How many Thai people live in Sydney?
Official estimates are 10,000 - about half of Australia's 20,000 Thai resident population, excluding students.
I came from Thailand too. And when I first arrived I was sooo disappointed with the style of 'my country's' food. Gone was the taste I knew from home. Instead, almost everything I chose at Thai restaurants in Australia was sweet and creamy.
I've lived and worked here more than three years now and I've tried many Thai restaurants in Sydney, and some in Melbourne too. Yes, there are some that stand out offering a real, authentic Thai style of food. But most...
Until I arrived in Australia, I never knew people added coconut milk to stir fries! And I don't know how many tablespoons of sugar they add in there.
In original Thai cooking, if you make a stir fry you do not need to add coconut milk. And if we add sugar, we use just a little bit to balance the strong flavour of fish sauce.
 |
If we're making a Thai dessert, then we add sugar. Thai desserts are supposed to be very sweet, and in some we add coconut milk. But very few Thai main courses are made deliberately sweet in Thailand.
I know Thai food is very spicy - and sometimes too spicy for westerners. But that's not true of all Thai dishes. If you order a stir fry, it should be not be spicy like a curry.
Some Thai restaurants make curries and stir fries which taste very similar - the only difference is that curries have more coconut milk than stir fries! I have no idea how they do that - or why. Is it really necessary to make curries and stir fries taste so similar just to suit the western palate?
I have ordered Gang Pha at some Thai restaurants in Sydney - just to avoid being served something with coconut milk. Gang Pha is a curry made without coconut milk. I won't dare order it again! It tasted like the chef had simply added vegetable pieces and meat into vegetable juice, and there was no flavor at all!
Those of you who have traveled to Thailand and tried authentic Thai food will understand what I mean.
I have occasionally questioned managers of Thai restaurants about why they change flavors so much.
They've all said the same thing, more or less: because they want to satisfy the western customers. But I don't think that is true. I am sure many westerners like authentic Thai food.
In the meantime, I have discovered some very good Thai food in Sydney, cooked with original and tasty flavour. And some of you would be surprised just how popular these restaurants are with westerners!
In my next columns I will recommend you some of my favourite Thai restaurants.
What are your experiences with Asian cuisines?