Robotic Taster Will Judge 'Real Thai Food'

HughPickens.com (3830033) writes The NYT reports that Thailand's former prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra repeatedly encountered a distressing problem while traveling the world: bad Thai food. Too often, she found, the meals she sampled at Thai restaurants abroad were unworthy of the name, too bland to be called genuine Thai cooking. The problem bothered her enough to raise it at a cabinet meeting. Even though her political party has since been thrown out of office, in a May military coup, the Thai government is unveiling its project to standardize the art of Thai food using a robot. The government-financed Thai Delicious Committee, which oversaw the development of the machine, describes it as "an intelligent robot that measures smell and taste in food ingredients through sensor technology in order to measure taste like a food critic." Thailand's National Innovation Agency has spent about $100,000 to develop the e-delicious machine. The e-delicious machine has 10 sensors that measure smell and taste, generating a unique fingerprint (signature) for each sample of food that passes its digital maw. Generally with electronic tasting, there are electronic sensors that work just like the taste buds on your tongue, measuring the quantity of various taste-giving compounds, acidity, etc. While these electronic sensors can't actually tell you how something tastes — that's a very subjective, human thing — they are very good at comparing two foods scientifically. Meanwhile at a tiny food stall along one of Bangkok's traffic-clogged boulevards, Thaweekiat Nimmalairatana, questioned the necessity of a robatic taster. "I use my tongue to test if it's delicious or not," said Nimmalairatana. "I think the government should consider using a human to gauge authenticity." Nakah Thawichawatt, who runs a business producing herbal supplements, has a vision for the machine that he says will take the next step in the digitization of our lives. The so-called e-delicious tasting machine would produce a digital signature of food at a particular restaurant. Consumers would then indicate their preferences on an app for mobile phones. The app would match consumers with their favorite tastes at other restaurants that participate in the program. "It's just like pressing 'like,' " says Thawichawatt. "You rate the food. Then we will know that you love that taste."

Comments

Misread

[zildgulf]

I misread the phrase "Thailand's National Innovation Agency has spent about $100,000 to develop the e-delicious machine" as "Thailand's National Innovation Agency has spent about $100,000 to develop the ridiculous machine".

This is test equipment not a robot

[EmperorOfCanada]

I would no more call this a robot than I would call an xray machine a robotic innards examiner or a smoke detector a robot fireman's nose.

I would call it a robot if it wandered the streets of Bangkok smelling for the most Thai food and recording on a map where it found it.

Thai Tasting

[Translation Error]

"I use my tongue to test if it's delicious or not," said Nimmalairatana. "I think the government should consider using a human to gauge authenticity."

I don't know... Being a taste tester for Thai food sounds like a good way to suffer severe burnout.

Re:Thai Tasting

[Rei]

While I personally see a device like this (sorry... ROBOT!) of rather limited use for testing prepared dishes, I can see great utility for it for testing ingredients. You could have a standardized, unambiguous way to rate the quality or at least properties of a given product, be it meat, fruit, vegetables, etc. I bet cultivar breeding programs in particular could really benefit from this - "Well, I was hoping that this new mango would be a huge innovation, but actually it's almost identical to a Keitt. Though to be fair its mouthfeel is somewhat like a Carrie, and it does have a small amount of a new novel aromatic compound..." Just a single mass produced sensor package that measures a wide range of different properties at once in a repeatable, universal manner. If such a thing could become widespread, I'd bet half of the "cultivars" out there would pretty much disappear, having been shown to be essentially identical to others.

Re:Thai Tasting

[plover]

I definitely agree there is value in testing the ingredients. The strength of peppers varies widely based on their growing conditions, and it would be good to avoid making a dish too hot or too bland.

I can also see using this automated taster to evaluate how a hybrid produces year over year, how the fruit of different parents crossed to produce the same hybrid compares to the original hybrid, or how the taste may vary from field to field. That's when it could be more useful to quantify the difference from the "standard".

But I think when you're hybridizing you'd still want a human doing the evaluation. It's a new thing, and quantifying taste of a new thing isn't as important as the perception of the taster.

Well .. most asian food in the US is crap

[OzPeter]

Asian restaurants in the US cater to what they the think the US public wants to consume and not what is "authentic" to their cuisine. While which probably makes for good economic sense, doesn't make for the best food experience. (As an extreme, Imagine how the local asian family restaurant in the US having a plate of fried chicken heads on its menu would fare).

