Category: Foods

Thai cuisine is one of the best gourmets in the world. It is well known for the diversity of ingredients, outstanding spiciness and ample medicinal properties. Most of Thai food is cooked and refined with more than two types of herbs or spices which are beneficial to health.

The (mostly unconscious) principle Thai food is the balance of five flavors which are spicy, salty, sweet, sour and bitter. The one indispensible ingredient which is generally used in seasoning a majority of Thai cuisine is fish sauce. Thai food is eaten either as a single dish or with rice. Steamed rice is the staple food although sticky rice is more popular in the north and northeast of Thailand.

Thai food is one of many things that you should not miss while you are traveling in this beautiful Land of Smiles. Since there are numberless delectable Thai dishes, I am writing this guideline for you to select the most distinctive and authentic ones out of the plethora of Thai signature dishes.
The following list is a top 10 rank of Thai food that you must not miss. The consideration and ranking is based on the popularity, uniqueness and authenticity of the delicacies. Here are the winners.

10. Kai Pad Med Mamuang Himmapan (Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashew Nuts)
Even though Kai Pad Med Mamuang Himmapan does not represent the overview of Thai food but it is a very nice treat to your bland taste buds. Since it is by no means spicy or hot, this slightly sweet and salty chicken fried with crunchy cashew nuts is aptly satiating for children or beginners who are not used to spices.

9. Por Pia Tord (Fried Spring Roll)
Fried spring roll is one of the most popular appetizers among foreigners because it is not spicy and comes with sweet and sour dip. Spring rolls are crispy pastries with fried vegetable fillings. Though spring rolls are commonplace in many Southeast Asian countries, Thai Por Pia is different in flavors with a special dip prepared from Japanese apricot.

8. Panaeng (Meat in Spicy Coconut Cream)
Panaeng can be cooked using either pork, chicken or beef. Panaeng tastes like Thai red curry but the coconut milk sauce is relatively thicker and richer. Compared to Thai red curry, Panaeng is mildly spicy and sweet. Paneang is best served with warm steamed rice. There is nothing to dislike about Panaeng expect the fact that it can be too greasy or fleshy for some people.

7. Som Tam (Spicy Papaya Salad)
Som Tam is one of the most popular foods among Thai people for its fiercely spicy and sour flavors. Som Tam, which literally means Sour Pounded, is a spicy salad made from a mix of fresh vegetables including shredded unripened papaya, yardlong beans and tomato. Som Tam is unique that the spicy dressing and salad vegetables are pounded and mixed in the mortar using a pestle. Somtam is usually served with grilled chicken and sticky rice. Som Tam is good for your health that it contains no fat, low calorie and high vitamins. This is a truly authentic Thai dish that will make a great impression. The only reason why Im ranking Som Tam at No.7 (though it deserves higher rank) is its strong spiciness that might leave your tongue burned and swollen. Just say Mai phed (not spicy) to your waiter if you really want to try.

6. Moo Sa-Te (Grilled Pork Sticks with Turmeric)
This tantalizing sweet-flavored grilled pork sticks are refined with rich, juicy sauce made of turmeric and curry powder. Moo Sa-Te makes a savory hors d’oeuvres that will appease any taste buds. These juicy grilled pork sticks are usually served with two saucy dips one is a mildly spicy thick sauce with ground peanuts, coconut milk and curry powder and another one is a sweet and sour vinegar sauce with chopped shallot, pepper and cucumber to mitigate its oiliness.

5. Tom Yam Kai (Spicy Chicken Soup)
Chicken soup is very good to eat when you have a cold but Tom Yam Kai or spicy chicken soup is a yummy treat that you will fall in love with just in a first sip. Tom Yam Kai is a clear chicken soup seasoned with a blend of chili, lime and fish sauce. The broth is simmered with Thai herbs as lemon grass, shallot and galangal which give it a unique and satiating aroma. My foreign friends order this tasty soup anywhere they go so you should not miss it by any means!

4. Tom Kha Kai (Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup)
Although Tom Kha Kai is another variation of chicken soup, it deserves the No.4 because of its unparalleled taste and popularity. Similar to Tom Yam Kai, the broth is prepared with many types of Thai herbs with the special addition of coconut milk that makes this soup unique. Though the soup is seasoned with chili, lime and fish sauce just like Tom Kha Kai, thanks to the coconut milk, the broth is milder and less spicy. This is probably more liked by non-spicy eaters.

3. Kang Keaw Wan Kai (Green Chicken Curry)
Since we are having three dishes in a row made of Kai, you would have guessed that it is chicken in English. Not that chicken is particularly popular in Thai cuisine; it is usually used in most curry and soup. Kang Kiew Wan, literally translated as Sweet Green Curry, is nicely sweet and slightly spicy and tastes very delightful with a proper blend of the spiciness from green curry chili paste, blandness from coconut milk, sweetness of sugar and saltiness of fish sauce. It is usually eaten with steamed rice or served as a sauce to rice noodle known as Kanom Jeen likewise to how you eat Spaghetti.

