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If your aim is to eatwell while doing your body a good
turn, Thai food is the cuisine for you, writes Aaron Espana
If there is an obvious drawback to the information age, it
is that we are bombarded with constant reminders that if it
feels too good or tastes too delicious it is probably bad
for our health. Fortunately, a few of life’s simple pleasures,
like Thai food, buck that trend. In fact, if you do it right,
a night out treating yourself to a delicious local meal can
prove downright healthy for you. Understanding Thai food’s
salutary effects breaks down to a few simple factors. Armed
with a little knowledge of the food itself, some intuition,
and a dash of local wisdom, you are in for a revivifying time
at the table.
The good news is that the government is here to help. When
it kicked off its Food Safety Year in 2004, this brought to
light many issues regarding food preparation and sanitation
that had previously been ignored by the government and the
country’s citizens. The programme successfully educated
the public and vendors alike. Further, the government
created a board to certify establishments that meet specified
cleanliness and safety standards, with those meeting the requirements
given the Clean Food Good Taste emblem to display in their
windows or even on their food carts. The efforts received
official WHO recognition last year. Although more work remains
to be done – for instance calling for mandated certification
– it is clear that the government plans to continue building
upon its successful initial efforts to provide for consumers’
healthy dining.
Also in diners’ favour, Thai food naturally lends itself
to healthy eating styles on several fronts, as borne out in
the fact that Thais suffer some of the lowest instances of
heart disease in the world. This is because traditional meals
fall in line with food pyramid guidelines calling for plenty
of vegetables, some rice, smaller portions of meat, and a
minimal use of fats for cooking. Eating the Thai way, with
shared dishes together with rice, is one of the easiest ways
to follow common practices for a healthy diet. And if you
are concerned about dishes like curry with heart-clogging
coconut milk, then avoid or replace them, for example by substituting
regular curry with green jungle curry, which is every bit
as good but without the coconut milk.
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Another contributing element to Thai food’s healthiness
is an emphasis on freshness in food preparation. Thai culture
does not rely heavily on canned and frozen goods like the
west, and a daily trip to the market is part of the Thai lifestyle.
A good example of the freshness is the national salad, som
tam, rich in vitamins A, C, K as well as calcium. It is made
from shredded green papaya, tomatoes, garlic and chillies
fresh from the fields and bursting with nutrients and the
flavours of life. The freshness factor extends to a local
preference for eating seasonally as well. Despite the global
economy in which many foods accrue significant air miles before
arriving on the plate, Thais still tend to select in-season
native ingredients. The practice ensures nutritious, flavourful
food.
A component of many Thai meals will be fish, recognised as
brain food and rich in omega-3 oils. Whether you dine along
the coast in the south or riverside in the middle or northern
regions, be sure to enjoy pla pao, simple grilled local fish
often stuffed with an aromatic combination of herbs such as
lemongrass, basil and black pepper.
And speaking of herbs, Thai cuisine involves an abundant
use of herbs, both fresh and dried. Thais cook with them as
well as eat fresh-picked herbs and leaves with many of their
dishes. They recognise the concept of “samunprai pen
ya”, or herbs are medicine. More than folklore, this
is what nowadays is referred to as ancient Thai wisdom. The
ideas are akin to the Chinese tradition of looking at food
as medicine for the body, and the people here have been using
unique local herbs for centuries. Interestingly, Thais have
taken to a whole family of dishes influenced by Chinese medicine
and tradition. Having adapted the dishes to suit their own
tastes, Thais eat several delicious items stewed in herbs,
among them anise, cinnamon and mace in a soysauce broth. Many
enjoy tucking into a nourishing bowl of chicken stew (gai
tun), or duck stew (ped tun) with or without noodles. The
same is done with a pork leg, but rather than served as a
soup, it is presented over rice as savoury khao kha mu. Just
be sure to request only the meat and no fatty skin, and this
will be a delicious and nutritious meal.
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Modern science already has studied many Thai herbs and confirmed
local beliefs. Lemongrass (takrai), now known the world over
as a symbol of Thailand, has been shown to be a powerful carminative,
an aid to urinary tract health, and to provide relief of body
aches. Another agent with carminative effects is kha, or galangal.
Both galangal and lemongrass are served up daily round the
world in piping hot bowls of the familiar Thai culinary ambassador,
tom yum kung. Holy basil (krapao), the pungent star of dishes
like phad khi mao with its signature strong aromatic taste,
can impart just what the doctor ordered after one has had
a night on the town. This dish of fiery chillies, garlic and
basil can actually soothe the stomach and cleanse the blood,
besides hitting the spot. And while herbs act as an aid in
digestion, many also have been shown to improve circulation
and improve skin vitality as well. In years to come the body
of data about the benefits of the herbs and plants of the
country will continue to grow, only reinforcing the long-standing
wisdom gained by Thais regarding the many plants they consume.
