Standards for the Thai kitchen

Eating Thai food overseas can be something of an adventure for Thais, not least when the everyday dishes we order arrive on the table as something else entirely. Most of us have experienced our kang khiaw wan (green curry) looking suspiciously like tom kha kai (chicken soup in coconut milk) or the requested pad kraphao moo (stir-fried pork with sweet basil) arriving as pad prik phao moo (stir-fried pork with chilli paste).

This lack of standardisation in Thai cuisine, one of the most popular choices in the world, is being taken seriously by the Thai food police, with the National Innovation Agency introducing a “Thai Delicious” campaign that aims to ensure authentic taste, aroma and presentation whether you’re eating in Bangkok, Paris, New York or Johannesburg. 

The project is creating standardised recipes for Thai dishes to add value to the national cuisine through a combination of home economics with science, food technology and tasting sensors.

Well-known Thai chefs and restaurant owners have been drafted in to work with food scientists and food institutions across the country to set the characteristics of authentic Thai dishes.

“Our job is to come up with the preferred tastes of our most famous dishes and these are then endorsed by government for both local and international consumption, and particularly for the estimated 20,000 Thai restaurants operating overseas,” says Supachai Lorlohakarn, NIA’s assistant director.

“One of Thai cuisine strong points is the variations in its taste and cooking methodologies but before we go to that level, we should know and ensure the world also recognises the genuine Thai taste,” adds Iron Chef Choompon Jangprai, a member of the Thai Delicious committee.

 “We know from firsthand experience that the tastes of our dishes deviate widely and that there’s sometimes no difference between a bowl of tom yum goong and tom kha kai. If we do nothing, then the confusion will be more widespread and we will lose our character. We are officially setting the authentic character of each dish though it’s not a totally rigid policy. Our aim is that non-Thais should understand and appreciate the authentic taste of our most famous dishes,” Supachai says, 

Work on the project began two years ago and 11 approved recipes have already finalised. Bt23.5 million has been invested in everything from a standard taste measuring machine to formulating recipes, the preparation of ready-to-use ingredients for popular Thai food and the purchase of two sensory machines whose job it is to taste the dishes.

Named E-delicious and ESenS, the machines can measure the quantity of various taste-giving compounds such as acidity, sweetness, salinity, spiciness and other variables. They also measure smells and pick out the chemical compounds used to increase the appetite. The machines have electronic sensors that work like the taste buds of a human being and process the information through a computer system with artificial intelligence and neural networks.

Food is prepared in soluble form for the machine, which then identifies standard markers of physical value such as colour and viscosity, the chemical values of the glutamic acid content, sugar, salt and acidity and comes up with a flavour profile.

E-delicious machine’s electronic nose is kept busy, sniffing out differences through its16 gas sensors while its electronic tongue tests for sourness, sweetness, spiciness and umami, the Japanese savoury taste that’s similar to monosodium glutamate. The machine costs around Bt1.5 million.

ESensS also has an e-nose, e-tongue and e-eye and detects odours, taste and the colour detection. It comes in cheaper at Bt500,000.

Though these the machines can be programmed to measure the “standard” of popular Thai dishes, the NIA prefers to use real people, specifically the members Thai Delicious committee who work closely with food institutions, chefs and sampling group.

The first 11 Thai dishes represents each region of Thailand and include tom yum goong in clear and creamy versions, nam prik aong (northern Thai chilli paste), pad thai, massaman curry and kaeng lueng (southern Thai sour curry). For the northern dishes, the research was undertaken by the Sensory Evaluation and Consumer Testing Unit at Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Agro-Industry while the southern dishes headed to the Nutraceutical and Functional Food Research and Development Centre, Prince of Songkhla University.

Each recipe has its chemical make-up recorded in a database to compare with other versions. Choompon’s task is to find the original recipe and identify the proper formula.

He works closely with food scientists not just on taste but also with regard to how the food is prepared in a restaurant kitchen. His input allows the academics to blend their theoretical formulas with practical considerations.

Professor Pavinee Chinachoti, the director of the Nutraceutical centre, says they are working with chefs in the South well as the committee to find the proper recipes. The dish is then cooked up in the label and tested on 250 consumers. The centre also adapts the standard recipe for further testing on European and Asian visitors.

For its part, the Thai delicious committee has completed the sauces for all 11 dishes for easier cooking. 

Pavinee says her centre will soon start working on such other famous southern dishes as kang tai pla (fish kidney thick spicy soup) and nam bhudu (southern-style fish sauce) and that the next batch of recipes with include more Isaan dishes.

Supachai adds after setting the Thai standard flavours, the committee and its cohorts will work on adapting the recipes to match local tastes. “We’ll start with Sweden and Japan as people from both of these countries are familiar with Thai food,” he says.

“Another idea is to have Thai Delicious become the institution for Thai cuisine so that it works on roughly the same basis as Michelin stars.”

A pilot Thai bistro-style restaurant called Kati recently opened on Sukhumvit Soi 49 and draws all its ingredients and recipes from the Thai Delicious project. The plan is to expand the business into a franchise with Kati outlets opening in Japan, South Korea and Sweden in the near future.

 On the Web:

www.NIA.or.th/thaidelicious