Thailand’s massaman curry, known as gaeng massaman, was recently voted the #1 dish in the world according to CNNGO.com’s Facebook World Food Survey. The survey ranked the world’s top 50 dishes according to user taste, with Thailand making an impressive showing; in addition to the #1 dish, three other Thai dishes placed in the top 50.
Thailand’s renowned hot and sour soup with shrimp (tom yum goong) also made the top 10, placing 8th. The succulent spicy pork salad (nam tok mu) from Isan, Thailand’s rural northeast part of the country, was not far behind at 19th, and shredded raw papaya salad (som tum), a national staple, placed 46th. Four dishes out of the world’s top 50 is an amazing accomplishment in anyone’s cookbook.
The complete results can be viewed here: http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/eat/worlds-50-most-delicious-foods-067535?page=0,2
Massaman curry is a Thai dish that hails from the deep south of Thailand, where many Thai Muslims live, and is in fact a Muslim dish that traveled across the water from Indonesia. The dish can actually be made with either chicken, beef, tofu, mutton, or pork, although the latter is not eaten by Muslims and so is less popular.
Traders brought many of the wonderful spices used in Thai cooking from different parts of the seafaring world, such as India, Sri Lanka, Portugal, and Indonesia. Some of the wonderful spices incorporated into this dish and other amazing Thai dishes include cumin, cloves, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon, and turmeric.
One of northern Thailand’s signature dishes came via Burma, and is called “khao soi,” and is an incredibly savory chicken curry-type dish with fried noodles on top. Thailand is indeed renowned for absorbing the best of different cultures, making some local variations, and creating a superb Thai dish all its own.
Thai cuisine is now commonly rated as one of the world’s finest, featuring lightly prepared dishes with often strong aromatic and/or spicy elements. It is very healthy because of the quick cooking time, which allows the food to retain its natural, essential vitamins and minerals. A meal often consists of dishes piquing all the senses, from spicy through sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and sometimes bitter.
Gaeng massaman was described in the CNN survey as “emphatically the king of curries, and perhaps the king of all foods. Spicy, coconutty, sweet and savory, its combination of flavors has more personality than a Thai election.”
A dish must certainly be incredible to win out over the other top 5 winners: Peking Duck (#5), Japanese Sushi (#4), Mexican chocolate (#3), and Neapolitan pizza (#2). Indeed, massaman curry combines so many amazing taste sensations in one dish, it is not surprising that it now reigns as world champion dish.
There are many variations of recipes to make Massaman curry, which you can easily find with a little Web surfing. Here is a nutshell version of how it is made to give you an idea of what we’re talking about:
Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in curry paste and minced ginger; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in the cubed chicken, and cook until the pieces turn white on the outside, about 3 minutes.
Stir in brown sugar, fish sauce, tamarind paste, peanut butter, potatoes, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the potatoes are tender and the chicken pieces are no longer pink in the center, about 20 minutes. Add the lime juice and cook for an additional 5 minutes before serving.
Serve with rice or roti. It is also great with ajaat (slightly pickled cucumber salad) on the side.
The CNN poll concludes saying: “’The Land of Smiles’ isn’t just a marketing catch-line. It’s a result of being born in a land where the world’s most delicious food is sold on nearly every street corner."
Unfortunately, massaman curry is not sold on every street corner, although papaya salad comes close in its omnipresence. The Thais are a very proud people, and justifiably so: they live in a beautiful Kingdom of friendly people, amazing scenery, and astounding tourist attractions. Their pride is once again justified and validated by holding another world record, of which Thailand holds many: the world’s most delicious dish.
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