Once again, I find myself writing about health and food choices -- a topic I could never bore of. We all survive off food so it's important to know how to maintain a healthy diet that keeps our bodies in balance.
A team of researchers at Mahidol University's Institute of Nutrition recently conducted a study on four traditional Thai dishes -- mixed vegetable soup (kaeng liang), sour soup with mixed veggies (kaeng som), spicy curry without coconut milk (kaeng pa) and spicy yellow curry (kaeng leuang) -- and their effects on fighting cancer.
Food and medicine can help inhibit the growth of cancer cells. However, when these cells are suppressed in one part of the body, they are likely to move into other areas instead. This phenomenon is called abnormal inhibition.
The study found that consuming kaeng som, kaeng pa and kaeng leuang can slow down the growth of cancer cells by 38%, although there remains a possibility that these cells can spread from one part of the body to another.
In the case of kaeng liang, the research team found the soup has a lower ability to slow down the growth of cancer cells, but can prevent them from spreading better than the other three dishes.
The study was conducted on two groups of rats. One group was fed a usual diet, while the other was fed a usual diet in combination with kaeng liang for six weeks.
Sharing these findings doesn't mean I want people to stop relying on conventional medicine and start consuming kaeng liang everyday. I simply want to stress that the health benefits should not be overlooked, even though they do not guarantee the same results in the study.
To analyse the benefits of the four mentioned Thai soups, we must look into the essential ingredients of each dish.
The paste used as the base for kaeng som includes dried chillies, shallots, garlic, galangal, kaffir lime, shrimp paste, fish and vegetables.
Kaeng pa's composition is quite similar to kaeng som, with added finger root, fresh peppercorn, cayenne pepper, basil leaves and kaffir lime leaves.
The ingredients of kaeng leuang are also similar to kaeng som, but includes turmeric.
The ingredients of kaeng liang are slightly different as luffa, calabash, young watermelon, pumpkin and sweet basil are included. The paste used in cooking kaeng liang has shallots, pepper, shrimp paste, dried shrimp and smoked fish.
Although herb pastes are already put in when cooking, Thais also eat various fresh local vegetables as side dishes. These seasonal vegetables are free from chemicals, fertilisers, insecticides and have medicinal properties.
Fresh vegetables are often served with spicy Thai foods to help deal with the powerful spiciness and balance out the flavours.
Thai salads, or yum, that have a sour taste often feature herbs and vegetables as their main ingredient. For example, the ingredients of steamed mackerel salad (yam pla tu) are lemon grass, shallots, chilli, spicy stock, parsley and balm mint. The ingredients of crispy fish salad (yum pla kob) include olives, lemon grass, shallots, chilli and coriander.
The easiest yum to cook, Chinese sausage salad (yum koon chiang), requires only shallots, onions, scallions and coriander, along with the Chinese sausages themselves.
For food that use steaming techniques like fish in lemon sauce, ingredients like lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime are placed under the fish. While the fish is steaming, minced garlic and chilli, lime juice, salt or fish sauce are added to season the dish. Afterwards, the dish is decorated with coriander and basil leafs.
Another category of Thai food that needs to be mentioned is nam phrik (a type of spicy, chilli-based hot sauce).
Nam phrik can be divided into three groups based on texture. First, you have the liquid type like nam phrik kapi (chilli sauce with fermented shrimp paste), nam phrik pla la (chilli sauce with fermented fish sauce) and nam phrik makham-on (chilli sauce with tamarind).
Then you have your pastes such as nam phrik phao (chilli source sweetened with sugar and tamarind) and nam phrik num (chilli sauce made from roasted green chillies, garlic and fresh cilantro).
Finally, you have a dry or granular nam phrik like nam phrik pla kob (spicy powdered fish).
The three types of nam phrik may vary in texture, but what they have in common is the way they are served with local and season vegetables.
At the start of the rainy season, local vegetables like horse tamarind and coccinia grandis grow quickly so Thais are usually quick to pick these up to eat as a side dish to nam phrik.
Young leafs of horse tamarind can be cooked as yum, while vine of coccinia grandis can be used as the main ingredient in a soup called tom jued tam leung.
Young leafs of other local trees such as marian plum and kaffir lime can also be eaten with nam phrik.
When the time comes, young leafs of Siamese neem tree can also be picked up to eat with nam pla wan (sweet fish sauce), grilled catfish and grilled river shrimp.
There are many more local vegetables in Thailand that can provide health benefits that I haven't mentioned here.
This story is not about promoting these Thai recipes, but rather addressing the healthy components of some dishes that can help keep our bodies in balance. However, each person should find out what healthy foods appeal to them, and tailor their diet accordingly.
