Thai cuisine blends together sweet, sour, spicy and bitter flavors.
With thousands of street vendors and many popular dishes around the world, Thai cuisine’s vibrant culinary scene impresses everyone all the time.
Bangkok is Thailand’s capital and the largest city. Many dishes include seafood, pork, coconut milk, noodles, rice and palm sugar, which are used to create unique dishes.
There are countless markets on the streets of Bangkok that offer a variety of staple dishes such as pad thai, a stir-fried rice noodle dish made with seafood like shrimp or chicken, peanuts and scramble eggs; tom yam, a soup made with lemongrass, fresh chilies and lime; kao niew mamuang, or mango sticky rice, a dessert offered in almost any city, where coconut milk is cooked with sugar, salt and sticky rice, among many, many others.
History of Thai cuisine
If you are reading this article in the western part of the world, you may not be that familiar with Thai cuisine.
Historically, people ate vegetables that grew in the region, herbs and plenty of seafood, given that meat was pretty expensive and, thus, too valuable to eat.
The cooking methods that Thai people use are stewing, baking, grilling and, of course, stir-frying and deep-frying.
Back in time, people from the region of China migrated to Thailand, and with them, the Chinese took their dietary practices.
Later on, influences from European cuisine and India, for example, also made their way into Thai food.
Khao Pad Goong to make at home
As we previously mentioned, Thailand has many staple dishes and Khao Pad Goong is one of them.
This dish is a version of fried Jasmine rice and shrimp, eggs, onions, oyster and soy sauce and a mixture of vegetables and spices.
Even though shrimp may be difficult to get in your region, the ingredients that this recipe calls for are quite common and can be found almost everywhere: the vegetables that Thai people use are cucumbers, onions, cherry tomatoes, carrots, peas, tofu and fresh lime.
The most important thing to take into account is the traditional way of making Thai fried rice.
Ideally, you should be using leftover steamed white rice and some high-quality shrimp.
It is also paramount to use a large frying pan or a wok, where you will heat oil and fry the onion and garlic, cook the shrimp and vegetables, scramble eggs and, of course, fry the rice.
If you really want to make Thai-inspired meals but wish to make a healthier version, we have the recipe for you: Bangkok-inspired rice and shrimp salad.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups white rice.
- Shrimp (the amount of shrimp depends on how many people are eating).
- 1 large carrot.
- 1 green onion.
- 1 cucumber.
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar.
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce.
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil.
- Fresh lime juice.
- Chili peppers.
- 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts.
How to make it
- Ideally, to make this recipe, you should have cooked your rice in advance. If you have to cook it, remember that one part of rice requires two parts of water.
- In a large bowl, add shrimp, finely chopped carrots, and green onions. Add peanut oil and toss. Set aside for five minutes so all ingredients are well coated with peanut oil.
- Use a large skillet or a wok and place it over high heat. Once it is hot enough, add the shrimp and vegetables. Turn the heat down a little so that the ingredients don’t burn. Cook the shrimp and set aside.
- In a separate bowl stir lime juice, fish sauce, finely chopped chili and sugar. Stir until the sugar crystals are dissolved.
- Now is the time to assemble the salad. Use the steamed rice and place it in a large bowl; add the fresh cucumber, and add the fried shrimp and vegetables. Pour the sauce on top and sprinkle the salad with the roasted peanuts. Serve it with a side of green salad and enjoy!
Some extra tips
- This salad can be made in advance, you can keep it assembled and refrigerated for up to one day.
- If you store the ingredients separately, you can also store the salad in the fridge for two to three days. The dressing can also be prepped and stored in advance for the same amount of time.
If you want another rice shrimp recipe, go to https://riceselect.com/recipe/bangkok-rice-shrimp-salad.