Thai Food for American Style

From the first time I ate at a Thai food restaurant in America, I could tell some things were different from the Thai food I've had all my life in Thailand . And then from my experience working at a Thai food restaurant in San Francisco I learned how Thai food is prepared for American people that differs from original Thai cooking.

The main thing is yes, Thai food in America is less spicy, and Thai people might say some of it is not spicy at all. Also, a popular Thai menu item for Americans is Tom Ka Gai - coconut chicken soup. In America they make it very creamy, too creamy for Thai people! The way we make Tom Ka in Thailand is to mix coconut milk with about one third water to make it lighter, but if you want to make this menu item for Americans maybe you should not mix it with water, just use pure coconut milk or only a little bit of water.

Much of my understanding of cooking Thai Food for American people comes from my American husband. One time I cooked Tom Yam Goong soup for him. Tom Yam consists of a lot of seasonings that are not necessarily meant to be eaten such as spicy chillies, and tough lemon grass and galanga . Those seasonings can be difficult to eat and can cause problem for If you are not used them so are often separated from the other parts of the dish or left behind as you eat. One time my husband accidently bit into a hot chilly! After that he asked me not to cut the chillies too small because Americans may not be able to identify what is easy to eat from what is not. Sometimes small pieces of chilies can look like other vegitables. If I cut them bigger then they are more easily identified. I have seen a packaged Tom Yam mix sold in Grocery stores in America that includes a fabric bag to contain these seasonings in the boiling soup as it is prepared. That way the flavors are departed to the soup, but the difficult-to-eat seasonings can be discarded before the dish is served.

These are only some examples that Thai people have to learn when adapting Thai food for others around the world. We hope all of you will love Thai Food.