The Top Ten Thai Dishes Loved by Foreigners
Do you want to try something exotic and spicy? Thai food
is recommended to you. Eating Thai food, you will not
only enjoy its delicious tastes, but you will also get
benefit from the medicinal herbs used as ingredients in
each dish. To acquaint you with herbal Thai dishes, let
Thaiways present to you the recipes for top ten
Thai dishes best loved by foreigners with the medicinal
properties of herbs used in each dish.
The Khantok
Dinner
 When
travelling to the North of Thailand, do not miss khantok
(or khantoke) dinner. Khantok in the
Northern dialect means a wooden tray used for carrying
dishes. Round in shape, it is made of teak wood, varnished
or lacquered with 5 or 6 legs to support it. A Buddhist
monk in the North is credited with the making of the
first khantok. Then its use became popular
and a dinner where a khantok is used is known
as a khantok dinner.
In 1962, King Baudouin of Belgium visited Thailand as
a royal guest of King Bhumibol. During his stay at the
Royal Winter Palace (Bhubing Palace), he was entertained
with a khantok dinner accompanied by northern
folk dances.
At a khantok dinner, the
host and the invited guests sit on the floor around
the khantok, each of which serves 5 or 6 persons.
The tradition of wearing northern mohom costume
for a khantok dinner is no longer observed
today.
 The
main dishes on the khantok usually comprise
sticky rice, hang-le curry (Burmese-styled
curry), ho curry, khae
curry, om curry (spicy curry of entrails),
sai-ua (Northern Thai-styled), lap
(minced meat, half cooked and highy seasoned), man
phrik ong (a sauce of minced pork, tomatoes
and chillies) which usually goes with khaep
mu (crispy pork rinds), and khao soi
(noodles in curry soup). Eating with (the right) hand,
they scoop up a handful of sticky rice from the bamboo
basket and dip it into the curry or chilli sauce and
eat it.
After the meal, a dessert called
khao taen, which is made of fried sticky
rice covered with caramel, is served. Also served are
khiyo cigars and fermented tea, which
is chewed to help digestion. The khiyo cigar is made
of shredded tobacco and ground tamarind bark, or khiyo,
which can reduce the strong odour of tobacco.
While dining, Northern classical
dances are performed to entertain guests. One of the
most popular is fon lep or fingernail
dance, in which women dancers are dressed in Northern
Thai style, wearing long pointed brass fingernails.
The programme of dances and dishes may vary from restaurant
to restaurant.
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