Balancing Flavors and Perspectives (by Melody Feng)

They say balance is the key to life, and that rule applies to food, too. Except I have never been a fan of mixing flavors. 

Sweet and spicy? No, thank you. 

Wingstop’s Hot Honey Rub flavor is an exception, though. As for salty and sweet, don't even ask me how I feel about sprinkling sea salt on cookies. Why would I want my dessert to be salty when I'm craving something sweet? Anyway, I digressed. 

I have always preferred minimal to no flavor combinations in the food I eat. I suppose I prefer a straightforward approach to flavors. When I visited Thailand, I encountered a challenging experience while eating. Ask me what makes Thai food truly Thai, and I will tell you it is the way the food does not hold back from giving you salty, spicy, sweet, and sour, and sometimes even creamy, all in one bite. After eating Thai food almost every day for a week and a half, I cannot say I am the biggest fan. Still, I have come to understand and appreciate how the flavor explosion in Thai food reflects Thailand’s culinary history and culture. 

Tom Yum soup and Pad Thai were my main competitors. All of these well-known Thai dishes deliver the salty, spicy, sweet, and sour flavors. So much so that you cannot decipher which flavor is supposed to be the main character and which of the rest are supporting background characters. 

According to a featured article on the Michelin Guide written by Mimi Grachangnetara, the “yum” in Tom Yum means the mixing or mixture of sweet, sour, and spicy notes to create a perfect blend (Grachangnetara, 2019). I also read an article titled “Tom Yum Goong, Thainess, and the Culinary History of a National Staple” by Chanikarn Kovavisarach on Thai Enquirer. The soup borrows influences from neighboring countries such as “…lemongrass with being native to the South Asian region by default, galangal to China, and kaffir limes to Indonesia” (Kovavisarach, 2021). Learning more about the dish helped me see that the lime juice, herbs, chili, palm sugar, and coconut milk are more than just ingredients. These ingredients also provide the intention in working together to put meaning behind the word “yum,” and that could be why it is so yummy to many, no pun intended.  

I did not know until midway through the trip, from my classmates who had also visited Thailand with me, that Pad Thai drew most of its influence from China. A historian at Srinakharinwirot University in Bangkok named Chatichai Muksong explains in Isabelle Kliger’s article, “The Surprising History of Pad Thai” and published on Smithsonian Magazine, that “‘Noodles, which are made from rice and then cooked in soup or stir-fried, are a Chinese food that came to Thailand with the high numbers of Chinese people who immigrated here over the last 200 years. …However, pad thai also shows us it is Thai because, while it uses a Chinese cooking technique, the flavor is spicy and salty-sour-sweet in a balanced proportion,” (Kliger 2024). 

So next time I eat Pad Thai, although I douse it with a concerning amount of spice to drown out the sweetness, I will now look at the national dish of Thailand with more appreciation as someone who is Chinese and loves Chinese cuisine, especially as a rice noodles connoisseur. The stir-frying technique, rice noodles, sweet tamarind sauce, salty fish sauce, crunchy peanuts, and tangy lime are also used intentionally.

At first, this was just a challenge for my taste buds. Now it is more than that, thanks to the effort I put into my research. It is a window opened into Thailand’s hospitality. Experiencing Thai cuisine reminds me of how food can go a long way in connecting travelers and cultures. 

A close friend of mine once told me that food has the power to bring people together, and it has always stuck with me because of how deeply it resonates. My family and I are the very few people I know who still eat together at the dining table. I hope to carry on this ritual or habit for future generations. 

To future students, I would recommend being open to trying new things and stepping out of your comfort zone. I was ecstatic to see my classmates try durian, Asian desserts which tend to be steamed rather than baked or fried, and of course, anything pandan-flavored. 

It felt as though all the foods and exotic flavors I grew up eating and continue to eat are being validated and appreciated. I want to return the same feelings to those who are trying Thai food for the first time. While the cuisine may not entirely suit my taste, I take pride in my ever-growing knowledge of Asian cuisine and in my ability to share it with others. 

My point is, food is more than flavor. It connects us in ways that words sometimes fail to do so. Rice has always been the bridge between my family and me. I will now ask you to consider what dish holds the same weight or power in creating connections for you?

References

https://www.theluxurysignature.com/2024/02/16/what-makes-thai-food-thai/
https://limrosthairestaurant.com/what-is-thai-cuisine/
https://www.thaienquirer.com/25780/tom-yum-goong-thainess-and-the-culinary-history-of-a-national-staple/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-surprising-history-of-pad-thai-180984625/
https://guide.michelin.com/en/article/features/thai-soups-explained-tom-kha-tom-yum-tom-klong-and-tom-som

About the Author 

Melody Feng is a hospitality management student with an emphasis in Food and Beverage at the Collins College of Hospitality Management at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). She is also the Vice President for CPP’s chapter of the Society for Hospitality and Foodservice Management club (SHFM). Outside of school and work, Melody enjoys spending time with her friends and family, singing while playing the ukulele, and dancing!

Note: Melody Feng submitted this essay as an assignment for the Food and Wellness in Sustainable Tourism class, which is a co-requisite for the Thailand Study Abroad Program at the Collins College of Hospitality Management, Cal Poly Pomona.