2. Pad Thai (Fried Noodle)
This national dish prides itself for its long history traced back in previous centuries. Pad Thai flaunts the authenticity of Thai culinary arts in using only fresh and best ingredients and the well-balancing of the five fundamental flavors. The stir-fried noodle becomes popular because it tastes yummy and comes with a choice to add in a set of seasonings to suit your appetites. Through history, Pad Thai has evolved into two different styles: the classic and the variation. The classic Pad Thai is a stir-fried noodle with eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chili pepper plus bean sprouts, shrimp and tofu and garnished with crushed peanuts and coriander while another style is relatively dry and lightly-flavored. The latter is easily found in street vendors and dominant in Thai restaurants in the West but the having classic Pad Thai freshly cooked in its original country is a way to go.

1. Tom Yam Goong (Spicy Shrimp Soup)
No other dishes can defeat this renowned Tom Yam Goong as the optimal representative of Thai gourmet. Tom Yam Goong is truly one of a kind with its fierce spiciness and sourness and a blatant use of fragrant herbs including galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, shallot, tamarind and chili pepper. There are two styles of Tom Yam; the clear spicy soup and thick spicy soup. The latter is cooked by adding coconut milk or milk to the broth in order to thicken the stock and give the dish a milder flavor. Tom Yam is very versatile and can be made with prawns, chicken, fish and mix of seafood, and mushroom. Tom Yam Goong is the most popular variety of Tom Yam since Spicy Shrimp Soup is the original. Though not very surprising, Tom Yam Goong is definitely a signature dish of Thailand.

Even though it is commonly known that Thai food utilizes many health herbs and spices, there have always been debates whether Thai food is really good for health since they tend to be somewhat greasy. It is important to note that it depends on each dish; some can be highly caloric but many dishes make a good use of herbs. Garlic, for example, is very good healthwise because it can prevent heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and cancer.

No matter what the food is, the same old concept of moderate intake comes into play. From Mcdonalds burger to Japanese Sushi, a key to optimal fitness is to avoid overconsumption. Thus, a claim that Thai food is mainly coconut-based and fattening should never be an adequate reason for you to still order a Big Mac. Ravish your taste buds with Thai food – tasty and healthy!

Commercial food mixers have come of age. Great technological advancements have ensured that these modern commercial food mixers have multi tasking abilities. They are generally used in bakeries but the application premises may vary depending on the requirement of an establishment. Now, before discussing the important advantages of a commercial food mixer, we must understand its working mechanism. Usually there is a large metal vessel that holds a minimum five gallons of dry or wet ingredients. This is necessary for commercial operations to be able to produce the number of food items that they need to. There usually is a motor that most of the times is housed on the top of the machine. The top of the machine usually has an arm so that the mixer can be pulled down into the vessel. Now, here is a list of some important benefits and application areas of a commercial food mixer.

Bakeries: Bakeries and other food preparation businesses could not function without a commercial food mixer. It is the first step in the food preparation process. The importance of a mixer in bakeries can be understood from the fact that most preparation processes for all the products are generally the same except for some minor alterations. In a nut shell, a commercial food mixer is an indispensable requirement for any bakery just like commercial fridge freezers.

Factories: Food manufactures are often found hunting for the right food mixers. The very fact that they have to produce large number of food items in terms of both variety and quantity, makes it even more important for them to get the right commercial food mixer. The important benefit that any factory should look out for is a proper upkeep and hassle free operation of this commercial food mixer. Most factories have more than one commercial mixer. They may have up to ten or more depending on the scale of their manufacturing operation.

Home: People who live in large joint families or prepare food for small community groups often prefer to buy commercial food mixers and commercial refrigerators. Commercial food mixers make short work of large domestic jobs, drastically reducing preparation times of large volumes of food for domestic consumption.

I hope these insights nputs help you understand the importance of commercial food mixers.

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Just like anywhere else, Filipino has its own list of unusual food. Food that are common among us Filipino but for some find the food unusual or exotic. Here is my list for some Filipino exotic food.

Balot: Balot is not only a popular food in the Philippines, as Filipino eats Balot for a very long time. Balot is a hard boiled fertilized duck egg eaten from the shell. For some, Balot is so unusual as it was featured in popular TV show as one of the most unusual food in the world. Balot is so popular in the Philippines because of the believe for its aphrodisiac effect and for being high in protein. Now a days, balot is usually sell in the street fried wrap with batter known as Balot Tokneneng. It is also eaten in other Asian nation such as in Vietnam, China has also a similar preparation known as Maodan.

Bayawak : Bayawak (variety of large lizard) is another unusual meat consume by Filipino, before you could always find Bayawak in some Restaurant in Manila specialized with exotic food but now a days you could rarely seen some as the number of Bayawak started to decline.

Dagang Bukid (Rice field rat): For some, rat might be a pest on their rice field farm, but for some farmer it turns to be a favorite appetizer during drinking session. They usually cook rice field rat as dry adobo and Ive heard that it taste like a chicken.

Frog (Rice field Frog): For some people, eating frog might be look so unusual but I heard that some people fom other nation also eat Frog as part of their culinary cuisine. There are some variety of frog that are poisonous ,so be careful when choosing one. Frog is usually cook the way chicken cook in the Philippines as they have the same taste, personally frog is one of my favorite food.

