe peoples in the North and Northeast to eat sticky rice with their right hands by making it into balls that are dipped into side dishes and eaten. Thai-Muslims also frequently eat meals with only their right hands.

Often Thai food is served with a variety of spicy condiments to embolden dishes. This can range from dried chilli pieces, or sliced chilli peppers in rice vinegar, to a spicy chilli sauce such as the nam prik mentioned above.

You can find authentic Thai Nam Prik on many Thai Restaurants in Los Angeles.

Pad Thai is a dish of stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, fish sauce , tamarind juice, red chilli pepper, plus any combination of bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken, or tofu, garnished with crushed peanuts and coriander. It is normally served with a piece of lime, the juice of which can be added along with Thai condiments. Pad Thai is one of Thailand’s national dishes.

Two different styles of Pad Thai have evolved: the version most often found in the streets of Thailand, which is relatively dry and light, and the version that seems dominant in many restaurants in the West, which is heavier and may be covered in red oil.

Though the dish had been known in various forms for centuries – it is thought to have been brought to the ancient Thai capital of Ayuthaya by Vietnamese traders – it was first made popular as a national dish by Luang Phibunsongkhram when he was prime minister during the 1930s and 1940s, partly as an element of his campaign for Thai nationalism and centralization, and partly for a campaign to reduce rice consumption in Thailand. The Thai economy at this time was heavily dependent on rice exports; Phibunsongkhram hoped to increase the amount available for export by launching a campaign to educate the poor in the production of rice noodles, as well as in the preparation of these noodles with other ingredients to sell in small cafes and from street carts.

During the recession following World War II, the post-war government of Field Marshall Pibul, desperate in its efforts to revive the Thai economy, looked for ways to stem the massive tide of unemployment. Among the occupations the government aggressively promoted to give the populace a way to earn a living was the production of rice noodles and the operation of noodle shops. Detailed instructions on how to make the noodles and recipes were printed and distributed around the country. From these efforts, rice noodles became firmly rooted in the country and have since become a widespread staple food.

You can find authentic Thai Fried rice on many Thai Restaurants in Los Angeles.

Khao Pad is a variety of Fried rice that is prepared in the style of central Thai cuisine. In Thai khao is rice and pad means of or relating to being stir-fried. One of the ways the dish differs from Chinese fried rice is that it is prepared with Thai Jasmine rice instead of regular long-grain rice. It normally contains a meat (chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, and crab are all common), egg, onions, and tomatoes. Green onions, coriander, and fried garlic are then mixed in. However, each individual place varies as it is a ubiquitous dish. Then seasonings are poured in, including soy sauce, sugar, salt, possibly some chili sauce, and the ubiquitous nam pla (fish sauce). These are stirred in, and then the dish is plated and served with accompaniments like cucumber slices, tomato slices, lime and sprigs of green onion.

Other dishes include Coconut Fried Rice (Khao Pad Maprao), and Pineapple Fried Rice (Khao Pad Saparod). Khao Op Saparod is a fancier fried rice pineapple dish with raisins and nuts and almost always comes served inside a cutout pineapple
You can find authentic Thai Fried rice on many Thai restaurants in Los Angeles

Thai food is internationally famous. Whether chilli-hot or comparatively blands, harmony is the guiding principle behind each dish. Thai cuisine is essentially a marriage of centuries-old Eastern and Western influences harmoniously combined into something uniquely Thai. The characteristics of Thai food depend on who cooks it, for whom it is cooked, for what occasion, and where it is cooked to suit all palates. Originally, Thai cooking reflected the characteristics of a waterborne lifestyle. Aquatic animals, plants and herbs were major ingredients. Large chunks of meat were eschewed. Subsequent influences introduced the use of sizeable chunks to Thai cooking.

With their Buddhist background, Thais shunned the use of large animals in big chunks. Big cuts of meat were shredded and laced with herbs and spices. Traditional Thai cooking methods were stewing and baking, or grilling. Chinese influences saw the introduction of frying, stir frying and deep-frying. Culinary influences from the 17th century onwards included Portuguese, Dutch, French and Japanese. Chillies were introduced to Thai cooking during the late 1600s by Portuguese missionaries who had acquired a taste for them while serving in South America.

Thais were very adapt at ‘Siamese-icing’ foreign cooking methods, and substituting ingredients. The ghee used in Indian cooking was replaced by coconut oil, and coconut milk substituted for other daily products. Overpowering pure spices were toned down and enhanced by fresh herbs such as lemon grass and galanga. Eventually, fewer and less spices were used in Thai curries, while the use of fresh herbs increased. It is generally acknowledged that Thai curries burn intensely, but briefly, whereas other curries, with strong spices, burn for longer periods. Instead of serving dishes in courses, a Thai meal is served all at once, permitting dinners to enjoy complementary combinations of different tastes.

A proper Thai meal should consist of a soup, a curry dish with condiments, a dip with accompanying fish and vegetables. A spiced salad may replace the curry dish. The soup can also be spicy, but the curry should be replaced by non spiced items. There must be a harmony of tastes and textures within individual dishes and the entire meal.

In the early days, there were no complicated utensils and equipments used to cook Thai food. Not to mention large cooking equipments such as pots, pans woks because they didn’t exist in those days. The only metallic utensil used in cooking was knife. Therefore, cooking techniques were limited at the initial stage of Thai cuisine. However, the Thai ancestors were so creative that even without complicated utensils, they could make several delicious dishes that still present until today.

