A vendor at Bangkok’s Pak Khlong Talat market.
PHOTOGRAPHS AUSTIN BUSH & MARK WIENS
CENTRAL THAILAND & BANGKOK
Chillies have been part of Thai cuisine for around 400 years;
SOUTHERN THAILAND
Ko Yao Noi island, off the Andaman Coast;
NORTHEASTERN THAILAND
Wat Thung Si Muang temple in Ubon Ratchathani;
NORTHERN THAILAND
A market stall in Lampang
Central Thailand & Bangkok
Sophisticated, cosmopolitan food with royal, Chinese and Muslim infuences
Second only to the Chinese, Muslims are the most signifcant cultural – and culinary – minority in Bangkok and central Thailand, and brought with them a cuisine based on meat and dried spices. ‘Thai-Muslim food has Indonesian infuences, as well as Malaysian and Indian,’ explains Sanusi Mareh, a Muslim and owner of Silom Thai Cooking School, in Bangkok. ‘It’s often sweet and it’s not spicy, especially when compared to central or northeastern Thai food.’
These favours and infuences are apparent in what is probably the most lauded Thai-Muslim dish of all, satay: skewers of spiced, grilled meat. Available at markets all over the region, satay can be made from any protein, but Thai Muslims tend to use (halal) chicken, enhanced with a mildly spicy marinade. ‘The most important part of satay is the dipping sauce,’ explains Sanusi. ‘It must taste nutty from peanuts, sweet and creamy from the coconut milk.’
Another important yet oft-neglected element is ajaat: sliced chillies, shallots and cucumbers in a sweet and sour dressing. ‘It’s a break from the greasy chicken and sauce,’ says Sanusi.
Bangkok has more than 20 times as many inhabitants as the next-largest Thai city, and its food culture is similarly super-charged
PHOTOGRAPHS: AUSTIN BUSH, CATHERINE SUTHERLAND, MARK WIENS/LONELY PLANET
SATAY CHICKEN SKEWERS