Representatives of the consular corps, Thai organizations and enterprises, and Vietnamese influencers in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday joined a cooking class where they were instructed to cook Thai dishes with Thai and Vietnamese ingredients.

The event was jointly organized by the Royal Thai Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, the Thai Trade Center in Ho Chi Minh City, the Tourism Authority of Thailand - Ho Chi Minh City Office, and Thai businesses as part of an attempt to promote Thai food.

At the cooking class, participants were instructed to cook Thai staples including pad Thai (stir-fried rice noodle), Thai coconut soup tom kha kai, and crispy shrimp with tamarind sauce by culinary expert Torroong Jarungidanan, who traveled from Thailand for the event.

According to the Royal Thai Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, Torroong Jarungidanan is a foremost expert on Thai cuisine and founder of several famous Thai restaurants in Thailand.

She also published three cookbooks of Thai cuisine.

In her instructions, Jarungidanan utilized readily available Thai ingredients that can be purchased in Vietnam, along with local products like rice noodles, sugar, dried tiny shrimps (acetes), and more. This approach was aimed at ensuring that the participants could easily recreate the dishes at home.

“These are the tiny shrimps we use to sprinkle on our pad Thai today. They are roasted on low heat without using any oil,” Jarungidanan explained while joining Thai Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Wiraka Moodhitaporn in showcasing the made-in-Vietnam dried shrimps. 

In her remarks at the event, Moodhitaporn said that the objective was not solely to promote Thai cuisine, but rather to demonstrate that making Thai dishes at home is not only possible but also relatively straightforward.

“Having spent considerable amounts of time overseas, Associate Professor Torroong knows full well that many Thai dishes need to adapt to availability of ingredients while maintaining the signature tastes of Thai cuisine,” Moodhitaporn said.

The Thai consul general further commented that since assuming her duties in Vietnam, she had observed the widespread popularity of Thai culture in the Southeast Asian country.

Thai food has gained significant acclaim, resonating with both the local population and the expatriate community, the diplomat said.

“Thai food and ingredients for Thai food can be found in supermarkets and local markets across the city, while Thai restaurants, many of which are locally owned and operated, are always packed full,” she said.

'We have the same tastes'

According to Jarungidanan, Thai and Vietnamese cuisines share the common tastes of sweetness, sourness, and saltiness.

What distinguishes them from each other is the 'level' of the tastes in the dishes. 

While in Ho Chi Minh City, Jarungidanan seized every opportunity to explore and savor local cuisine, expressing a particular fondness for Vietnamese food.

“It's pho, you know it,” Jarungidanan had no hesitation in picking her favorite dish in Vietnam, adding that she enjoyed the Vietnamese national noodle soup almost every day.

The food guru from Thailand also praised rice noodles in Vietnam for their quality, as well as admired the fact that Vietnamese people love having a lot of vegetables with their dishes.

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