WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.960 Welcome back to The Deep Dive. Today, we are 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:08.179 taking a stack of research that honestly I thought 00:00:08.179 --> 00:00:10.679 I already understood. Right. And we're just completely 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:13.880 dismantling it. We are talking about Thai cuisine. 00:00:14.179 --> 00:00:16.739 Yes, we are. And I know you're probably thinking, 00:00:16.739 --> 00:00:21.219 I know Thai food. I've had Pad Thai. I know it's 00:00:21.219 --> 00:00:24.879 spicy. And that. that is exactly where we need 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:27.260 to start. Because if you look at the source material, 00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:29.719 especially the encyclopedic records and the work 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:32.500 of chefs like David Thompson, the idea that Thai 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:36.520 food is just defined by being spicy, it's actually 00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:39.700 a massive oversimplification. It's almost a complete 00:00:39.700 --> 00:00:41.960 misunderstanding of the whole philosophy. There's 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:43.619 this quote from Thompson in the notes that I 00:00:43.619 --> 00:00:46.100 absolutely loved. He says, Thai cooking isn't 00:00:46.100 --> 00:00:49.079 about simplicity. It's about, quote, juggling 00:00:49.079 --> 00:00:51.619 disparate elements to create a harmonious finish. 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:55.299 He compares it to a musical chord. Such a beautiful 00:00:55.299 --> 00:00:57.280 analogy. I mean, think about a complex chord 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:00.600 on a piano. You have three or four different 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:03.700 notes played simultaneously, and individually, 00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:06.780 they might actually sound dissonant or like they're 00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:09.459 clashing, but together they create this smooth, 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:12.680 unified sound. That is the ultimate goal of a 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:15.640 tie -dish. You are balancing extremes to create 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:18.849 a center. So, our mission today is to basically 00:01:18.849 --> 00:01:20.689 decode that chord. We're going to look at the 00:01:20.689 --> 00:01:23.750 history, which involves a genuinely mind -blowing 00:01:23.750 --> 00:01:25.510 fact about where chili peppers actually come 00:01:25.510 --> 00:01:27.670 from. Yes. We'll break down the four culinary 00:01:27.670 --> 00:01:29.609 regions that are totally distinct, and we're 00:01:29.609 --> 00:01:32.909 going to talk about a literal robot built by 00:01:32.909 --> 00:01:36.090 the government to taste test soup. The e -delicious 00:01:36.090 --> 00:01:38.409 machine. It sounds like science fiction, but 00:01:38.409 --> 00:01:40.609 it is very, very real. But let's start with the 00:01:40.609 --> 00:01:43.650 basics. If the musical chord is the philosophy 00:01:43.650 --> 00:01:47.209 here, what are the actual notes? So broadly speaking, 00:01:47.430 --> 00:01:49.390 Thai cuisine is the interplay of four primary 00:01:49.390 --> 00:01:53.150 sensations, sweet, sour, salty, and spicy. OK. 00:01:53.349 --> 00:01:55.150 Now, Western palates often just get hit with 00:01:55.150 --> 00:01:57.090 the spicy note and completely miss the rest. 00:01:57.569 --> 00:01:59.989 But the balance is the key. And historically, 00:02:00.129 --> 00:02:02.329 the way these flavors are delivered falls into 00:02:02.329 --> 00:02:05.129 four broad categories of dishes. You have tom, 00:02:05.329 --> 00:02:08.629 which are boiled dishes, yam, which are the spicy 00:02:08.629 --> 00:02:12.939 salads, tam, which refers to pounded foods. Wait, 00:02:13.020 --> 00:02:15.439 pounded? You mean like with a mortar and pestle? 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:17.840 Exactly. And the pounded category is distinct 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:21.610 from, say, chopped or blended. Oh really? Yeah, 00:02:21.689 --> 00:02:24.729 when you pound a chili or a clove of garlic with 00:02:24.729 --> 00:02:27.550 a heavy pestle, you're actually crushing the 00:02:27.550 --> 00:02:31.069 cell walls in a way that releases oils and aromatics 00:02:31.069 --> 00:02:34.229 that a knife just doesn't. It literally changes 00:02:34.229 --> 00:02:36.770 the texture and the flavor release. So throwing 00:02:36.770 --> 00:02:39.250 it in a food processor technically changes the 00:02:39.250 --> 00:02:41.270 taste of the food compared to doing it by hand. 00:02:41.590 --> 00:02:44.030 Significantly, yes. Wow. And then the fourth 00:02:44.030 --> 00:02:46.509 category is kang, which we usually translate 00:02:46.509 --> 00:02:48.830 as