Talk about Thai food

When we talk about Thai food, the famous dishes tourists know are Tom-Yum-Kung or sour prawn soup and Pad-Thai or Thai fried rice noodles. The main ingredients of Thai food mainly consist of herbs, vegetables, and plants. That’s because Thailand is an agricultural country. The main ingredients in dishes are coconut milk, garlic, lime juice, lemon grass, fresh coriander, etc. Other than that, sauces such as fish sauce, tofu sauce are also added to make Thai dishes tasty. Throughout Thailand, rice is eaten almost every meals like bread in western countries.

Another famous Thai cuisine is curries. All kind of curries are mixed with coconut milk. The coconut milk is also used in Thai desserts.

Traditionally, Thai people like to eat meals together. They eat steamed white rice as their main dish and share several dishes. In the old days, meals were eaten by hand. Rice was pressed into small round balls. Today a spoon and fork are used instead, and chopsticks are also used for certain kinds of food such as noodles.
Taste of the North

If you have a chance to taste the typical Northern cuisine, you will find that most dishes are generally milder than those of other regions. Northern people prefer steamed glutinous rice, kneaded into small balls and used to soak up sauces and dips.

Kaeng Hang Le, is a spicy pork curry. The main ingredients are ginger, tamarind, and turmeric.

Khao Soi, a curry of egg noodles and meat (it originated in Burma) It’s heavily laced with coconut cream, and served with spring onions, pickled cabbage and slices of lime.
Nam Prik Ong, another delectable accompaniment, is a northern-style chilli-dip served with dried shredded pork and freshly cooked vegetables.

Miang (tea leaves) is also Burmese and is eaten as an hors d’eruvre.
The unique method for serving northern food is on a Khan Toke (small circular (round) table) it’s placed in the middle. Diners sit on the floor around the table and help themselves to assorted dishes. Deep fried pig’s skin and fermented pork are also the typical northern-style cuisine.

Taste of the Northeast
Northeasthern food (or Isan) reflects the influence of neighboring Laos in a number of dished. Glutinous rice is the staple diet, and all food is highly seasoned. Most of the dishes are very tasty. One of the most favorite dishes is SomTam or green papaya salad. It has now become popular nationwide and even in Thai restaurants overseas. This is a spicy salad made from raw papaya, dried shrimp, crab, lime juice, garlic and chillis. For the genuine Isan version, Pla Ra, fermented fish, is also added to the dish.

Lap is minced or chopped meat, chicken or pork, cooked in heavily seasoned dried chilli, lime juice and fish sauce.

Nam Tok, medium rare barbecued meat is cooked with spicy sauces, lime juice, fish sauce and dried chillies.

Kai Yang, or grilled chicken, is another dish that is always ordered with Somtam, Namtok, Lap. It is eaten with a sweet sauce used as a dip.

Taste of the Central Plains
People in the Central region eat rice as their essential element of evey meal like the bread the westerners eat. Various kinds of curries are part of their food.

Kaeng Phet, or curry, is eaten with rice. Tom Yam Kung or sour shrimp soup is the most frequently ordered dish all over Bangkok. The main ingredient of Tom Yum is the meat of shrimp, chicken, fish, shells or squids. It depends on what people like. The meat adds the sweet taste to the dish. But the similar main ingredients of the dish are lemon grass, chillies and kaffir lime leaves. This makes the dish smell good and tastes wonderful.
Kaeng Khieo Wan, a spicy green curry. The main ingredients  are coconut milk, sweet basil, eggplants and chillies.

Tom Kha Kai, a thick coconut milk curry make with chicken or other kinds of meat with galangal.

Kaeng Som, a spicy-sour soup with fresh vegetables, shrimps, or fish.
Kaeng Liang, a traditional herbal, mild and spicy soup with various kinds of vegetables. (Chilli paste) Phat Prieo Wan, sweet and sour fried vegetables usually tomatoes, pineapples and chillies. It tastes sweet and sour.

Phat Phak, or fried vegetables with oyster sauce.
Yam, this spicy salad dish is full of chillies. It is quite popular and often ordered as appetizers.

Nam Prik, the most original Thai dish of all, offers a variety of different versions, all have a strong smell to a foreign nose.

Taste of the South
The most popular southern dish is Kaeng Tai Pla, it’s cooked from fish kidneys with added vegetables.

Kaeng Luang, a yellow curry with fish and bamboo-shoots.
Khai Mok Kai, the main ingredients are saffron rice and marinated chicken.

Drinks
Thailand is abundant in an incredible variety of nutritious fruits. The all-purpose term for fruit, you can get that kind of fruit juice. For example, nam som is orange juice, water melon juice (nam teang mo) or pineapple juice (nam sapparot). When a blender or squeezer is used, we will call it squeezed juice. (eg. Nam som kkan) When ice is mixed in a blender, we call it “nam pan” or smoothies or shakes in English. You will often see vendors at night markets. They specialize in juices and shakes.

Thais prefer to drink fruit juices with a little salt mixed in. Unless a vendor is used to serve farangs (foreigners), your fruit juice or shake will come slightly salted. If you prefer unsalted fruit juices, specify “without salt”

Sugar cane juice is a Thai favorite and a very refreshing accompaniment to curry-and-rice plates. Many small restaurants or food stalls that don’t offer any other juices will serve customers with freshly squeezed sugar cane juice.