Thai Cuisine

Browse All Thai Recipes: Thai Appetizers | Thai Soups | Thai Salads | Thai Vegetarian | Thai Meat Dishes | Thai Snacks | Thai Desserts



Thailand- Cooking and Food
Thai food offers a variety of flavours and tastes. Culinary inspirations in Thailand come from China, India, Laos, Malaysia, and Burma. The subtle mixing of herbs and spices and market-fresh ingredients makes dining a special culinary experience. One can find soup of some kind, curry, steamed or fried dish, salad and one or more basic sauces. Desserts may consist of fresh fruit or one of the many traditional Thai sweets.

rice, fish and vegetables flavoured with garlic, black pepper, and nam pla (fish sauce), comprise the basic diet of Sukhothai. Different foods are served in the different regions of Thailand. In north glutinous rice is popular. In central Thailand the fragrant plain variety, most commonly steamed. Beside fresh-water fish there is seafood from the Gulf of Thailand, as well as a wide range of fresh vegetables. Chinese-Thai food is popular in cities like Bangkok. These foods are generally served in the form of numerous noodle dishes. In addition, Lao cuisine is predominant in the northeast region of Thailand called Issan. Issan regional cuisine includes traditional Lao dishes like larb salad and papaya salad. Another favourite regional speciality is a spicy Pork Sausage called naem. The traditional form of meal is called a Kantoke dinner during which diners sit around a small low table.

Other well known Thai cuisines are a "hot" yellow fish curry - (gaeng lueng), jad (cucumber pickle), ahi with thai dipping sauce, ajad (fresh cucumber pickle), ajad (cucumber salad), ajar, petai, Thai rice noodles and sauce, aromatic lemongrass patties and Thai alad with jeffery, Asian grilled-Beef salad, asparagus and Thai crab mayonnaise toast, asparagus Thai-style with chilies, aubergine fritters, aubergine with lentils, baked garlic quail, baked prawns and mungbean noodles.

Overview of Thai Cuisine History
Thai food and its origins are traditionally tied to history of Thailand and especially its culture. Founded in 1238, the short-lived Sukhothai Kingdom is the basis on which Thailand has grown and developed. Thai culture was greatly influenced by both China and India, making this influence obvious even in the cooking methods and techniques. China and India were the world’s most famous countries where condiment exportation was concerned. It’s only natural that by having been influenced in the culture, the food preparation techniques would follow suit. Relevant descriptions of Thai food include creativity. The variations and combinations of condiments, spices and ingredients most certainly define the Thai cuisine as inventive, particular and intriguing. Dishes served in Thailand are specially cooked to give all your tastes exaltation and awareness.

Along the course of time, particular elements of specific condiments have been recognized as the basis of Thai cuisine. Remarkable condiments and special ingredients include lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, garlic, Thai chili peppers, coconut milk, galanga, palm sugar and jasmine rice. Also, other specific ingredients used in the cooking process include tamarind, eggplants, coconut milk and sugars. All dishes are served using a fork or a spoon, the chopsticks being used mainly to serve the noodle soups. Thai dishes that any gourmet specialist needs to know about Thailand’s traditions are Thai sticky rice, Thai-style stir fried noodles which are also called pad Thai, hot and sour soup with shrimp called tom yum goong, Thai Chicken soup with coconut milk known as tom kha gai, the satay gai and green curry kaeng khiag wan nuea.

Cuisines of Thailand


Fundamental Thai cuisine is defined by the condiments. There are five important flavours that give Thai food its name: hot, salty, bitter, sweet and sour. The strong flavor that each one contains can frequently be found combined in the same dish.

In the south-eastern part of Asia, the most common condiment used to prepare dishes is the kaffir lime leaves (Thai ใบมะกรูด). It is usually combined with ginger and garlic and of course with chilies. In the southern most provinces of the country, Thai-Muslims will use their fingers instead of the common cutlery to eat their meals.