The art of cooking Thai food has been developing over the years in accordance with the outside influences, especially from the west. With the advent of modern kitchenware, new ideas and techniques have been further enhanced. Today, a good Thai food cook can be more and more creative than in the early years.

However, no matter how things have been improved, some major typical methods of cooking Thai food still remain the same as they were in the past. The first is grilling. This method derived from the fact that Thailand is abundant in the supply of natural wood that can be applied to set the fire and cook food. Thai people normally grill meats and fresh seafood and eat them with dips (locally called as ‘Nam Phrik’) which has sweet-and-sour flavors so that they become tastier.

Another popular Thai cooking method is ‘Yam’ basically a kind of salad. But Thai-style salad is different from the western because the Thai dressing contains no fat in its ingredients, unlike mayonnaise and different types of Ranch that are high in calorie and fat. In cooking a dish of Thai salad, simply add a portion of salty seasoning such as fish sauce of salt, lemon juice, chili, and sometimes, garlic and shallot, and mix them together. Then, you can make several dishes of Thai salad be they shrimp salad, pork salad, papaya salad, beef salad and so on depending on a person’s creative ideas. Therefore, some can find a dish of ‘yam’ very delightful while its herb and spice ingredients are good for health as well.

Boiling is another typical way of Thai food preparation. Before the age of modern cookery, Thai people used clay pots to boil food. They also used clay pots to cook rice and make variety of soups. The famous ‘Tom Yam Goong’ also originated from boiling technique. Curries were also developed in the olden days as well but the present-day curries are much different from they were previously because ancient Thais did not use coconut milk in those spicy soups.

The art of Thai cooking evolved according to the cultural influences from other countries, mainly China and Western Europe. Thai people much welcome a Chinese quick-frying method as the Thais have created a large choice of stir-frying entries in their menu. Another influence from the mainland reflects in an extensive use of noodles in Thai recipes. While the Chinese deep-fry noodle and create savory sauces to mix, Thais apply it in many characteristically Thai styles. Thai noodles taste sweet, sour and sometimes spicy. A distinctive dish is Mee Krob, or crispy noodle.

During the reign of King Narai the Great coinciding with the reign of King Louis XIV of France, Thai food took a great leap forward. Foreigners and trades arrived in Thailand at our old capital in Ayutthaya. With them, they brought new ways of cooking as well as new ingredients. Thais did not use coconut milk in their food prior to the arrival of these foreign nationals. Westerners used to milk in their food suggested us to add coconut milk in our curries. Through experimentation the use of coconut milk in curries became the norm.

Coconut milk in those days was mainly used only in desserts and some dishes. It is an important ingredient as same as palm sugar and rice flour. With the arrival of the Portuguese, we were introduced to eggs in our ending meal. Such Portuguese dessert as golden threads and golden flowers, which are made of egg yolks and sugar syrup, are well known until these days. Some still think that these sweets are types of Thai national desserts but in reality they are Portuguese.

Chinese people migrated to Thailand, especially the Fukianese. They brought with them their eating culture and through generations develop their owner food which later became a part of Thai cuisine.

Western cuisine had the greatest influence on Thai cuisine from the reigns of King Rama V onwards. The beloved monarchs were educated in Europe and brought back with then western culture and western taste in food. From time to time you see this influence on the menu of some old style restaurants that serve Thai food but there are also stews available on their menu. Thais especially love beef tongue stew and this is definitely a left over influence from the western cuisine in the last 100 years.

Krating Daeng is a very sweet, non-carbonated energy drink. The drink is mostly sold in Asia but can be found in Australia where it is sometimes renamed “Thai Red Bull”. The recipe is based on Lipovitan, an earlier energy drink that had been introduced to Thailand from Japan. Krating Daeng sales soared across Asia in the 1970s and 1980s, especially among truck drivers, construction workers and farmers. Truck drivers used to drink it to stay awake during the long late night drive. The working class image was boosted by sponsorship of Thai boxing matches, where the logo of two red bulls charging each other was often on display. While often translated as “Red Bull”, the Thai name krating actually refers to the bull-like bovine gaur. The Thai product was transformed into a global brand by Dietrich Mateschitz, an Austrian entrepreneur. Mateschitz was international marketing director for Blendax, a German toothpaste company, when he visited Thailand in 1982 and discovered that Krating Daeng helped to cure his jet lag. He cooperated with T.C Pharmaceuticals, adapted the formula and composition to western tastes and launched Red Bull in 1987.

Pad khing is a Chinese-influenced dish that is popular in Laos and Thailand. Gai Pad Khing contains fried chicken and different vegetables like mushrooms, peppers and onions, but other meats may be used. The most important ingredient is the sliced ginger which gives the dish a very characteristic taste. It is served with rice. In Laos, regular chicken meat is sometimes substituted with chicken gizzards as an added delicacy.

Tom kha gai , literally “boiled galangal chicken” is a spicy hot soup in Lao cuisine and Thai Cuisine. This soup is made with coconut milk, galangal, lemon grass and chicken. The fried chillies add a smoky flavor as well as texture, color and heat, but not so much that it overwhelms the soup. The key is to get a taste balance between the spices. Thai-style Tom Kha Gai does not use dill weed, whereas Lao-style Tom Kha Gai usually contains “phak si” (dill weed), which is a common herb used in Lao cuisine. There are other versions made with seafood (tom kha talay), mushroom (tom kha het), and tofu (tom kha tofu). All follow a similar recipe.