But these restaurants are so ingrained with this practice that even if you go into a Thai restaurant and ask for the dish to be "Thai-hot", they'll ask if "you are sure about that?" and still dial it back to something that is only middling spicy.

So while I can agree with the sentiment of the TFA, it win;t going to happen. If anything its really just the new heads of Thailand flexing their muscles to show that their coup d'etat is the best thing for the country.

Re:Well .. most asian food in the US is crap

[Anonymous Coward]

Asian restaurants in the US cater to what they the think the US public wants to consume and not what is "authentic" to their cuisine. While which probably makes for good economic sense, doesn't make for the best food experience. (As an extreme, Imagine how the local asian family restaurant in the US having a plate of fried chicken heads on its menu would fare).

I don't think you realize what is available in restaurants in the US. I live within walking distance from the "Chinatown" of one of the largest metro areas in the US and I assure you that there are plenty of restaurants with dead animals hanging in the windows, menus that don't have a single word of English on them and a staff of workers that don't speak a word of English either. They have plenty of customers that from visual and auditory clues you might describe as "immigrants" but also plenty of "Americans" too. A smartphone can give you a fairly good translation of things on the menu, after all. I can hop on the train and go over to areas of the city with similarly large concentrations of Vietnamese, Indian, Somolian, Thai, etc restaurants. You'll see "immigrants" and "Americans" sitting next to each other at those places too.

But - does the Prime Minister of Thailand go to these neighborhoods? Does the average American suburbanite? No. Not a chance. They go to restaurants where someone spent six figures on the decor and the chef is implementing a "concept" and sheltered children aren't going to cry when they see something unusual on their plate. You get what you pay for, and it's not "authenticity."

Re:Well .. most asian food in the US is crap

[Translation Error]

The offerings of ethnic restaurants in foreign countries are often adapted to better suit the tastes of the local people. Look at Chinese food in the US--it's quite different from what you'd get in China. Then look at Chinese food in Japan--it's different from both of the above. Or just look at pizza in Italy, multiple regions of the US, and Japan.

Re:Well .. most asian food in the US is crap

[king neckbeard]

I think you are generalizing far too much. Food is bizarre. Cheese, for example, is arguably weirder than haggis if you don't come from either culture. That doesn't stop it from being fine cuisine though.

How to judge "real" Thai food

[HnT]

It's a given that Thai food is amongst the most delicious cuisines in the world so you only need to find the right place to eat! These two simple points should help:

1. Are you in Thailand? Many places around the world come close but it's never quite the same.

2. Is it packed full with locals with just enough space to squeeze in? If the place is packed full you can be sure it is great and this goes for small food stalls just as much as for nice restaurants! Thai people are passionate about food and eat out a lot so the good places will be very full; better stay away from the empty ones.

This is all you really need and you can be 98% certain before even having tried the food! chok dee krub!

Maybe Anthony Bourdain

[Gim Tom]

I lived in North Eastern Thailand for a year decades ago and had some wonderful food while I was there, but it was almost never EXACTLY what the Thais in the area ate. Most westerners could not, or would not, eat the "REAL" Thai food. It wasn't just the spices, although they were far too hot for most people. The types of food and the way they were stored and prepared was just an entirely different culture and what is and is not food is to some extent determined by culture.

I saw a giant Mekong catfish lay on the side of the road for at least three or four days before it was considered "ripe" enough to use in food. When I was there refrigeration was rare and most food sat out in heat and humidity for extended periods. The climate was even a bit more that I was used to -- and I was born and raised in the deep south before air conditioning was common. The aroma of a Thai open air market is to say the least unique. Thailand is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, and the people are the friendliest and most open anywhere, but eating "real" Thai food is something I was never able to really appreciate.

There are places I have eaten in the US that have excellent Thai food, but it is not what you find the Thai's eating in Thailand. Maybe Anthony Bourdain can eat real Thai food, but on a recent episode of his show it appeared that even he was having a bit of trouble with some of it.

Re:I measure taste like a food critic

[hawkinspeter]

Real Thai food is very spicy as the Thais love their chilis. I like my food spicy, but when you ask for Thai food "local style" (as opposed to the tourist food that is a lot milder), you get a VERY hot dish.

Good idea

[SpaghettiPattern]

What bugs me most about Thai food imitations is bad taste and cheap surrogates. The wost offenders IMHO are Chinese cooks pretending to. Corn starch with water an coconut flavour DOES NOT replace coconut milk. Never, ever!

