Cuisine of Thailand

Thai cuisine is known for its blend of fundamental flavors in each dish -- hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty and bitter. One of the important ingredients is nam pla, a very aromatic and strong tasting fish sauce made from dried anchovies which have been fermented in brine.

Rice, or kao, is a staple component of Thai cuisine, as it is of most south-east Asian cuisines. Rice or noodle dishes are accompanied by highly aromatic curries, stir-fries and other dishes, incorporating large quantities of chillies, lime juice and lemon grass.

Many Thai dishes use kaffir lime leaves, usually fresh - its characteristic flavour appears in nearly every Thai soup (e.g., the hot and sour tom yam), stir-fry or curry.

In Thai cuisine, kaffir lime is frequently combined with garlic, galangal, ginger and fingerroot, together with liberal amount of chillies. Fresh Thai basil is needed for the authentic fragrance. Other typical ingredients include the small green Thai eggplants, and Coconut milk.

Thai food is traditionally eaten with a spoon, not with chopsticks.

Famous Thai dishes:

• Tom Yum Gung - hot & sour soup with seafood
• Tom Yum Gai - hot & sour soup with chicken
• Tom Ka Gai - hot sweet soup with chicken and coconut
• Satay - grilled meat served with peanut sauce (originated in Indonesia)
• Pad Thai - pan-fried rice noodles with various ingredients
• Red Curry
• Gaeng Keow Waen - sweet green curry
• Yellow (Massaman) Curry