Knowing what dishes complement each other well makes the whole meal more enjoyable.
When I first moved to Canada from Thailand, my Canadian friends always wanted me to be their “food guide” at Thai restaurants. “I don’t know what to order,” they’d say, or, “I don’t knowto order.” When we’d arrive at whatever Thai restaurant they’d picked out, some people would urge me to just order for the table.
I came to understand that there’s a few organizing principles that Thai people typically use when composing our meals to ensure that the table is well-balanced. There’s no explicit set of rules; rather, there’s an unspoken understanding that there are some boxes to tick when you’re deciding what to have for dinner.
“But wait!” I hear you say. “If I have pad thai as part of my meal, should I include rice or not?” Well, it shouldn't be an issue because one wouldn't put pad thai—or any other noodle dish—on a family-style menu. Not a traditional one anyway. Noodle dishes like pad thai, pad see ew, or noodle soups are what I call the sandwiches of Thai cuisine. They’re stand-alone meals, something you eat without sharing with anyone, which is why they’re popular street foods.
Sometimes you might want to go with Thai sticky rice instead. Sticky rice is dense and so satisfyingly chewy. It’s eaten all over the country, but most commonly in the north and northeastern parts of Thailand, which is where Isan Thai food hails from. So if you’re serving food from this region, it would be appropriate, though not required, to serve sticky rice.
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