In tune with today’s current health awareness across the globe, an increasing number of people are paying more attention to food and healthy eating. To carry this direction further, Thailand’s Department of Cultural Promotion is promoting Thai foods as medicinal and beneficial for one’s health through the website ThaiTasteTherapy.com – an online Thai cooking space showcasing 50 recipes. Additionally, information on raw ingredients and Thai herbs are available.
Already renowned worldwide for its appealing diversity in flavours, Thai gastronomy takes centuries-old local wisdom to a new level in health, well-being, and medicinal care. Thailand is honoured to share its knowledge of local dishes from throughout the Kingdom that not only appeals to the taste buds but have healing properties for a number of ailments.
Mr Chai Nakhonchai, Director-General of the Department of Cultural Promotion, revealed that while Thai food is an intangible cultural heritage praised worldwide for its diverse flavours, the wonder of Thai cuisine doesn’t end with great taste. Nearly every dish is bursting with vegetables, herbs and spices containing nutraceutical properties (food containing health-giving additives and having medicinal benefits) which in turn can aid the body to fight off diseases and help maintain a level of health and vitality. It’s not an overstatement to refer to Thai cuisine as “The World’s Tastiest Medicine”.
Sample dishes
- Immune-Boosting Chicken Soup with Turmeric, which contains curcumin (helps the immune system work efficiently*). The sharp, tart smoky flavour comes mainly from the garcinia fruit with an overall balanced deliciousness coming from galangal (helps prevent inflammation caused by bacteria and viruses and helps prevent allergic reactions) and lemongrass (contains quercetin which enhances immunity).
- Spicy and Sour Chicken Soup – the bold and delectable Tom Yum dish with juicy chicken meat, herbal aroma, galangal and lemongrass.
- Five-Spice Jungle Curry – a popular spicy dish that does not contain coconut milk, instead of containing a host of spices and herbs to balance the strong scent of fish or meat and to enhance appetite. Key ingredients include fingerroot, a kind of ginger, which also contains quercetin (helps relieve cough and cold symptoms*), galangal, turmeric, lemongrass, and peppercorn (helps to relieve nausea, headaches, poor digestion).
For healthy eating, visit www.thaitastetherapy.com for easy-to-follow Thai food recipes and an online directory of where to purchase ingredients.
Edited by: Stephen Morton