Thai Food

By Author: Lucy Lee
Total Articles: 20
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One of my favorite eating places in Thailand is a small place, located off the road behind a petrol station. It has a name, though none of us call it by that, instead we affectionately refer to it as 'the hole in the wall'. Run by a family, who has been serving up delicious Thai food for generations, the elderly mother is always to be found sitting behind her table dealing with the money. Her husband, usually dressed in a sarong and a white vest, is always asleep, or smoking. And their three daughters are always busy running around serving the customers cool drinks, or piping hot Thai dishes.

The restaurant is nothing to look at, and I doubt it's in any tourist guide. In fact I'm sure a place like this would never be allowed to serve up food in a western country as it would be closed down by strict health and safety standards. I'm sure the odd dog or cat roaming around the place looking for tid bits would see to that. but you know, I have never, ever, in all my years of eating here, had a bad meal.

The food is always fresh and delicious, and cheap too. Where else should you eat a steaming bowl of noodles and fried ...
... rice for less than a couple of dollars?

The hole in the wall's most popular dish is pad Thai. A popular Thai favorite of fried noodles served with either chicken or pork, I ask the lady how many pad Thais she serves a day, and she just laughs, and replies, 'too many!' Her tray is loaded up with plates of rice and bowls of curry or soup. A big group of people has ordered a lot of food and she is looking busy. She piles the food down In front of them, and in true Thai stele they dig in immediately. No one waits for everyone to be served here, and food is not generally served in courses. Instead when a plate of food arrives everyone tucks in, sharing the food like a big family feast.

Traditionally eaten with both a fork and a spoon, or with chopsticks, knives are typically absent from the Thai dinner table. Soups are eaten with a Chinese style spoon, and these can also be used to serve out the food. The women generally serve the men, handing them the most delicious morsels and tid bits

More dishes arrive, and the existing ones are maneuvered on the plastic table cloth to make room. Within seconds the group is getting down to some serious eating. Before long my own dishes arrive. A coconut soup with prawns and of course a pad Thai. Gaining no points for presentation, or fancy decoration, the plastic plates are piled high with steaming food, smelling deliciously aromatic. Within seconds I too am devouring and relishing the taste of this wonderful food. Who needs a five point Michelin star when food tastes this good!
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