Re:Moron

[tlhIngan]

Thai food is known for its balance of flavours. It's a delicate balance of a minimum of 2 (but usualy 4) of spicy, sweet, bitter, salty and sour in a dish.

It's also VERY easy to screw up.

As an aside, Jet Tila was appointed the Culinary Ambassador to Thailand for his role as a guide to Thai cuisine. (People from LA and Food Network viewers will recognize the name for he's had numerous appearances on various shows).

I guess we'll have a new Food Network special - Jet Tila vs. this machine.

Re:I measure taste like a food critic

[rwa2]

Real Thai food has a strong balance of all flavors. I've never seen a good use of radar charts in engineering, but I think they'd be perfectly suited for assessing good Thai food which would have components to fill out the entire spectrum of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, spicy, savory, crunchy, chewy, etc. in a similar way that good Japanese food tries to throw in something of each primary color when arranging a dish.

As a case study, I present a common northern Thai appetizer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M... , which illustrates this simply and perfectly, and is even presented like a radar chart. You combine each of the fresh and basic ingredients in roughly equal proportions to contribute to the package:
* sweet tamarind sauce for tang and to provide moisture
* sliced bird's eye peppers for sharp heat
* lime wedges (with rinds) for sour and bitter
* peanuts and fried coconuts to provide just enough crunch and crisp
* onion for some tear-inducing fumes
* ginger for some zing
* shrimp for chewy
* leaf to hold it all together

So I think a the tasting robot is a great start at characterizing the spectrum of flavor and texture and coming out with a signature of what kind of foods is more "Thai-like" than others, similar to how Pandora or whatever creates musical signatures to categorize sounds. Won't replace a human, but will help codify the process and bring you "close enough" to finding more of what you want.

Tourists focus on the spicy stuff, probably because that's the flavor they're least accustomed to. When Thai restaurants open in the US, they tone down the spice and everything else, and crank up the sugar and syrup, because, well, that's what americans are most dull to. Pad Thai, the staple of americanized thai cooking, is rarely eaten by natives in Thailand.

Another interesting cultural point... Western cooking expects the chef to have seasoned the dish to taste, and the cook would tend to get offended if you drown their dishes in salt / pepper or condiments like ketchup. In Thailand, however, the condiments are referred to as "krueng therm" (literally "engine fillup") and come with a wide variety of fixins... salt , pepper, sugar, sriracha, soy sauce, "orange" sauce with peppers, peppers in lime juice, crushed peanuts, etc. (GIS for "Thai condiments caddy). So back to the radar chart, the condiments are provided to help you push each spectrum and "fill out" the chart to as wide as you can handle.

Re:I measure taste like a food critic

[parkinglot777]

leaf to hold it all together

Not really. The flavor of the leave is mild but helps your taste bud and eases the spiciness as well.

As the GP said, real Thai food has strong balance; however, it also depends on where you get the food. Each region has different preferable taste. Normally, Northern part tends to be mild to medium spicy hot, Eastern part is medium to hot, the Central part is mild, and the Southern part is medium to very hot.

I guess it is the reputation that Thai food has to associate with peanuts and/or coconut. This is NOT TRUE especially peanut. Most Thai dish does not contain peanuts. Many does not contain coconut and peanuts. I guess the reputation comes from curry dishes (most of them contain coconut but not all types). For peanuts, I guess it is from Pad Thai (but I never order it with peanuts). By the way, Sriracha is NOT a traditional seasoning in Thai but rather a brand name of hot source that makes its name to the west. They don't usually use it in Thailand.

"krueng therm" (literally "engine fillup")

a better literal translation of "khrueang toem" is "additional ingredient"

I had trouble for a while trying to figure out the word "Krueng therm." As the parent post said, "Krueng" can be "engine" or "ingredient," but using the word alone will not give you a clear meaning like that! In Thai, the word does not have a complete meaning until you put it in a context. However, it gives you a sense of something that usually has more than one thing involved, and the word is a noun. The word "therm" or "toem," if I guess correctly, means to fill or to add. However, no Thai people would ever use these 2 words together. Thai people either use "Krueng Proong Ros" ("Proong Ros" means to season food) in a formal way. As you see, the word "Krueng" is in there to indicate the word as a noun. Or another word that Thai people would use is "Puang Prick." The first word means a bunch of (normally you would see 4 different kinds of seasoning). The second word means chilli (which indicates some if not all of them contains chilli as an ingredient). I know that some Westerners would want to make fun of the word, so go ahead. If you don't know, the "F" word in English is actually a type of vegetable in Thai, so go figure.