Thai cuisine really does incorporate the very best of the foods that are available on their own doorstep, plus the best flavors from neighboring countries.
There are a large number of vegetables available to the Thai cook and many of these grow locally and would be freely available.
Thai cuisine cleverly uses meats that are accessible at certain times of the year and the traditional dis hes are adapted accordingly.
Fish would be one of the most popular additions to meals as this would tend to be more widely available at any time of the year.
When people consider Thai cuisine, their minds often begin to think about the addition of certain herbs and spices, which are synonymous with this type of food.
Some of the most popular examples include lime juice, lemon grass, ginger, coconut milk and fresh coriander.
The Thai people can thank India for the introduction of coconut milk into many of their dishes, especially desserts, and China for the way a number of dishes are now fried.
Fried rice noodles being a very good example.
The Thais really do take cooking very seriously.
They always try to ensure that there is a perfect mix of flavor, within any of the dishes that are prepared.
Often, this can lead to a dish having a combined sweet and sour mixture of tastes.
Many Thai soups tend to follow this trend.
Some popular examples of Thai soups are Tom Yam Kung, which is a spicy soup with lime
juice, lemon grass, mushrooms and shrimps. Tom Khaa gai, which is a soup with galangal root, chicken feet and coconut milk.
Kaeng Som is a soup that may be considered to be the Thai national dish, as it is served in slightly varying adaptations across the country.
Shrimps often appear in Thai main dishes and will regularly be mixed in with other meats, such
as chicken and beef.
Khao phat includes fried rice and shrimps with either beef, pork or chicken.
Other popular entrées include khao man gai which is sliced boiled chicken over marinated rice.
Khao no phet is roast duck over rice and laat naa is rice noodles, meat and vegetables in a thick gravy sauce.
For fans of curried dishes, Thailand has not escaped the regional influences from India and China and they have a number of their own unique choices.
Gaengmus sa man is a rich and spicy curry with beef or chicken.
Gaeng khiaw waan is a curry that is more in keeping with what you would expect from Thai cuisine. It is a sweet green curry with coconut milk, shrimps and either chicken or beef.
Thailand has quite cleverly taken the best regional ingredients that are available to them and adapted them to become a unique style of food which they can be and are extremely proud of.
As Thai cuisine is becoming increasingly popular, the sampling of one or two of their traditional dishes.
