The differences between Thai and North American food (part 2)

The quality of food in Thailand is in general far healthier here than in Northern America. Back home fast food establishments such as Harvey’s, KFC, and McDonalds are popular dinner and lunch restaurants. In Thailand, the ketchup and mustard stuffed burgers and greasy French fries are not the daily meals main ingredients.

If you eat like the Thais, than the products on your plate will contain fresh veggies, freshly caught seafood, barbecued beef, pork or chicken and rice. The drink used with a meal is usually a glass of plain water. No mega-sweet Coke or Sprite!

Pad Thai, a delecious, nutritious and cheap meal for less than a Buck!

The prices for the wide range of varied meals which are served by street vendors or at common Thai restaurants are truly cheap. You absolutely don’t have to spend more than US $2.50 for a substantial healthy meal including a drink. For just a couple of bucks more you may go dining out and enjoy a complete “all you can eat” buffet, including coffee or tea and dessert.

Guide to the finest restaurants in Phuket

If you really want to experience Thailand’s culinary culture than you shouldn’t only dine in the restaurants which serve the food you normally eat back home. Don’t be narrow minded and at least try to enjoy some of the typical Thai culinary delights during your stay in the country. It is healthy, delicious and inexpensive.

As you probably know, rice is the daily Thai meal’s basic ingredient. The Thais mostly even have rice (rice soup) for breakfast. I never really was a rice eater and always preferred potatoes. At most of the Thai markets potatoes are rather expensive (about $1 per kilo). However, I must admit still buying some potatoes once in a while as sometimes I like eating a good potato salad but by now it’s mainly rice what I eat and prefer.

At the markets in Thailand you can also buy many different fresh fruits such as strawberries, pineapples, mangos, watermelons, apples, grapes, dragon fruit, lemons, bananas, oranges, coconuts, jackfruit, rose apples, papayas and cantaloupes. Probably the king of all fruits here is durian. The strong aroma normally prevents visitors from sampling this yellow, soft fruit that is eaten by pinching it open. Most visitors will love the taste once they had the courage trying some of this fruit!

If you never visited Thailand and probably never will than it might be a good idea to visit a website offering some recipes of simple Thai dishes. This way you could even enjoy some superb Thai cuisine at home. Forget about the usual Western food for a while and try it! I’m pretty sure you’ll cook it more and more often once you’ve tasted it.

The first part of this article was posted earlier on this Chiang Mai Thailand blog