curry, though the Thai definition is much 00:02:48.830 --> 00:02:51.129 looser than, say, the Indian definition of a 00:02:51.129 --> 00:02:53.289 curry. Right. But before we even get to the curries 00:02:53.289 --> 00:02:55.669 or the salads, we really have to talk about the 00:02:55.669 --> 00:02:57.370 canvas, the thing that holds the entire cord 00:02:57.370 --> 00:03:00.650 together, rice. Rice is king. The research was 00:03:00.650 --> 00:03:03.430 extremely clear on this point. Oh, it is way 00:03:03.430 --> 00:03:05.729 more than king. It's the linguistic anchor of 00:03:05.729 --> 00:03:08.490 the whole culture. In Thai, the word for rice 00:03:08.490 --> 00:03:11.770 is cow. But cow is also just the generic word 00:03:11.770 --> 00:03:14.129 for food. So they're completely interchangeable 00:03:14.129 --> 00:03:17.009 Essentially. Yeah, there is a very common greeting 00:03:17.009 --> 00:03:20.270 King cow ru yang and literally translates to 00:03:20.270 --> 00:03:22.810 have you eaten rice yet? But practically it just 00:03:22.810 --> 00:03:25.750 means how are you? Exactly, right? You could 00:03:25.750 --> 00:03:27.710 have just eaten a massive steak or a sandwich, 00:03:27.710 --> 00:03:30.810 but the question is always about rice Yeah, it 00:03:30.810 --> 00:03:33.189 implies that a meal without rice isn't really 00:03:33.189 --> 00:03:36.310 a meal at all That is a level of dietary commitment 00:03:36.310 --> 00:03:38.610 I can respect and it's not just one type of rice, 00:03:38.610 --> 00:03:41.500 right? The notes highlighted a geographic split 00:03:41.500 --> 00:03:43.400 here that I hadn't realized before. Yeah, and 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:45.360 that's actually your first clue to the regional 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:47.819 diversity we'll get into later. In the central 00:03:47.819 --> 00:03:50.919 plains, around Bangkok, the staple is Jasmine 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:54.979 Rice. Khao Hong Mali. It's fragrant, long grain, 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:56.860 grows really well in the wet paddies. But if 00:03:56.860 --> 00:03:59.599 you go north or northeast, the absolute staple 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:02.479 is sticky rice khao nyum. Sticky rice is the 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:04.639 best. It's basically an edible utensil. It is. 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:06.699 It creates completely different dining experience. 00:04:07.060 --> 00:04:09.180 You use your hands, you ball it up, you dip it 00:04:09.180 --> 00:04:12.699 into things. It's very tactile. Yeah. And rice 00:04:12.699 --> 00:04:17.060 is so central to the culture that you even have 00:04:17.060 --> 00:04:19.959 dishes like khao chai, which is rice served in 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:22.649 jasmine -flavored ice water. Rice and ice water. 00:04:22.649 --> 00:04:25.170 That sounds, I don't know, soggy. It's a summer 00:04:25.170 --> 00:04:27.209 dish. Yeah. You have to remember, before air 00:04:27.209 --> 00:04:29.189 conditioning, the hot season in Thailand was 00:04:29.189 --> 00:04:32.430 brutal. Oh, true. Khao Chai is incredibly refreshing, 00:04:33.110 --> 00:04:36.149 floral, savory. It's served with these very intricate 00:04:36.149 --> 00:04:38.589 side dishes. It just shows how versatile this 00:04:38.589 --> 00:04:41.310 single grain is. OK, so we have the foundation, 00:04:41.569 --> 00:04:44.350 the rice, and we have the four flavors. But let's 00:04:44.350 --> 00:04:46.410 go back to that spicy note, because there is 00:04:46.410 --> 00:04:49.089 a historical plot twist here that genuinely shocked 00:04:49.089 --> 00:04:52.449 me when I was reading the sources. Ah, yes. This 00:04:52.449 --> 00:04:55.009 is the big reveal for anyone studying Asian culinary 00:04:55.009 --> 00:04:57.689 history. The chili pepper, the ingredient that 00:04:57.689 --> 00:05:00.250 we all think of as the absolute soul of Thai 00:05:00.250 --> 00:05:03.389 heat, is not native to Thailand. It's not native 00:05:03.389 --> 00:05:06.209 to Asia at all. Correct. Chiles are a new world 00:05:06.209 --> 00:05:08.410 crop. They did not arrive in Thailand until the 00:05:08.410 --> 00:05:11.170 Columbian exchange. That is wild. Likely in the 00:05:11.170 --> 00:05:13.910 16th or 17th century, brought over by Portuguese 00:05:13.910 --> 00:05:16.730 and Spanish ships. This just blows my mind. So 00:05:16.730 --> 00:05:19.769 for thousands of years, the people in this region 00:05:19.769 --> 00:05:22.449 were cooking food that had zero chilies in it. 00:05:22.730 --> 00:05:25.970 Narrow. None. Was it just bland, then? Not at 00:05:25.970 --> 00:05:28.430 all. But the source of the heat was completely 00:05:28.430 --> 00:05:31.110 different. They relied heavily on black pepper, 00:05:31.470 --> 00:05:34.389 garlic, galangal, ginger. OK. These ingredients 00:05:34.389 --> 00:05:36.829 provide heat, but it's a different kind of burn. 00:05:37.110 --> 00:05:40.470 It's a slow warming heat, not that explosive 00:05:40.470 --> 00:05:44.160 sharp punch you get from, say, a bird's eye chili. 