simple food done well

A recurring theme is simple food, done well. No frills food - executed well, seasoned well and combined in a simple yet effective way. A fried egg. The freshest cucumber, tomatoes and spring onion garnish. A dash of lime to finish off the dish.

One of my favorite Thai dishes is chicken fried with thai basil, served with boiled rice and a fried egg on top, with cucumber, tomatoes and bird's eye fish sauce condiment. It is a perfect dish. And yet, if you order the same dish in London or Singapore, the chicken is too oily, the fried egg over-cooked and the side salad totally ignored (i.e. watery cucumber, tasteless tomatoes).

Pad thai is another example. When you order the dish in Bangkok, the noodles are lightly fried and never greasy, the condiments of prawns and tofu are stir-fried quickly never over-done, and the coriander and bean sprouts are freshly integrated into the dish. Pad thai ordered in Thailand is invariably more like a salad
rather than the greasy chinese fried noodles you get in chinatown. The sweetness from the tamarind is light-handed and fragrant.

The other mainstay dish is Thai fish cakes. What you get in Thailand is plump fish cakes with flecks of chilli and thai basil. What you get elsewhere is more cornflour than fish paste. The condiment of cucumber, vineger and peanuts with the fish cakes should not work, but it really does. Nutty meets spicy and fishy.

The rest of the world should take a leaf out of the book of Thai cooks and chefs. Respect the ingredients.