Flowers play an integral part in Thai cuisine by serving as a key ingredient and decoration for the dish itself. Flowers present a visual aesthetic, flavor and smell which are unique. Some flower menus are very healthy. We will introduce four Thai food menus that use flowers as the main ingredient. Every dish is enticingly delicious.
1. Khao Yam: Southern Thai Rice Salad with Heavenly Taste
Thai flower: Torch Ginger
Thailand’s Southern region is known for its unique cooking style featuring vegetables and herbs such as Torch Ginger, an orange-red flower that has a distinctly astringent sour taste. It has medicinal properties that help expel gas, relieve bloating and nourish skin. Torch Ginger is an important ingredient in the famous Khao Yam dish of Southern Thailand. This traditional menu uses a plethora of diced vegetables and shredded herbs such as young kaffir lime leaves, cha-plu leaves, yardlong beans, lemon grass and torch ginger to give different scents and flavors. The juice of the butterfly pea flower is infused into the rice component to achieve beautiful purple color. Also included are young peppercorns, bean sprouts, ground-up roasted dried shrimp and seasonal sour tasting fruits such as Taling Pling, fresh tamarind or the Bao mango. Other ingredients include roasted coconut, stir-fried rice noodles with coconut milk, puffed rice, chili powder and the ubiquitous Budu juice [a southern condiment poured onto the dish in generous amounts] made from fermented fish with salt. Mix everything together and you will have authentic southern Khao Yam dish. It is delicious and known to increase balance and immunity for the body.
Information and pictures of Khao Yam from Sookjai Local Grocery. Facebook: Sookjai Local Grocery
2. Miang Kleep Bua: A Healthy Snack Promoting Body Balance
Thai flower: Bua Luang (Lotus)
This Thai snack is visually appealing and tasty – full of health benefits and helps balance the elements within the body. The highlight of this menu is the unique taste of the Bua Luang (Lotus) petal, which is sweet and smooth to the palate. It also offers a high fiber content that has great health benefits for the heart and brain. Miang Kleep Bua is suitable for afternoon snack – comprising of roasted coconut, roasted peanuts, red shallots, ginger, lime, chili and dried shrimp. Place small amounts of each ingredient on the lotus petal, pour a sugary sauce with a salty aftertaste and eat the entire lotus petal altogether.
3. Khanom Jeen Nam Ngiao: A Traditional Northern Cuisine
Thai flower: Dok Ngiew (Red Cotton flower)
The Red Cotton flower or Dok Ngiew, is the flower of the Ngiew tree, a large perennial plant with sharp thorns all over the trunk. Found mostly in Northern Thailand, the edible part of the flower is actually the pollen. Locals collect the fallen flowers at the end of winter around February. They are then dried to be stored for cooking throughout the year. Popular food menus that use the Red Cotton flower as an ingredient are Khanom Jeen Nam Ngiao or Nam Ngiao noodles , which features a savory curry paste made from tomatoes, minced pork, pork blood gelatin and flowers. Eat with noodles and enjoy its unique taste marked by the sourness of tomatoes and the Dok Ngiew flower.
4. Khao Chae: A Cooling Summer Menu
Thai flower: Jasmine
When the summer arrives, Khao Chae is the menu that soothes the heat. This summer dish has the refreshing scent of Jasmine. It uses this scented flower as the key ingredient, infusing it into water to make it fragrant. Pour this fragrant water over steamed rice and eat it with various side dishes. This unique dish helps quench the summer heat very well. Side dishes include fried shrimp paste balls, shredded beef or sweet shredded pork, stuffed shallots, stuffed bell peppers and stir-fried sweet radish. Some recipes may have sweet fish. You eat Khao Chae with fresh vegetables such as raw mango, finger root and cucumber. The proper way to eat Khao Chae is to scoop side dishes and eat them first, then follow with a spoonful of fragrant rice water and slowly chew on fresh vegetables. Do not mix side dishes into the bowl of rice with fragrant water because it spoils the taste.
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