Kinilaw or Kilawin : Kinilaw is a popular fish recipe in the Philippines, it is a fresh and raw fish marinated using vinegar, onion, ginger, salt, and chili. For some it might be look so unusual eating raw fish but there is also other county eat raw fish same as we do.

Dog Meat: Now a days, a lot of Filipino still eat dog meat as a day to day recipe or for just for pulutan. Eating dog meat is not allowed in our country and it is punishable by law but some of my hard headed countrymen still find a way taking dog as a food. I think, authority should implement a harder penalty for violator.

It is just a partial list of some Filipino unusual food, some of this food are my personal favorite especially balot and frog meat. For some it might be an unusual kind of food but for us, some of this food is part of culture and tradition.

The diet that we feed on in daily life greatly affects the biological functions of our body. Height increase is one of the biological phenomena that are controlled directly by external factors like foods that we take in. Nutrients that the body absorbs from different foods stimulate the function of the gland that mainly secretes the growth hormone. Nutritional deficiency in the foods results in a decrease in the secretion of the growth hormone from the gland. The nutritional component of your family diet is to be checked as early as possible. So make a list of foods to increase height so that your child does not suffer from improper height growth.

Foods to increase height vary in degree of nutritional richness. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins and fiber are the essential nutrients of healthy foods. Researches reveal that vitamin A, protein, calcium and zinc are the most influential as height increasing food elements. A balanced diet with the requisite amount of nutrient and calorie is a support for good health and proper height growth.

Vitamin A works for proper growth other than immune system, reproductive organs and eye development. Sufficient intake of foods to increase height that are rich in vitamin A ensures an increase in physical height. But over consumption of this essential nutrient may go reserve to cause detrimental effects like headache, bone pain, vomiting, and appetite loss and growth obstruction. Oranges, papayas, carrots, mines, sweet potatoes, yolk, salmon, fish cod, fresh figs, tomatoes and broccoli are the vitamin A rich foods to increase height.

Vitamin D is a most important height increasing nutritional component. It enriches the bones with calcium as well as phosphorus and strengthens the bones to absorb calcium from the foods. The proper growth of bones is a driving factor for height increase. A must have in the foods to increase height, vitamin D is mainly found in liver, fish, egg yolk and the ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Deficiency of vitamin D results in bone deformation, fragile bones and cramps that in turn, hinder the natural growth process.

Some biological mechanisms like blood circulation, nerve transmission, fluid regulation and muscle contraction have indirect impact on height increase. Sufficient intake of minerals like calcium and zinc boosts these biological functions in order to increase height. Foods that are rich in calcium are the foods to increase height like milk, salmon, dry shrimp, soya, cabbage, broccoli and dairy products. Moreover, there are specific height medicines that provide the height-boosting properties of healthy foods.

There are several situations where you may have to arrange for catering. Perhaps somebody is having an engagement, perhaps your office needs to arrange on-site meals, or you are interested in throwing a private party that stays fresh in everyone’s memory for a long, long time. Once you’ve chosen to arrange for catering, the main question you need to answer is what type of food you’d prefer. Maria’s Italian Kitchen would like to suggest Italian food.

Catering, as you may perhaps know, is one of Maria’s specialties. They have been providing Italian food catering services to Los Angeles for a very long time and they have gotten pretty good at it. Our dedicated catering and events staff has the determination and experience to appease all of your requests while staying inside your budget and providing you with some of Los Angeles’ best Italian food. Catering rarely used to be this convenient.

If you’re scheduling your wedding, you may want to think about serving Italian food. Catering services with Maria’s Italian Kitchen don’t stop with the food, however. They can help you with all the little details from choosing a location, to food, drinks and even decoration. Speak to their events staff regarding the arrangement of a traditional Italian wedding, even if you aren’t Italian! Food, catering, location and decoration are all parts of the package.

They are also really seasoned at providing craft services to the film and TV industries. Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world, and there is nothing less entertaining than an empty stomach. They’ll keep your cast and crew’s spirits high and well fed with their selection of authentic, wholesome Italian food. Catering for the specific food allergies and dietary requirements of your people is not a problem, either.

If you’re having a private party in the near future, don’t run yourself ragged preparing a feast for your friends; let Maria’s Italian Kitchen take care of it for you. Whether for a small, more intimate gathering or a significant feast for hundreds they will ensure everyone remembers the fantastic Italian food. Catering with Maria’s is convenient, affordable, and most of all delicious.

Maria’s Italian Kitchen is one of Los Angeles’ top places to go for great Italian food, catering, or just for a few drinks. They have been serving L.A. for just about 30 years with their genuine, traditional recipes and fresh, wholesome ingredients. In addition to the traditional recipes, they also have many gluten free alternatives. The menu is also full of delicious vegetarian options.

If you are looking into arranging catering with Maria’s, make sure to ask them about their catering loyalty rewards program. When you are a member of the rewards program, every $100 you spend on catering services gets you $5 worth of rewards points that you can use towards dining in at one of their 9 locations. It’s their way of thanking you when planning your big event or arranging to feed your staff and colleagues.