'NUA TOON'

Closer to home Bangkok offers one of my favorites, doubled boiled beef briskets and tendons served in a clear broth, with noodles, and a generous sprinkle of parsley and chopped scallion. I get to know this little stall around the corner of Wandee and befriended its elderly proprietor who is 'Thai-Chiu' or Thai Chinese from Chiu Chow. His 'Nua-Toon' will take most of what Hong Kong claims to the cleaners. 'Nua' is beef, and 'Toon' describes the way it is cooked, many dishes are described this way in the recipes. This is clearly Chinese as the Thais hardly eat beef, I am told it is mostly because of religious and health reasons.

Thai cuisine is basically influenced by 3 cultures. (1) Indian; from the way the omnipresent 'kaeng' or curry paste is prepared, the key difference is instead of yogurt, a dairy product, coconut cream or a diluted form the coconut milk are used. (2) Chinese; from the way the wok is used as a primary cooking tool, and of course Chinese spices. (3) Portugal; indirectly is also an influence and this may surprise you. Apparently chilies were discovered by the Portugese in Africa, and Asia did not have chilies before the 1500s when the Portugese brought and sold them to Asian cultures.

After almost 4-weeks the one key word I learned in cooking Thai is : 'balance' or to make it more esoteric, 'harmony' between the tastes and flavors. Go into any noodle stall and watch what the locals do once a bowl is placed in front of them. The lightning dance routine of adding sugar, fish sauce, chili powder, pickled peppers, vinegar to be followed by vigorous mixing and tossing is mesmerizing, even dizzying. I guess that is how 'balance' ... at least in taste, if not in shape or form ... is interpreted at the frontline.