Lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components and a spicy edge are the focus of Thai cooking. Thai cookery is all about balancing different elements to get a harmonious result. It must have a smooth surface, just like a complicated musical chord, but what happens beneath is irrelevant. Simplicity isn’t the rule in this case.
Thai cuisine is divided into four categories: tom (boiled meals), yam (spicy salads), tam (pounded foods), and gaeng (fried foods) (curries).
Seven Thai meals were included on a list of the “World’s 50 Best Foods” in 2017, based on an online survey of 35,000 people from around the world. Thailand was the country with the most dishes on the list. Tom yam goong (4th), pad thai (5th), som tam (6th), massaman curry (10th), green curry (19th), Thai fried rice (24th), and Nam Tok mu (36th).
Thai cuisine is more correctly described as five regional cuisines, each of which corresponds to one of Thailand’s five primary regions:
(1) Bangkok cuisine, with Teochew and Portuguese influences, is the cuisine of the Bangkok metropolitan area. Bangkok cuisine is also influenced by more devoted royal cuisine due to its status as a capital city. The flavours and appearance of food in Bangkok have evolved over time as a result of influences from other cuisines such as Asian, European, and Western countries.
(2) Central Thai cuisine, which includes the Dvaravati culture of the Mon people from before the introduction of Siamese in the area, as well as the cuisine of the flat and wet central rice-growing plains, which were home to the former Thai kingdoms of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya. One of the most important components in Central Thai cuisine is coconut milk.
(3) Isan or northeastern Thai cuisine: food of the dry Khorat Plateau, culturally related to Laos and inspired by Khmer cuisine.
(4) Northern Thai cuisine: cuisine from the cooler valleys and forested mountains of Thailand’s highlands, which were originally dominated by the former Lanna Kingdom and are now home to the Lannaese, who make up the majority of the country’s population. Many of the ingredients are similar to those used in Isan cuisine.
(5) Southern Thai cuisine: food of the Kra Isthmus, which is surrounded on two sides by tropical seas, has numerous islands, and includes the ethnic Malay former Sultanate of Pattani in the far south. Southern Thai cuisine’s elaborate curries, food preparation skills, and use of chillies and spices have a significant influence on the entire cuisine.
Although a segment of Thailand’s population celebrates the Vegetarian Festival each year, and many restaurants in Thailand will provide vegetarian food at this time, true vegetarian food is normally difficult to get in regular restaurants and eateries in Thailand. Shrimp paste is utilised in all classic Thai curries, while the fish sauce is used as a seasoning in many Thai meals. Substitutes for these ingredients are utilised at shops and restaurants that cater exclusively to vegetarians. Meat dishes are also a regular element of the alms presented to Buddhist monks in Thailand, as vegetarianism is not required in Theravada Buddhism, although it is forbidden to kill an animal species to feed Buddhist monks.
Traditional Buddhist vegetarian fare, devoid of any meat or seafood products of any kind, as well as certain strong-tasting vegetables and spices, is sold at specialised vegetarian restaurants in most towns and cities, which can be identified by a yellow sign with the word che or ahan che written in Thai script on it in red. These eateries specialise in vegan cuisine. Due to the fact that vegetarianism is held as an ideal by many followers of the Hindu faith, many Indian restaurants serving the large Thai-Indian community will also offer vegetarian cuisine. Dairy and honey can be used in Indian vegetarian cooking. Many hotels, guesthouses, and restaurants that cater to foreign tourists will now include vegetarian versions of Thai meals on their menus as a result of the rising demand for vegetarian food. Due to the variety of Thai meals that only use fish and seafood as their source of animal protein, pescatarians (a person who does not eat meat but does eat fish) would have few issues with Thai cuisine.