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:46.500 It's amazing to think about how quickly a culture 00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:48.980 can just adopt a completely foreign ingredient 00:05:48.980 --> 00:05:51.019 and make it their defining feature. I mean, can 00:05:51.019 --> 00:05:52.959 you imagine Thai food today without chilies? 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:56.220 It's really hard to do. But that is the genius 00:05:56.220 --> 00:05:58.839 of Thai cuisine. It is incredibly adaptive. It 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:00.860 has always been this melting pot. You have a 00:06:00.860 --> 00:06:03.500 massive influence from India, which brought the 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:06.079 use of dried spices like cumin and coriander, 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:08.800 and the whole concept of using food as herbal 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:10.399 medicine. Right. And then from the other side, 00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:13.240 you have China. Exactly. The woke. Yes. The woke, 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:15.839 stir -frying, deep -frying, and noodles. Yep. 00:06:16.339 --> 00:06:19.139 The word for noodles, quite see -how. is a direct 00:06:19.139 --> 00:06:22.019 loan word from Tochu Chinese. So you basically 00:06:22.019 --> 00:06:24.879 have Indian spices colliding with Chinese cooking 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:26.939 techniques, and then the Portuguese just show 00:06:26.939 --> 00:06:29.360 up with chilies. And it wasn't just chilies the 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:32.120 Portuguese brought. We have to talk about dessert. 00:06:32.339 --> 00:06:36.319 Oh, yes, the golden desserts. This story about 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:39.620 Maria Guiomar da Pina. It is such a fascinating 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:42.519 slice of history. So in the 17th century, the 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:45.399 capital was Ayutthaya. which was this incredibly 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:48.540 cosmopolitan trading hub. Right. And Maria Grigomar 00:06:48.540 --> 00:06:52.079 da Pina was a woman of mixed ancestry. Japanese, 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:55.019 Portuguese, Bengali. She lived in Ibothaya and 00:06:55.019 --> 00:06:56.860 actually worked in the royal kitchens. And she 00:06:56.860 --> 00:06:59.420 introduced eggs to dessert. Specifically, egg 00:06:59.420 --> 00:07:02.180 yolks and sugar syrup. Traditional Thai sweets 00:07:02.180 --> 00:07:04.399 were mostly just coconut flour and palm sugar. 00:07:05.100 --> 00:07:07.199 Maria adapted Portuguese recipes that normally 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:09.660 use cow's milk and egg yolks. But dairy wasn't 00:07:09.660 --> 00:07:12.740 really a thing there. Exactly. Since dairy wasn't 00:07:12.740 --> 00:07:14.819 common in Thailand, she swapped in coconut milk 00:07:14.819 --> 00:07:16.879 but kept the egg yolks. And created things like 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:20.100 fly thong. Golden threads. It's literally egg 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:23.139 yolks boiled in syrup until they form these long 00:07:23.139 --> 00:07:26.339 sweet strands. It's totally Portuguese in its 00:07:26.339 --> 00:07:29.500 technique, but it became a signature Thai dessert. 00:07:29.980 --> 00:07:32.339 It just reinforces that whole idea of the melting 00:07:32.339 --> 00:07:35.839 pot. Okay, so we've established that Thai food 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:39.319 is this historical hybrid, but the research also 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:42.300 strongly suggests it's geographically fragmented. 00:07:42.509 --> 00:07:45.310 We tend to just say Thai food, but a curry in 00:07:45.310 --> 00:07:47.310 the north is apparently completely different 00:07:47.310 --> 00:07:49.829 from a curry in the south. Absolutely. Treating 00:07:49.829 --> 00:07:52.009 Thailand as a single culinary block is like saying 00:07:52.009 --> 00:07:54.910 American food and lumping Texas barbecue in with 00:07:54.910 --> 00:07:56.910 New England clam chowder. Good point. They are 00:07:56.910 --> 00:07:59.589 completely distinct ecosystems. You can roughly 00:07:59.589 --> 00:08:02.050 divide the country into four main culinary regions. 00:08:02.329 --> 00:08:04.529 Let's take a tour. Start us in the center. So 00:08:04.529 --> 00:08:06.850 the central region is the mixing bowl. This is 00:08:06.850 --> 00:08:09.209 the Chao Phraya River Delta, home to Bangkok 00:08:09.209 --> 00:08:11.560 and the old capital Ayutthaya. Because it's a 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:13.759 trade hub, the food here is the most complex. 