The west part of Thailand is very well known for its hot and spicy Thai dishes, and for the consistency of those spices in the Thai soups. The curry is very well represented in the western part of Thailand, especially served with cumin and red or green chilies.

In the northern part of Thailand salads are the most representative dish. The spicy curry sauces are also specific, even if papaya, coconut and ginger are the most commonly used condiments.

But no matter where in Thailand you decide to go and have a specific meal, you will definitely find a large variety of variations and interpretations of the same recipe.

Preparation Methods for Thai Cooking
Preparing a traditional Thai dish requires you to know all the special ingredients used for such a meal. But familiarizing yourself with the spicy hot condiments is still not enough. If you know exactly what ingredients and condiments to add to the mixture of the sauce, it may actually be very simple to cook in a specific Thai method. The secret is in the combination of all of the available condiments. The final taste has to have a strong and interesting flavor, and you have to mix the sour, sweet, salty, bitter and hot taste in such a way to make the Thai eating experience a pleasant exhilarating one.

Special Equipment for Thai Cooking
Most Thai dishes don’t require you to purchase any special tools. However, having a coffee grinder helps with roasting and grinding spices and maximizes their volatile oils, which, in turn, provides your food with more flavor.

Preparing a Thai meal, you will definitely need to use tongs as one of the most important utensils. When frying meat, especially white meat and fish, you don’t use a fork, but a pair of tongs to gently turn the fish over.

Also, deep frying pans are a must. You need them to cook all kind of meat for special Thai dishes. Serving spoons, dipping ones and spatulas are needed when preparing the famous Thai soups. Covers and lids for your pans are necessary in almost all cooking activities, especially because the Thai food requires a lot of simmering. Kitchen knives and slicers are very much needed, especially for preparing the fish. Kitchen thermometers, measuring cups & measuring spoons, miscellaneous utensils, mixing bowls and skimmers & strainers shouldn’t miss from your kitchen if you want to cook in a professional way, serving the food at the right temperature and with utmost care for food elements.

Thai Food Traditions and Festivals
Part of the Thai food traditions are the classic recipes served in all regions of the country. All Thai festivals are celebrated with a feasting of all kind of exotic dishes. Still, there are several Thai festivals that serve particular aliments and specific dishes. One of the festivals, that imply food, is the Surin Elephant Round-up festival. Not the festival itself is food-related, but rather the Elephant Breakfast where a wide range of exotic fruits are served in a particular combination. The festival takes place in November and is quite impressive to see a large number of elephants marching on the streets of Thailand. After the parade is over, the banquet starts, and the elephants are also served with fruit delicatessen.

Wan Awk Pansa (Thai วันออกพรรษา), is another Thai food-related festival. It occurs in October, and consists of a celebration where illuminated boats are put to float on waters. The boats are filled with offerings such as kao tom mut (sticky rice), as well as sweets wrapped in banana leaves. The rest of the Thai festivals are also celebrated with big feastings, and in every festival there will most definitely be a wide range of exotic Thai dishes for all tastes.

Around the world, there are a lot of Thai festivals that have the purpose of bringing exotic Thai food all over the world. There is also a National Thai festival, which takes place every year in Bangkok, and has the purpose to celebrate most famous and delicious recipes in Thai food culture.

People in Thai Food

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Among the many chefs in the world, the Thai cooking ones are probably the most creative ones. Combining available ingredients depends on the chef’s personal method, and can result in Thai dishes that will become even more original and delicious than the already spectacular ones. Thai chefs are passionate about their traditional dishes and they enjoy presenting them to foreigners, and visitors of their native places, people who have never tasted their dishes before

Unlike other regions on the planet, Thailand is a country of many secret ingredients that are kept secret by its chefs, and are not revealed for the sake of the originality of the Thai dishes. So if you want to try a special Thai dish, all you can do is enjoy a meal prepared by one of the specialists in this domain, and trust his judgment and skills.