Isan Food

Isan is one of five areas of Thailand, central, east, north, south and northeast which is known as Isan. Isan food is related to Isan cultures and life style. The life style of the people who live in Isan is very simple and easy just like the way they cook. Isan people can eat almost everything; they adapt to their nature and eat what they can get. So, Isan dishes are unique and completely different from others. Most Isan dishes are mainly vegetables, but they also have some fish, beef and pork. There is a different way for every family the way they cook the food, it all depends on how they like their food, for example, some people like it a bit sweet and others like it salted. Normally, Isan dishes are hot, salted, and sour. Isan people don’t use much oil and coconut milk, so the food is cooked by grilling, boiling, or steaming so the food is really healthy and it is a good choice for people that care of their health.

Ingredients

Pickle fish or Pla ra or Pla Dak in Isan is the main ingredient of Isan dishes. We can say that it is a heart of Isan food. It was created over 4,000 years in Isan. Normally Isan people don’t buy it, but they make it themselves by the fresh water fish the catch. The fish must be cleaned and cut into pieces. Then they put some salt, roasted rice (kao-kua) and rice bran (รำข้าว) together. And finally they put it in the jar covered with wooden lid to pickle it for more than three months to a year. Pickle fish or Pla Ra is often used in papaya salad, soup or chili paste to give the salted taste and special smell.

Roasted rice powder or Kao Kua is also often used in Isan dishes. It is roasted sticky rice powder. Isan people roast sticky rice in a pan until the rice turn yellow, then pound in a mortar. Roasted rice or Kao Kua can be used in many dishes such as minced meat salad or bamboo shoot curry to give the good smell or make the soup thicker. Isan people only make as much as they need for each meal because if they keep it for a long time the good smell will go away.

Chili powder is made by dry chili. Mostly Isan people use dry bird-chili and parch in a pan until it become crispy and give the good smell, then pound in a mortar. Isan people use it in almost every dish for the hot taste.

Vegetables are the main food in Isan. Every meal contain with them. Each vegetables give different taste and smell, some are sour, some are sweet and some are bitter. Some vegetables need to be cooked before eating but some people just eat it straight away. Isan people love to eat fresh vegetables so they just crop them as much as they want in one meal. The well known Isan vegetables are bamboo shoot, Pak Tew, Pak Wan and Pak Mek.

Isan is the driest part of Thailand, so Isan people in some areas can’t grow vegetables the whole year. So, they have to find anything in their nature to eat such as wild mushroom, wild vegetables, bugs or even wild animals. Finding food in the nature is a big part of Isan culture. The way of finding food is passed down by generations.

Isan cooking

There are many ways to cook Isan food. Isan people are cooking creators.

Laab: made by minced pork, fish, beef, ant’s egg or chicken flavor with pickle fish, roasted rice powder, lime juice, onion spring, coriander and shallot. Laab is normally eaten with vegetables.

Koy: grilled meat salad with local vegetables. It is made by pork, fish, beef, or chicken.

Sa: grilled pork salad with raw banana flower and glass noodle.

Mok: made from fish, frog, chicken or bug together with sweet basil, lemon grass and dill in banana leave, cooked by steaming.

Aom: a kind of Isan curry. Made by lots of vegetables and meat such as fish, crab, chicken, pork, frog or beef with pickle fish and roasted rice.

Aor: made by small fish, shrimp or ant’s egg with lime leave, onion spring, sweet basil and lemon grass. Cooked in a pot with a little bit of water.

Tam or Som Tam: a kind of salad mixed in a mortar and pestle. Made by raw papaya, string bean, tomato and flavor with chili, garlic, lime juice, fish sauce, pickle fish and sugar. There are many variations of Som Tam, some areas add pickle vegetable, pickle crab, rice noodle, peanut or dry shrimp.

Serving

Isan people usually eat sticky rice or Kao Niao with food by their hands. They have to make a small ball and dip it into the food to eat.

We would like to show how to cook Som Tam, the very popular Isan food. Here is a recipe sorted from http://www.squidoo.com

Thai green Papaya Salad (Som Tom)

Ingredients

2 cups green papaya peeled and shredded 4 cloves garlic

1-2 birds-chilies

1/2cup long been or green bean, cut into ½ to 1 inch lengths.

2 tbsp dried shrimp, rinsed and dried

1-2 tbsp Thai fish sauce

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp tamarind water/juice

1tbsp palm sugar

1-2 cherry tomatoes, quartered

2 tbsp crushed roasted peanuts

Peel the papaya and rinse under running water, remove the seeds and shred the flesh with a grater and set aside. In the mortar and pestle add the garlic, chilies and beans, pound for just a minute. Then add the papaya, dried shrimp, fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar, tamarind water and tomatoes. Gently pound using a large spoon to mix as you pound until the palm sugar has melted. Put the ingredients on a serving plate then add the roasted peanuts on the top. Serve with cabbage wedges and sliced cucumber on the side.

Note: You can leave out the papaya and combine everything else and use as a salad dressing over fresh cucumber and onions (onions optional).

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