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:16.360 It blends everything together. OK. This is where 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:18.399 you find the really heavy use of coconut milk. 00:08:18.740 --> 00:08:20.779 And the flavor profile is generally that standard 00:08:20.779 --> 00:08:23.519 balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy all 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:25.899 at once. So this is what most of us get at a 00:08:25.899 --> 00:08:28.379 standard Thai takeout place in the West. Green 00:08:28.379 --> 00:08:30.500 curry, red curry. Correct. It's also the home 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:32.440 of royal cuisine, which we'll touch on in a minute. 00:08:32.779 --> 00:08:36.559 But from there, let's head north. And the geography 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:39.159 here changes everything. Completely. You are 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:41.919 up in the mountains, cooler valleys, bordering 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:44.580 Burma and Laos. And the first thing you notice, 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:48.440 no coconut trees. So no coconut milk in the curry. 00:08:49.059 --> 00:08:51.899 Traditionally, very little. Coconuts just don't 00:08:51.899 --> 00:08:54.399 thrive in the cool dry winters of the north. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:58.159 So northern curries, like Kai and Kai, are broth 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:02.190 based. Interesting. They're highly herbal, spicy, 00:09:02.629 --> 00:09:05.289 bitter even, loaded with jungle vegetables. But 00:09:05.289 --> 00:09:07.049 they don't have that creamy sweetness we usually 00:09:07.049 --> 00:09:09.129 associate with a Thai curry. But wait, I have 00:09:09.129 --> 00:09:11.350 to stop you there. The most famous northern dish, 00:09:11.409 --> 00:09:13.309 the one everyone is always posting on Instagram, 00:09:13.570 --> 00:09:16.230 is khao soi, and that is a noodle soup literally 00:09:16.230 --> 00:09:18.950 swimming in rich coconut milk. But that is the 00:09:18.950 --> 00:09:21.169 exception that proves the rule. Oh, really? Yeah. 00:09:21.570 --> 00:09:23.789 Khao soi is actually a result of the caravan 00:09:23.789 --> 00:09:26.289 trade. It came from Chinese Muslim traders coming 00:09:26.289 --> 00:09:29.289 down from Yunnan. It's a dish born entirely of 00:09:29.289 --> 00:09:31.669 the trade routes. It's not originally native 00:09:31.669 --> 00:09:34.450 Lana food in the ancient sense, but it has absolutely 00:09:34.450 --> 00:09:37.370 become the region's mascot today. I love that. 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:41.299 A foreign dish becomes the core regional identity. 00:09:41.740 --> 00:09:44.620 OK, moving to the Northeast, Isan. This seems 00:09:44.620 --> 00:09:47.419 to be the region that hardcore foodies are completely 00:09:47.419 --> 00:09:50.220 obsessed with right now. Isan is the soul of 00:09:50.220 --> 00:09:53.500 the peasantry in many ways. It's an arid plateau 00:09:53.500 --> 00:09:56.200 bordering Laos and Cambodia. It's hot, it's dry, 00:09:56.200 --> 00:09:59.769 and the food here is intense. Intense how? Well, 00:09:59.769 --> 00:10:01.850 it's not about that polite balance of the central 00:10:01.850 --> 00:10:05.309 region. It's about extremes. Very spicy, very 00:10:05.309 --> 00:10:07.549 sour, and very salty. And the salt doesn't come 00:10:07.549 --> 00:10:09.529 from that clear fish sauce we all know, right? 00:10:09.649 --> 00:10:12.269 No, it doesn't. In the West, and mostly in central 00:10:12.269 --> 00:10:14.690 Thailand, we use Nam Pla, the clear amber liquid. 00:10:15.230 --> 00:10:18.769 But Izan uses Pla Ra. Pla Ra. Yes. It's opaque, 00:10:19.110 --> 00:10:21.230 it's thick, and it's made from fermented fish 00:10:21.230 --> 00:10:24.330 chunks. It is incredibly pungent. The notes described 00:10:24.330 --> 00:10:27.809 it as having a, quote, deep, savory funk. That's 00:10:27.809 --> 00:10:29.990 a very polite way to put it. For the uninitiated, 00:10:30.090 --> 00:10:32.789 it can be completely overpowering. But it provides 00:10:32.789 --> 00:10:35.590 a depth of umami that makes Ezon food incredibly 00:10:35.590 --> 00:10:38.009 addictive. And this is also the region where 00:10:38.009 --> 00:10:40.029 protein gets quite resourceful. You're talking 00:10:40.029 --> 00:10:42.730 about the insects. I am. It is a massive industry. 00:10:43.090 --> 00:10:44.909 There's something like 20 ,000 cricket farms 00:10:44.909 --> 00:10:46.970 in Thailand, and most are right there in the 00:10:46.970 --> 00:10:49.870 Northeast. I saw the bamboo worm mentioned in 00:10:49.870 --> 00:10:53.049 the sources, the rot duan. Literally translates 00:10:53.049 --> 00:10:55.269 to express train. because it looks like a little 00:10:55.269 --> 00:10:57.350 train car. That's hilarious. They deep fry them. 00:10:57.710 --> 00:10:59.669 And honestly, if you can get past the visual, 00:11:00.169 --> 00:11:02.190 it tastes like a nutty potato chip or popcorn. 