Thai Cuisine

Set within a lush, tropical landscape, Thailand is a theatre of cultural and sensual contrasts. Every Thai meal is a delicate balancing act of bold flavours; hot, sour, sweet, salty and bitter. These flavours all work in harmony together not only in the individual dishes, but are brought together in a dining experience that balance mind, body and spirit. While the cooking of Thailand has borrowed from other countries such as China, Malaysia and India, the Thais have added their own spirit and created a unique cuisine with unmatched tastes and aromas. Their use of ingredients such as the heavenly aromatic kaffir lime, highly scented lemongrass and pungent shrimp paste gives this cuisine the ability to excite the palate. In addition, the arrival of the chilli from Europe in the sixteenth century, enabled the Thais to branch out and use these intense peppers as well as fresh green peppercorns, white peppercorns and galangal to create the depth of heat we expect today from the cuisine.

Royal Thai is the most refined type of Thai cuisine. Originating in the king's palace in the heart of Bangkok, it is here that each regional dish, that had its roots in peasant-style cooking, was refined in taste and aroma, with its presentation enhanced by exquisitely carved vegetables and fruit. The family tradition of passing down memorial books including family recipes (made popular in the middle of the nineteenth century) coupled with the kings' historic patronage of regional cuisine, ensures Royal Thai cuisine lives on today in the world's best Thai restaurants.
Cultivated for centuries in the Thai localities and under the expert tuition of the chefs in the Thai Royal palaces, Thai cuisine has become a firm favourite in the West and is now one of the most sought after ethnic in-home cooking occasions.

It is traditional to eat dishes in a banquet style, with rice being the most important dish. Everything is an accompaniment to the rice and usually consists of a curry, fish dish, a stir fry, a salad, a soup and vegetables. The soup is served with the main meal, rather than before it which is more common in the West. The raw vegetables and fresh herbs act as a palate cleanser between dishes. Food is eaten with a spoon and fork, and food is pushed onto the spoon with the fork. Chopsticks are only used for noodle dishes and sticky rice is used to scoop up food with the right hand.

• Central
• Northeastern (Isan, Isarn)
• Northern
• Southern

The region is very fertile so a plethora of plants and animals are found as ingredients. Some of the most popular are the Thai aubergines, snake beans and western vegetables such as tomatoes. Due to the large network of canals used for irrigation purposes, freshwater fish such as crabs are plentiful as well as plants that thrive in wet environments such as water spinach. Central dishes are perhaps most recognisable to those who have experienced Thai food in countries other than Thailand. Thai red, green and panaeng curries are traditionally popular with the popular tom yum (Hot and Sour soup) and tom kha gai (Coconut Chicken soup) served along with main dishes and used as palate cleansers. Chinese influenced dishes cooked in clay pots are popular, as are yam (salads).

Northeastern Thai food is considered some of the spiciest and most adventurous in the country. Traditional northeastern dishes such as laap (intensely spiced ground pork) and som tam (green papaya salad) are eaten in Bangkok and foreign Thai restaurants, and are enjoyed despite this style of cooking being often derided. North easterners also have a taste for unusual foods, sampling ant eggs, frogs, grubworms, grasshoppers and pungent fermented fish (pla ra) regularly. Again influences from Vietnam are found here with kha nom buang yuan (crispy pancakes stuffed with dried shrimp and beansprouts) cooked and eaten at celebrations. Dishes are traditionally served on large flower-patterned enamelled food trays.

Traditionally curries from this region are thinner, due to the difficulty in sourcing coconut milk locally (traditionally it is used as a thickener in a curry). The northern Thai people also favour sticky glutinous rice, formed into balls and that are used to dip into curry, as opposed to the otherwise universally favoured Jasmine rice. As it is landlocked, red meats such as pork and beef are heavily relied on, rather than fish or seafood. Particularly delicious is the Changmai sausage, flavoured with kaffir lime leaves, and the spiced green paste/ dip it is served with. The northern dishes are traditionally less spicy, and are heavily influenced by the cuisine of Myanmar and Laos. Nam prik nuum, a lighly spiced, smoky dip that is usually served with crispy fried pork and poached fish, shows Laotian influence, whereas dishes such as koi soi (a chicken and noodle curry) reveal a Burmese flavour. A traditional way to entertain is through the kantoke dinner (kan meaning bowl). Guests sit around a low-slung table, seated on the floor, and serve themselves from various communal dishes that are frequently replaced by the host.

It is southern Thailand's close proximity to Malaysia; the part it played in the ancient Indonesian empire and its prolific coastline that reflects the great popularity of fish in this region. Stir fried, barbequed over hot coals and even dried; fish and seafood predominates. Shrimp paste or kapi is essential in many southern dishes. Coconut milk is plentiful as the warm, humid atmosphere is ideal for the cultivation of coconut palms and plantations litter the south. The three main styles of cooking are largely ruled by religious restrictions. Thai (Buddhist) cooking uses plenty of coconut milk in curries (particularly yellow) and soup along with pepper, chillies and turmeric. In contrast, Muslim dishes use ghee and oil rather than coconut milk and a larger number of spices including cardamom, cumin and cloves. Finally, the Indo-Malay influences are demonstrated in dishes such as satay. Chinese influences are seen in stir fried noodle dishes and dumplings, whilst roti (an Indian bread) is also popular.