Thai food is internationally famous. Whether chilli-hot
or comparatively bland, harmony is the guiding principle behind each dish. Thai cuisine is essentially a marriage of centuries-old Eastern and Western influences harmoniously combined into something uniquely Thai. The characteristics of Thai food depend on who cooks it, for whom it is cooked, for what occasion, and where it is cooked to suit all palates. Originally, Thai cooking reflected the characteristics of a waterborne lifestyle. Aquatic animals, plants and herbs were major ingredients. Large chunks of meat were eschewed. Subsequent influences introduced the use of sizable chunks to Thai cooking.
Thai cuisine is known for its balance of five fundamental flavors in each dish or the overall meal - hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty and bitter. One of the important ingredients is nam pla (Thai น้ำปลา), a very aromatic and strong tasting fish sauce. Typically a full meal consists of many complementary dishes served concurrently instead of a single main course with side dishes.
Rice is a staple component of Thai cuisine, as it is of most south-east Asian cuisines. The highly-prized, sweet-smelling jasmine rice is indigenous to Thailand. Rice dishes are accompanied by highly aromatic curries, stir-fries and other dishes, incorporating sometimes large quantities of chilies, lime juice and lemon grass. Noodles are popular as well. Noodles usually come as a single dish, like Pad Thai.
Although popularly considered as a single cuisine, Thai food is really more accurately described as four regional cuisines corresponding to the four main regions of the country: Northern, Northeastern, Central and Southern. Each region has its own distinct dialect, history, culture and cuisine. The North, for example, has a relatively slower, softer-spoken dialect and was once its own kingdom known as Lanna.
Rice is a staple component of Thai cuisine, as it is of most south-east Asian cuisines. The highly-prized, sweet-smelling jasmine rice is indigenous to Thailand. Rice dishes are accompanied by highly aromatic curries, stir-fries and other dishes, incorporating sometimes large quantities of chilies, lime juice and lemon grass. Noodles are popular as well. Noodles usually come as a single dish, like Pad Thai.
Although popularly considered as a single cuisine, Thai food is really more accurately described as four regional cuisines corresponding to the four main regions of the country: Northern, Northeastern, Central and Southern. Each region has its own distinct dialect, history, culture and cuisine. The North, for example, has a relatively slower, softer-spoken dialect and was once its own kingdom known as Lanna.
Many Thai dishes in the central and Southern regions use a wide variety of leaves rarely found in the west, such as kaffir lime leaves (Thai ใบมะกรูด). Usually fresh - kaffir lime leaves' characteristic flavors appears in nearly every Thai soup (e.g., the hot and sour Tom yam), stir-fry or curry from those areas. It is frequently combined with garlic, galangal, ginger and/or finger root, together with liberal amounts of chilies, blended together to make curry paste. Fresh Thai basil is needed for the authentic fragrance. Other typical ingredients include the small green Thai eggplants, tamarind, palm and coconut sugars, and coconut milk.
With the exception of noodle soups, Thai food is generally eaten with a fork and a spoon, rather than with chopsticks. The fork, held in the left hand, is used to shovel food into the spoon. However, it is often common practice for Thais and hill tribe peoples in the North and Northeast to eat sticky rice with their hands by making it into balls that are dipped into side dishes and eaten. Also, in the Southernmost provinces of the country Thai-Muslims can be seen to eat meals with only their right hand as some Muslims in Malaysia do.
With the exception of noodle soups, Thai food is generally eaten with a fork and a spoon, rather than with chopsticks. The fork, held in the left hand, is used to shovel food into the spoon. However, it is often common practice for Thais and hill tribe peoples in the North and Northeast to eat sticky rice with their hands by making it into balls that are dipped into side dishes and eaten. Also, in the Southernmost provinces of the country Thai-Muslims can be seen to eat meals with only their right hand as some Muslims in Malaysia do.
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