00:11:02.370 --> 00:11:04.970 Yeah. Just a crunchy, salty snack. I'll take 00:11:04.970 --> 00:11:07.889 your word for it. And some tam, the famous papaya 00:11:07.889 --> 00:11:10.750 salad, is from here too. Yes, but be warned. 00:11:10.950 --> 00:11:13.070 The Bangkok version you might know is sweet and 00:11:13.070 --> 00:11:15.649 mild, often with peanuts and dried shrimp. Yeah. 00:11:15.809 --> 00:11:19.110 The real Isan version uses plara, salted field 00:11:19.110 --> 00:11:21.649 crabs, and a frankly frightening amount of chili. 00:11:22.429 --> 00:11:25.600 It is a completely different beast. Noted. Proceed 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:29.019 with caution. Finally, let's go south. The south 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:31.779 is a tropical peninsula. You have oceans on both 00:11:31.779 --> 00:11:35.080 sides, Malaysia to the south. Down here, turmeric 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:37.399 is king. So that's why southern curries are often 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:40.279 yellow? Exactly. And because you are surrounded 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:43.639 by palm trees, the coconut milk usage is very 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:48.100 heavy. It's rich, oily, and fiercely spicy. Think 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:51.200 dishes like kong kai plaw, which is a fish innards 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.889 curry. Wow. And this is where Massaman curry 00:11:53.889 --> 00:11:57.090 comes from. Yes. Massaman is fascinating because 00:11:57.090 --> 00:11:59.690 the name itself is related to the word Muslim. 00:12:00.509 --> 00:12:02.870 It reflects the Persian and Indian traders who 00:12:02.870 --> 00:12:04.649 came through the southern ports. Oh, that makes 00:12:04.649 --> 00:12:07.570 sense. It uses dried spices like cardamom, cinnamon, 00:12:07.809 --> 00:12:09.809 cloves, nutmeg, the things that you rarely ever 00:12:09.809 --> 00:12:12.230 see in other Thai curries. It's a true hybrid 00:12:12.230 --> 00:12:15.129 dish. It was actually ranked number one in a 00:12:15.129 --> 00:12:17.830 CNN poll of the world's best foods a while back. 00:12:18.090 --> 00:12:20.429 And it deserves it. It's a powerhouse of flavor. 00:12:20.850 --> 00:12:22.809 It has the richness of the coconut, the depth 00:12:22.809 --> 00:12:25.110 of the dried spices, and the heat of the chili. 00:12:25.590 --> 00:12:27.809 So we've toured the regions. Now imagine I am 00:12:27.809 --> 00:12:29.649 sitting down to eat this incredible spread of 00:12:29.649 --> 00:12:32.289 food, I pick up my chopsticks, and you are looking 00:12:32.289 --> 00:12:34.889 at me like I've just committed a crime. Well, 00:12:35.070 --> 00:12:37.330 maybe not a crime, but perhaps a minor cultural 00:12:37.330 --> 00:12:40.279 faux pas. There's a very common misconception 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:42.519 in the West that all Thai food is eaten with 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:44.799 chopsticks. But I see chopsticks in Thai restaurants 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:47.759 all the time. You do. But traditionally, chopsticks 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:50.360 are only used for noodle dishes. The kway teow 00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:52.759 we mentioned earlier. Ah, the Chinese influence. 00:12:53.019 --> 00:12:56.580 Exactly. If you are eating rice and curry, which 00:12:56.580 --> 00:12:59.440 is the core meal, chopsticks are actually very 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:01.679 impractical. The rice literally falls through 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:05.840 them. So what is the actual tool of choice? The 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:08.919 scone and fork. But there is a very specific 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:11.580 system to it. You hold the spoon in your right 00:13:11.580 --> 00:13:14.399 hand and the fork in your left. The fork is just 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:16.879 a tool, kind of like a hoe or a shovel's assistant. 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:19.679 Okay. You use the fork to push the rice and curry 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:22.419 onto the scone and the spoon goes into your mouth. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.960 The fork never actually touches your lips. Really? 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:29.659 Why is that? Is it considered dirty? It's just 00:13:29.659 --> 00:13:32.240 considered crude. It's simply not how it's done. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:34.740 Where did this even come from? Because spoons 00:13:34.740 --> 00:13:37.980 and forks aren't exactly ancient Asian utensils. 