National Food Institute (NFI) President Petch Chinabutr said that Thai food export value in the first quarter of 2012 totaled 234.288 billion baht, a 5.3-percent year-on-year increase.

Mr. Petch said that sugar, chicken and poultry, cassava and food seasoning exports have registered an outstanding growth, while the food industry suffered a 1.6-percent contraction in the first quarter of this year due to a slowdown in Thailand’s major markets, including the US and the EU.

For the entire year of 2012, the NFI President believes that total food export value will exceed 1 trillion baht, or a 5.1-percent on-year growth rate, because of high prices that have been driven up by rising costs.

In addition, Mr. Petch said that the food business confidence index in April 2012 stood at 55.0 while entrepreneurs remained concerned about the cost of raw materials, which may hinder future growth.

Moreover, the NFI survey on the readiness of Thai food producers towards the emergence of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 found that around 63 percent of medium- and large-sized entrepreneurs are not quite prepared due to worries about language barriers and different business-undertaking approaches.

They are also waiting for the government to provide more information and news on the issue.

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The strategy focuses on encouraging food chains, restaurants, English consumers, and tourists to consume more Thai fruits on various occasions. It will also promote the uniqueness and quality of tropical fruits from Thailand amidst higher demand for tropical fruits from Asia.

The in-store promotion measure, in cooperation with Tesco – the United Kingdom’s largest wholesaler and retailer – would help boost export opportunities for Thai fruits.

Thai fruit exports to the UK will achieve US$4 million this year. Thai fruit imports by Tesco alone should be worth not less than Bt10 million.

Although the export value of Thai fresh fruits to Britain is still less compared with other products, shipments are expected to increase this year due to higher demand, in particular for the Olympic Games in London.

More than 900,000 tourists are expected to visit the British capital for the Games. However, even before the event, more tourists have also gradually traveled to the city and other cities in UK.

The in-store promotion campaign of Thai fruits should help promote more recognition and demand for consumption.

Tesco will organist in-store promotion of Thai fruits at 212 Tesco branches in London, starting today until 1 June. Fruits that would be highlighted at the event include Nam dok mai mango, Mahachanok mango, mangosteen, rambutan, and Southern langsat.

Total shipments to the UK were valued at $3.88 billion, up by 6.26 % last year. However, overall exports to the market in the first quarter of this year dropped by 11.89 % to $878.2 million.

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Ingredients

• 500 grams beef, cut into well pieces ( thickness 1 cm x length 7 cm)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 5 coriander roots, crushed
• 1 teaspoon pepper powder
• 3 tablespoons white sesame seeds
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon beef flavor soup base

Serving: 2 persons

Directions:

• Combine beef, coriander roots, garlic, sugar, pepper powder, oyster sauce, fish sauce, white sesame seeds and beef flavor soup base in a large bowl. Mix well and knead until all ingredients are well incorporated. Set aside and marinate for about an hour.
• On a rack, arrange the marinated beef and leave it under the sun for about 3 to 4 hours to dry. Make sure to turn the beef occasionally.
• Heat oil in a wok until it becomes very hot. Fry the marinated and sun-dried beef until meat is thoroughly cooked. Remove the beef from the pan and drain on paper towels.
• Transfer the beef onto a serving platter.
• Serve your meat with complementary fresh sliced vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumber and cabbage (any of your choice), chili sauce or a dip and hot sticky rice.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

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In the feature, 10 kinds of local Thai delicacies were presented, a well-known Thai dessert. The traditional Thai tea with milk Cha Yen also came in at No. 8. The full list is as follows:

1.Phat See Ew (stir-fried rich noodles with broccoli and dark soy sauce)
2.Som Tam (spicy papaya salad)
3.Moo Ping (grilled pork skewers)
4.Boat noodles (assorted noodles in small bowls)
5.Khao Phat Poo (crab fried rice)
6.Moo Dat Diew (marinated dried pork)
7.Khanom Jeen (fermented rice noodles with curry)
8.Cha Yen (Thai tea with milk)
9.Khao Niew Mamuang (sticky rice with mango)
10.Khanom Khrok (sweet coconut pudding)

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• 400 grams beef (cut into chunks)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1 cup potato (peeled and cut into cubes)
• 1 tablespoon masaman curry paste
• 1 tablespoon tamarind
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/4 cup cashew
• 2 pinches cardamom
• 2 bay leaves

Serving: 2 persons

Directions:

In a pot over low heat, pour in the coconut milk and let it be heated through, add in the masaman curry paste and stir well, cook for about 5 minutes or until you see the red oil bubbling on top.

Throw in the meat and stir. Pour in half a cup of water or just enough to cover the meat and let it be submerged. Continue stirring to incorporate the ingredients well.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients except for the onion, cashew and potatoes. Cook the stew for about 40 minutes or just until the beef is soft and tender.

Add in the potatoes, cashew and onion. Stir and let it simmer for another 30 minutes. Add more water if necessary.

Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Tips: You could also use other meats such as chicken, lamb, etc. depending on your preference and to make a variation.

Thai Massamun Beef

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CCNGo, a leading online source of travel news, has chosen Pad See Ew as the most popular street dish of Bangkok along with local foods from various Asian cities including Penang (Malaysia), Taipei, Fukuoka (Japan), Hanoi (Vietnam), Singapore, Seoul (South Korea), Xi’ an (China) and Manila (the Philippines).

The agency has also described Bangkok as a street food heavyweight where people can have a good meal without having to go to a restaurant.

CNNGo has also attributed the overwhelming variety of street foods to the nature of Thai people, many of whom enjoy having a bite to eat throughout the day.

Other dishes on the list of most popular items on CNNGo.com are Som tam, grilled pork, Boat noodles, fried rice with crab meat, Moo dad diew (deep fried spiced air-dried pork), Khanom jeen (fermented rice noodles), iced tea with milk, sweetened sticky rice with ripe mango and coconut milk and Khanom khrok (local coconut pudding).

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According to the government’s policy to push for greater recognition of Thai food in the global market, the ministry has assigned the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) to establish an operation plan to elevate the standard and promote Thai food as well as restaurant businesses. The DITP is currently in the process of gathering information and will be inviting the private sector to discuss the framework of promoting Thai food to the global market, with the main focus on ready-to-eat food which draws several billion dollars worth of orders each year. Thus, the government has agreed to allow exporters of ready-to-eat food to use the ‘Thai Select’ stamp of approval on their products. The move is expected to help Thai food exports meet their growth target of no less than 15% this year. The Commerce Ministry has already allowed domestic restaurants to show the ‘Thai Select’ logo.

In the past, only overseas restaurants were eligible to apply for the Thai Select logo. However, with modifications made to its criteria, the Thai Select program in 2012 is open to restaurants in Thailand that meet specific quality standards.

Currently, there are 13,140 Thai restaurants in 93 countries across the world. However, only 1,241 restaurants have been granted the Thai Select logo.

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Pineapple Thai Soup

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Sweet Fish

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