What I’m going to point out today is about “Northern Thai food”.
Northern Thai foods are originally created in the Northern part of Thailand. Some of them are influenced by the Burmeses who live in Thailand’s neighbor country. Because Northern Thai region is full of fruits and vegetables, fresh seasonal vegetables are the main ingredients for the receipts. (I like it! The good fresh ingredients can create good combinations which make the foods good for health!) The daily meal of this region usually include steamed glutinous rice with chili paste such as "Namprik Noom" or "Namprik Oong" and some chili soups such as Geang Care Khai (chicken & mixed vegetables with a northern spices) and Geang Kanoon (Young Jackfruit Curry).
These are some pictures of Northern Thai food from Google and Teenee.com…
Gaeng Care Gai - Chicken & mixed vegetables with a northern spices
Gaeng Khanoon - Young Jackfruit Curry
Hang Lay Curry = Northen Style beef/ pork curry
Larb, Jin Larb - Northern Ground Pork
Naam Prik Noom- Chillies Paste Dip
Do they look yummy? ^^
I also found a very interesting website about northern Thai food too. I’ll place it at the end of this blog for the one who want to get more information and see more yummy pictures!
Some of the Northern Thai food is not easy to cook. The foods have to be cooked delicately. Some even cause the cookers to go through many complex steps (all for the great delicious taste and less fishy.) For the ones who want to taste them, just follow what is said in the internet receipts is not enough to cook with the real taste of the Northern Thai.
Come to think of it…since there are some fast food and foreign foods which are more convenience, trendy and quick in our country at the moment…. since many modern people do not have much time to cook or even to teach their children to cook these local foods… now not many of the young adults and the new generations can cook Northern Thai foods (which need to take time to cook it). People who can cook this kind of food seem to be lesser and lesser. Well, at the present, many foreign countries are interested in our food but our local people care less and less about it. So, I am a bit worried. I start to wonder….what will happen if people all forget how to cook their own local food and start to search for the receipts in the internet? How funny it’ll be if in the future our local people have to learn to cook their local foods from foreigners? (Since foreigners love to know about our food more than ourselves)
What I want to say to the young northern Thai people is…come back and see what our local had! Northern Thai food shows Northern Thai Identity. Although now we can find some of the northern Thai foods in many places around the world, the real Northern Thai foods which cooked by Northern Thai people, putting in real Northern Thai ingredients are no where to be found except in our country, right? That’s why we should be proud of our food! ^^
This is the link that I talked about: http://library.cmu.ac.th/ntic/en_lannafood/index.php
First thing that I would like to say is, those pictures make me hungry!! Northern Thai food is delicious and spicy and it is the unique style of Thai food. I lived in Chiang Mai for about 5 years and I’ve never tried all kinds of Northern Thai foods because there are so many of them. Various kinds of Northern Thai foods attract the visitors to come and taste the foods.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Northern Thai food is a symbol of Northern Provinces, especially for Chiang Mai. It is like Bangkok as a capital of Thailand, and Chiang Mai is like a capital of Northern Thailand. Many people love to visit Chiang Mai because of nice weather and delicious foods. My favorite Northern Thai foods are Pasta Siamese Style and Pork-Tomato Curry (Khanom Jeen Naam Ngeow), and Spicy Northern Sausage (Sai Ooua) because they are tasty and spicy. Finally, I'd like to learn how to cook Northern Thai foods so much! Someone can teach me? :)
Oh I think you are talking about how northern thai food can be related to northern thai identity. Firstly, northern thai food has some background. It may lead to the history when Lanna once belonged to colony of Burma. It may reflect how people perceive life that they will never eat for enjoyment. I once heard that one fish can feed all family members and sticky rice is respectable. They will not throw it or leave it on the ground. Now northern food becomes part of the consumerism.
ReplyDeleteThey promote it for money, the cultural context has changed a lot and i started to regret when many rich people can eat this luxurious northern thai food happily while the local northern thai cannot afford it.
Maybe today i am too pessimistic I am upset when many people have various food to eat while the other do not have this chance. Materialism always deal with added values like cultural values to things they want to sell.
Anyway thank you for your topic which is provoking our brain to observe our daily life.
I was born in Chiangmai and live here for all my life. My parents are local people. When I was a child, I lived with my grandparents. They always ate Northern Thai food. It was strange that I didn’t absorb their eating habit. I thought that most Northern Thai food is too spicy and smelly .I ate a few things that I like. 3-4 years ago, I saw a small house near Phailom village. There were a lot of people eating there. I began to think that why many people came here. I made a big decision. OK. I would try it. When I first tried…..ahhh, it’s the taste. I realized that I had “a bias” because I never opened my heart to try new things. Something doesn’t always be like I think.
ReplyDeleteI once was asked by my American friends how to cook Thai food. Shamefully, I couldn't even tell them how because I could not cook. I used to think that I hade some reasons lost my own identity. I could not proudly say that I was a Thai girl because Thai girls are supposed to cook. However, I have changed my attitude toward myself. Even though I cannot cook but I still think, perceive things and behave myself in Thai ways. And it is enough for me to hold on my own identity of being Thai. It is not what you wear and eat can tell and show who you are, but it is what you think and behave reflect well who you really are. The way you eat is the best reflection of who you are rather than what you eat. Thais is still Thais if we still think and behave in Thai ways. It is difficult of not affecting and influencing by other culture and we can’t avoid getting influences from other cultures, but we can balance them. Although I cannot cook Thai foods but I still eat Thai foods and I can do many things in Thai style so it doesn’t mean that I forgot my own roots.
ReplyDeleteWowww..Yummy!!
ReplyDeleteSeeing from the blog, I think pictures are more outstanding than the text.They look so appetizing,then the postor should be the native northern people - Yes.
From my experience,northern Thai food is not far away from me,even I live in my hometown-west of Thailand I always have the northern dishes. My favourite food is Gaeng Khanoon - Young Jackfruit Curry,even it is not our typical dish in Tak-my hometown but my mom always try to make it for me. these show that the typical of Thai culture(not only in the north)is always the best.
Thai people adopt much more western culture such as fashion, sport and lifestyle and behaviors. I think that northern food has its own identity which is very attractive and dedicated. It shows our culture and lives in the past and the present. Moreover, Lanna dishes are our root of ourselves which combine us and our traditional world. I realize that nowadays, Thais don’t care about their heritages so they ignore to learn and keep them for next generation. For example, I can’t find Thais who do Muay Thai around CMU campus. I met many foreigners who are a Muay Thai teacher and Muay thai learners. It is very ashamed that I am Thai, but I must learn Muay Thai from ‘Farang ’. I accept that they can do it well and have Thai soul in their minds. It is good that Thai heritage is worldwide. However, I believe that we don’t want our children learn Thai tradition from ‘Farang’ instead of Thai.
ReplyDelete