00:13:38.100 --> 00:13:40.539 No, they're a relatively modern adaptation. The 00:13:40.539 --> 00:13:42.940 practice was introduced by King Chila Longhorn, 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:47.159 Rama IV, in 1897. He toured Europe, saw Western 00:13:47.159 --> 00:13:49.960 dining habits, and decided to modernize Thai 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:53.220 etiquette. Before that, people mostly ate with 00:13:53.220 --> 00:13:55.899 their hands, which, by the way, is still the 00:13:55.899 --> 00:13:58.519 best and most traditional way to eat sticky rice 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:00.940 in the North and Northeast. So the fork and spoon 00:14:00.940 --> 00:14:04.019 is basically a royal decree. Pretty much. Well, 00:14:04.100 --> 00:14:07.500 speaking of royalty, I often see royal Thai cuisine 00:14:07.500 --> 00:14:11.659 or a hanshao wang on menus. Is this actually 00:14:11.659 --> 00:14:14.419 different food or is it just marketing to charge 00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:17.480 an extra five dollars for my green curry? That 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:20.620 is a subject of intense debate among food historians. 00:14:21.460 --> 00:14:23.600 If you look at the source material, specifically 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:25.860 Chef McDang, who's a huge authority and actually 00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:28.720 descended from the royal family himself, he argues 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:31.100 that the flavor of royal cuisine isn't fundamentally 00:14:31.100 --> 00:14:33.399 different. The soul of the dish is the same. 00:14:33.700 --> 00:14:36.620 So what makes it royal, then? Labor and presentation. 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:40.159 It is all about refinement. In true royal cuisine, 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:43.019 you will never find a bone. You will never encounter 00:14:43.019 --> 00:14:45.879 a stray fruit seed. The fish is entirely deboned. 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:47.960 The vegetables are carved into these intricate 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:49.940 flowers or geometric shapes. It's like the high 00:14:49.940 --> 00:14:52.059 definition version of the food. That's a great 00:14:52.059 --> 00:14:54.379 way to put it. And the flavors are often tamed. 00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:57.940 You won't find the extreme stink of the plara 00:14:57.940 --> 00:15:00.740 or the face melting heat of a jungle curry. It's 00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:04.279 polite food. Right. It's balanced, elegant, very 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:06.480 pretty, but it's not necessarily tastier than 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:08.379 what a grandmother in a rural village is cooking. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:11.379 Well, speaking of exporting a specific image 00:15:11.379 --> 00:15:14.759 of Thai food, the polite, elegant version, we 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:16.820 have to talk about the government. Because I 00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:20.000 had absolutely no idea that the proliferation 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.120 of Thai restaurants around the world was a calculated 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:26.000 geopolitical strategy. It is arguably the most 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:28.279 successful example of gastro -diplomacy in modern 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:31.039 history. When did this even start? Around 2002. 00:15:31.980 --> 00:15:33.740 The Thai government realized that their food 00:15:33.740 --> 00:15:36.820 was their single strongest cultural export. People 00:15:36.820 --> 00:15:38.980 everywhere loved it. So they officially launched 00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:40.940 the Kitchen of the World campaign. What was the 00:15:40.940 --> 00:15:43.440 actual goal? Pure numbers, initially. They wanted 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:45.820 to increase the number of Thai restaurants overseas 00:15:45.820 --> 00:15:49.639 from about 5 ,500 to 8 ,000. Did it work? Massively. 00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:53.659 By 2011, they had hit 10 ,000. Today, they're 00:15:53.659 --> 00:15:57.000 probably well over 15 ,000. But how does a government 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:59.740 practically do that? Do they own the restaurants? 00:16:00.100 --> 00:16:02.620 No, they facilitated them. They made it incredibly 00:16:02.620 --> 00:16:05.460 easy for private investors. They offered loans. 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:08.159 They set up specific visa pathways for Thai chefs 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:10.899 to go abroad. But the craziest part was the master 00:16:10.899 --> 00:16:13.460 restaurant plans. Yeah, this sounded like something 00:16:13.460 --> 00:16:15.899 straight out of a corporate franchise handbook. 