For those seeking ultra healthy Thai food look no further
than spa cuisine. Many staples such as yum (lime-flavoured
spicy salads), larb (spicy meat salad), and many versions
of nam prik (chilli dip) are already essentially spa cuisine.
In other cases, only small modifications are necessary to
follow spa cuisine’s principles of minimising salt, fat
and sugars. In addition, bear in mind that the guest always
has the power to request modifications such as asking for
low salt, or for a vegetarian meal, or, when possible, substituting
steamed rice for fried. One need only look so far as dining
guides or asking locals where to go to find top places serving
the best in healthy cuisine.
As a last principle of seeking out that healthy Thai meal,
be sure to combine the foods mentioned so far and balance
them with a good dose of common sense. For instance, when
dining out for seafood, say along Bangkok’s Ratchadapisek
Road, or on Phuket’s Ratchutit Road, there may be three
seafood places in a row. Let your eyes, ears and nose be your
guide. How fresh does the seafood display look? And how about
the restaurant itself? Are the premises clean? For your food
choices pick dishes that are steamed or boiled whenever possible
so as to cut fat and calories. For meats like the essential
Isaan grilled chicken dish gai yang, feel free to remove the
skin before eating. Of course there are many Thai dishes that
require coconut milk or deep frying; just be sure to consume
these in moderation. Indeed, food is one of the best avenues
for demonstrating the virtues of the Buddhist middle path.
Simply being on vacation or heading out for a night on the
town does not mean your diet is thrown to the wind. Armed
with trust in Thais’ love of freshness and herbs, along
with a dash of good sense, expect to eat a delicious, healthy
meal.
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From eco-gastronomy to low-carb diets, to holistic menus,
RICK KRITT explores the latest dining trends that are bridging
the gap between health-consciousness and gourmet cuisine
Agastronome who isn’t an environmentalist is a fool,”
says Carlo Petrini. “True, he or she has to enjoy the
food they eat, but they also have to know where it comes from
and how it’s produced. The only true gastronome is an
eco-gastronome!” Petrini is president of Slow Food, the
association that came into being 18 years ago not so much
to attack fast food as to defend Italian regional cuisine
and our typically laid-back way of eating it. “Anyone
who thinks of themselves as a food lover but does not have
any environmental awareness is na?ve. Whereas an ecologist
who does not enjoy the pleasures of the table has a sadder
life,” he continues.
Today, Slow Food is stronger than ever: it has grown into
an international organisation with more than 80,000 members,
it publishes books and magazines, and is behind the Salone
del Gusto, or Hall of Taste, one of the world’s largest
food and wine shows, held every other year in Turin. Last
year, the American chapter of Slow Food grew almost ten-fold,
a telling sign that keen-palated diners in the fast food nation
are no longer willing to allow globalisation to effect a homogenisation
of flavour. Its philosophy of supporting local produce and
local farmers is chiming well with jaded consumers who have
endured three decades of increasing fast-food dominance, not
to mention the rise of so-called Frankenfood, genetically-modified
produce.
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Among its initiatives is the Ark of Taste, a massive effort
to identify and catalogue products, dishes and animals that
are in danger of disappearing, such as the Crane melon and
Dorset Blue Vinny cheese. But perhaps the most ambitious project
of all is the world’s first food university, the University
of Gastronomic Sciences at Pollenzo in Piedmont, opening later
this year. Thanks to Slow Food’s contribution to the
wider debate on food and health, biodiversity and sustainable
production – terms previously confined to the eco-warrior
– are now at the forefront of the foodie’s concerns.
The health consciousness represented by the Slow Food trend
on the macro-level is matched on the micro-level by the recent
spate of low-carb diets, which have replaced the low-fat diets
of a decade ago as the nutritional trend. Stemming largely
from the Atkins diet, but also feeding off the hype around
the South Beach, Zone, and Lindora diets, the heightened carb-awareness
among diners has meant that eateries, both upmarket and casual,
are purging their kitchens of pasta, bread, and noodles. In
the US alone, up to 25 million people are following some type
of low-carb diet and industry analysts there are predicting
that, this year, the market for low-carb products (including
low-carb European holidays and “get-a-weighs”) will
be worth US$25 billion.
Doctors, though, are warning that high levels of saturated
fats in some low-carb diets can lead to heart disease, and
critics of Dr Robert Atkins are quick to point out that he
suffered from this condition. There is concern that some people
will use the low-carb diet as an excuse to gorge themselves
on ice-cream, cheesecake and other fat-heavy foods that were
previously off-limits to the dieter. Many heath experts maintain
that the key to good living is eating a little but of everything,
and it’s unsurprising that the philosophy of balance
is finding its way into restaurants, if in the more esoteric
form of “holistic” menus.
Usually comprising of seven small courses (each loosely representing
a chakra, or chi-force), holistic menus are rich in herbs,
teas and spices. The dishes are designed to appeal not only
to the palate but also to the soul of the diners: warm lobster
translates as karma, bird’s nest and lily bulbs as harmony.
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