After rice is served and a few dishes of kab kao arrive, you then take a small portion of one of the dishes close to you and put it on your plate. Usually serving spoons or “chon glang” are provided. After trying a dish, you see what else looks good and try that. And so on through the meal. No one hogs a dish or overeats one item – there is care taken that food is truly shared. The dishes may be passed around the table or you just reach out for them, or someone may serve you. Food is eaten slowly and tastes savored and the sharing of food with others is part of the enjoyment.

What is the correct way to deal with this. Well Thai dishes are always served with rice. So, the trick is don’t enjoy each dish separately. A soothing mouthful of rice once after every a few spoons of dishes will not only enhance the taste of the spicy Thai cuisine but also prevent your tongue from getting bombarded by chillies and other spices. But if you happen to accumulate unbearable heat on your tongue, take some candy or something sweet even a sugar cube. Leave it in your mouth as long as possible. And, remember, no water!

SIDEBAR
A friend of mine told me the other day that chewing banana will help remove the sting of heat from your tongue inferno too. You can find banana everywhere all year round in Thailand, so this may be a more natural cure.