The Thai Kitchen

The Thai Kitchen Despite the advent of modern methods and utensils, some traditional implements are still regarded as irreplaceable Of the various basic implements used in the preparation of Thai food, a number have remained essentially unchanged over the years. Others have been replaced by cheaper (but not always more efficient) modern devices and are now mainly to be seen in antique shops, objects admired for their beauty of form but no longer serving a practical purpose for the mod em Thai cook.

In a traditional Thai home of the not-very-distant past, the kitchen was nearly always a separate structure from the main house, its central feature being an often smoky stove. Lacking gas or electricity, the fuel was usually charcoal, or wood when it was readily available as in forested areas like the north. There are still many noted Thai cooks who insist that only charcoal can provide the desired quality of heat for certain dishes and who maintain a small brazier along with the gas and electric cookers that have become standard equipment, at least in city households.

The oldest kind of stove, now virtually extinct, was an ingenious device called a chemg kran, a rimmed earthenware tray with one side raised to hold the bottom of a cooking pot; the fuel was placed under the pot on the tray. This had the advantages of requiring little space and of being easily moved from place to place (just as the traditional Thai house, made of prefabricated sections, could also be taken down and transferred to a new site with comparatively little effort). The cherng kran later gave way to more substantial, but still portable, charcoal cookers and finally to built-in ranges made of tiled cement, perhaps reflecting the tendency of the Thais themselves to stay put as permanent towns and cities developed. The actual cooking of most Thai dishes, past and present, is done with remarkable speed and employs only a small number of utensils, the most important of them being a few woklike iron pans of varying sizes, a spatula with a rounded edge to stir the food around, and assorted pots for boiling.

Far more time, however, must be spent on the preliminary preparation of various ingredients, which have to be peeled, chopped, grated, ground,

blended and marinated, essential procedures that can take many hours for some creations and that led to the evolution of many special tools.

One of the most decorative of these was the kude maprow or coconut grater. This probably began as

a simple seat, at one end of which was a sharp iron grater and below, a tray to receive the shredded coconut meat, all often carved from a single piece of wood. The user straddled the seat and, leaning forward, rotated half a coconut around the teeth of the grater in a process that looked easier than it was—the smallest slip could result in a painful cut. The kude maprow eventually became much more elaborate, with the seat carved in various shapes, usually that of a rabbit (perhaps because of the protruding teeth) but also other animals or humans, and displaying considerable artistry. Today these are comparatively rare and much prized by collectors, though some sort of scraping device is still needed, along with another to render the coconut "milk" that forms the base of so many Thai recipes.

Thai housewives with access to a market can buy freshly grated coconut, taking it home to squeeze with water to make fresh coconut milk. Cooks living outside of Asia and far from the nearest electric coconut grinder must content themselves with substitutes such as packaged flaked coconut or canned coconut cream.

Other classic implements have proved more durable than the coconut grater. The krok and saak, or mortar and pestle, traditionally made of stone or wood but also available in baked clay or metal, is still vital for all the grinding and pounding of spices that produce the distinctive flavors of Thai food. Usually there are two of these, one deep for up and down pounding and another, flatter, for grinding.

Although many traditionally minded cooks swear that modern food processors or blenders cannot provide the same results as a mortar and pestle, most Western cooks would be prepared to trade speed and ease of preparation for the laborious old method. If using a blender to grind such items as shallots, garlic, chilies, lemongrass and so on, be sure to chop or slice all items first, and to blend the tougher ingredients (galangal, lemongrass) before adding the softer ones. Add a little of the cooking medium (oil, coconut milk or water) specified in the recipe, to help keep the blades turning if necessary.

There are, however, no really satisfactory substitutes for the thick wooden chopping block and sharp cleaver used in both heavy-duty and delicate cutting. These are readily available in most Asian specialty stores.

Another important adjunct to the Thai kitchen is a wire-mesh basket with a long handle of wood or bamboo, used to lower foods into oil for deepfrying, to plunge noodles into boiling water and to blanch vegetables. These come in a number of forms, depending on the use—shallow for frying, deeper for holding noodles and vegetables, and are available at every market. (Similar items can be found in Western stores, not as attractive, perhaps, but serving the same purpose.)

Equally essential for preparing many basic dishes is some sort of steamer. Often today this is made of metal and may even be electric, though in provincial areas it is still more likely to be traditional—a set of bamboo trays, for instance, which are stacked over boiling water with a cover on the top one; or, in the north and northeast, an elegant footed utensil known as a kong khao, which can be used both for steaming glutinous rice and also for carrying it while traveling or working in the fields.

In addition to these, there are more exotic devices difficult to find outside Thailand, each used for a very specific purpose. One, the kapo, consists of three-quarters of a coconut shell, in the bottom of which are drilled small holes; two parallel rods are attached with rattan to either side of the top so that the shell can be placed on a pot of boiling water. Rice-flour, tapioca, or mung bean paste is poured into the bowl and pressed to produce a noodle-like

sweet, which is then sieved and served cold. A simpler variation is the la-chong, a perforated metal plate that looks like a cheese grater, through which the paste is pressed.

Several brass or bronze implements are also commonly used to make some of the more complex sweets. A cone with two small openings facilitates the production of the classic Foi Thong, or "golden threads," a delicate egg-yolk creation thought to have been introduced by the Portuguese during the Ayutthaya period. A sauce dispenser with a small hole (such as the Kikkoman soy sauce bottle) makes an acceptable substitute, although it takes a fair amount of practice to create these "golden threads."

Another unusual utensil is a shell-shaped mold, usually made of brass, with a long wooden handle. The mold is dipped first into hot oil and then into batter; it is plunged back into the oil and the batter cooks to form delicate crisp little cups. These cups or krathong are filled to make delightful savory snacks. (Similar snacks known as kuih pi tee are found in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.)

Some of these implements have now made their way into Western cookery shops specializing in Asian cuisine. While reasonable substitutes can be found for most of the others, the pleasure of a visit to Thailand can be enhanced by plunging into a colorful market and finding the genuine article, which can later be put to practical use.