00:16:16.059 --> 00:16:19.019 It basically was. The government created pre 00:16:19.019 --> 00:16:21.940 -approved business plans. As an investor, you 00:16:21.940 --> 00:16:25.039 could choose from three tiers, fast food, mid 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:27.879 -range, or high -end. Wow. They provided the 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:31.059 blueprints, the decor guidelines, the menu templates, 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:33.779 and even the supply chains for sourcing authentic 00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:36.039 ingredients. So if you go to a Thai restaurant 00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:38.399 in Denver and then one in London and they both 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:41.679 have that exact same purple orchid, the dark 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:43.500 wood paneling, and the weight staff and silk, 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:46.159 that's not a coincidence. Not at all. It is highly 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:48.600 likely by design they standardized the brand 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:52.100 of Thailand. But this intense desire for standardization 00:16:52.100 --> 00:16:54.759 eventually led to something, frankly, bizarre. 00:16:54.980 --> 00:16:57.120 The robot. Please, we have to talk about the 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:00.960 robot. The Tidelicious Project. Yes. The government 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:04.380 actually allocated a significant budget to develop 00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:07.119 an intelligent robot, the eDelicious machine. 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:08.900 I still can't believe this is real. What does 00:17:08.900 --> 00:17:10.859 it actually do? Does it have a little mouth? 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:13.920 No mouth. It's essentially a box packed with 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:16.859 sensors. It have 10 sensors that measure conductivity, 00:17:17.259 --> 00:17:19.779 acidity, and specific chemical signatures. Okay. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:23.630 The idea was to scan a dish. say a Tom Yonkung, 00:17:24.190 --> 00:17:26.210 and the machine would give it a score from 1 00:17:26.210 --> 00:17:28.849 to 100 based on how authentic it tasted. Wait, 00:17:28.869 --> 00:17:30.710 how does a robot know what authentic tastes like? 00:17:30.769 --> 00:17:33.349 Taste is entirely subjective. They tried to solve 00:17:33.349 --> 00:17:35.809 that. They held massive tastings with students 00:17:35.809 --> 00:17:38.730 and workers at Chula Longhorn University. They 00:17:38.730 --> 00:17:40.769 established a standard flavor profile based on 00:17:40.769 --> 00:17:42.430 those preferences, essentially crowdsourcing 00:17:42.430 --> 00:17:45.470 the perfect taste, and then programmed that exact 00:17:45.470 --> 00:17:47.549 chemical data into the machine. So if I make 00:17:47.549 --> 00:17:50.349 a soup, The robot scans it, compares it to the 00:17:50.349 --> 00:17:52.150 database, and just gives me a grade. Exactly. 00:17:52.269 --> 00:17:54.490 If you scored an 80 or above, you were considered 00:17:54.490 --> 00:17:56.549 standard. The government actually considered 00:17:56.549 --> 00:17:59.690 issuing Eatalicious logos to restaurants that 00:17:59.690 --> 00:18:01.650 passed the test to prove their authenticity. 00:18:01.890 --> 00:18:05.269 That feels incredibly dystopian to me. A government 00:18:05.269 --> 00:18:08.210 robot deciding if my curry has enough soul. It 00:18:08.210 --> 00:18:10.849 raises a massive philosophical question, doesn't 00:18:10.849 --> 00:18:14.490 it? Food is a living culture. It constantly evolves. 00:18:14.930 --> 00:18:17.289 If a grandmother in a village makes a tom yam 00:18:17.289 --> 00:18:20.089 that is slightly too sour, or uses a different 00:18:20.089 --> 00:18:21.970 herb because that's what grew in her garden that 00:18:21.970 --> 00:18:24.910 week, is she wrong? It implies there is only 00:18:24.910 --> 00:18:29.190 one correct way to be Thai. Precisely. It prioritizes 00:18:29.190 --> 00:18:32.250 consistency over character. It's the literal 00:18:32.250 --> 00:18:35.380 industrialization of a national cuisine. And 00:18:35.380 --> 00:18:37.220 critics strongly argued that if you freeze a 00:18:37.220 --> 00:18:39.920 cuisine in a database, you stop it from growing. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:42.359 And speaking of industrialization, the Kitchen 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:44.380 of the World campaign didn't just affect restaurants 00:18:44.380 --> 00:18:47.299 abroad, it deeply affected the farms back home. 00:18:47.740 --> 00:18:50.019 The research touched on some much darker sides 00:18:50.019 --> 00:18:52.240 of this massive boom. Well, you can't feed the 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:54.380 world without drastically scaling up agriculture. 00:18:54.740 --> 00:18:57.680 And unfortunately, Thailand now ranks very high 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:00.059 in the use of agricultural chemicals. Yeah, I 00:19:00.059 --> 00:19:02.980 saw a stat in the notes from 2019 that was pretty 00:19:02.980 --> 00:19:06.220 alarming. Yes. The Thai Pesticide Alert Network 00:19:06.220 --> 00:19:08.480 released a report finding that something like 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:12.779 41 % of produce samples they tested had unsafe 00:19:12.779 --> 00:19:16.119 levels of chemical residues. That is a significant 00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:19.700 challenge for them. It is. When the demand is 00:19:19.700 --> 00:19:22.279 global, the pressure on the local farmers is 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:26.420 immense. There are also rising issues with authenticity 00:19:26.420 --> 00:19:29.190 in the supply chain itself. Like what? Things 00:19:29.190 --> 00:19:32.049 like mislabeling pork as halal to sell to Muslim 00:19:32.049 --> 00:19:35.089 markets or producing fish sauce that is so diluted 00:19:35.089 --> 00:19:37.329 it doesn't even meet the minimum nitrogen standards 00:19:37.329 --> 00:19:40.849 to be legally considered real non -pla. So the 00:19:40.849 --> 00:19:42.789 incredible success of Kitchen of the World comes 00:19:42.789 --> 00:19:46.109 with a serious cost. Quantity can threaten quality. 00:19:46.349 --> 00:19:48.049 It's the double -edged sword of becoming a global 00:19:48.049 --> 00:19:50.470 food superpower. You get the massive economic 00:19:50.470 --> 00:19:53.029 boost and the soft power influence, but you risk 00:19:53.029 --> 00:19:55.390 commodifying and diluting the very heritage you 00:19:55.390 --> 00:19:57.259 were trying to celebrate. So what does this all 00:19:57.259 --> 00:19:59.400 mean for you, the hungry listener? We have traveled 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:01.779 from the 16th century arrival of the chili pepper 00:20:01.779 --> 00:20:03.640 through the four completely disdained regions 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:06.480 all the way to a robot judging soup authenticity. 00:20:06.900 --> 00:20:09.059 I think the main takeaway from all the sources 00:20:09.059 --> 00:20:12.240 is to embrace the complexity. Thai food isn't 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:15.980 just one thing. It isn't just spicy. It's a dynamic 00:20:15.980 --> 00:20:18.660 living entity. It absorbed the chili and made 00:20:18.660 --> 00:20:21.680 it its own. It absorbed the spoon and fork. It 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:24.339 adapted to the world. And as eaters, we should 00:20:24.339 --> 00:20:26.740 really respect that diversity. Don't go to a 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:29.440 northern Thai restaurant and demand coconut milk 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:31.259 just because that's what you assume Thai food 00:20:31.259 --> 00:20:34.039 is. Exactly. Eat what the locals eat, how they 00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:36.819 eat it, and maybe, just maybe, be brave enough 00:20:36.819 --> 00:20:39.680 to try the fermented fish sauce. I am definitely 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:41.859 going to try the spoon and cork method next time. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:43.599 No more struggling with rice falling through 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:46.400 my chopsticks. You sure will, thank you. Before 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:47.940 we go, I want to leave you with a thought about 00:20:47.940 --> 00:20:51.559 that e -delicious robot. If we start defining 00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:54.740 good or authentic food by a standardized rigid 00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:58.119 data set, do we risk losing the happy accidents? 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:01.240 The strange little variations that actually create 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:04.180 new traditions? If perfect Thai food is just 00:21:04.180 --> 00:21:06.740 bureaucratic Thai food, is it even delicious 00:21:06.740 --> 00:21:10.029 anymore? That is the big question. If we prioritize 00:21:10.029 --> 00:21:13.109 perfection, we might just lose the soul. I'd 00:21:13.109 --> 00:21:15.809 take a slightly imperfect, handmade curry over 00:21:15.809 --> 00:21:19.869 a robot -approved standard any day. Me too. Thanks 00:21:19.869 --> 00:21:22.009 for diving deep with us into the world of Thai 00:21:22.009 --> 00:21:24.369 cuisine. Go out there, order something you've 00:21:24.369 --> 00:21:26.549 never tried before, maybe the insects if you're 00:21:26.549 --> 00:21:28.470 feeling brave, and we will catch you on the next 00:21:28.470 --> 00:21:29.809 one. Sawasdee krup.