Cuisine DNA
Where food comes from.
No country has just one cuisine. Explore traditions region by region — their history, staples, spices, techniques and the dishes that define them.
Asia
- Bangladeshi
East Bengal's rice-and-fish cooking with mustard oil and ilish at its heart, the bhorta mashes of everyday meals, and the Mughal-derived biryanis and kacchi of Old Dhaka.
20 recipes
- Central Asian
The Silk Road cooking of the steppe and oases: rice pilaf (plov), hand-pulled noodles, dumplings, tandir bread and lamb, with dairy from nomadic herding.
22 recipes
- Chinese
A family of regional cuisines built on rice in the south and wheat in the north, soy fermentation, the wok and the steamer, and a habit of balancing contrasting flavours and textures in one meal.
CantoneseFujian (Min)Hunan (Xiang)Jiangsu and Huaiyang (Su)Shandong (Lu)Sichuan
81 recipes
- Filipino
An Austronesian rice cuisine layered with Chinese, Spanish and American influences, defined by sourness (vinegar, tamarind, calamansi) and the salty-sour-savoury braise adobo.
19 recipes
- Indian
Not one cuisine but dozens: regional food traditions shaped by climate, crops, religion, caste and community, held together by a shared grammar of spices tempered in fat, pulses, grains and dairy.
AndhraAssameseAwadhi (Lucknow) and Uttar PradeshBengali (West Bengal)Bihari (with Jharkhand)GoanGujaratiKarnataka (including Udupi, Mangalorean and Coorg)KashmiriKeralaMaharashtrianManipuriMeghalayan (Khasi, Jaintia and Garo)Mizo (Mizoram)Naga (Nagaland)OdiaPunjabiRajasthaniSikkimeseTamil (including Chettinad)Telangana and Hyderabadi
361 recipes
- Indonesian
The cooking of more than 17,000 islands, unified by rice, pounded spice pastes (bumbu), sambal and coconut, with strong differences between Sumatra, Java, Bali and the east.
24 recipes
- Japanese (Washoku)
A seasonal, rice-centred cuisine built on dashi, soy, miso and seafood, valuing the natural flavour of ingredients, precise knife work and careful presentation.
65 recipes
- Korean (Hansik)
A rice-and-banchan cuisine defined by fermented sauces (jang), kimchi, sesame, garlic and chilli, with a strong culture of soups, stews and grilled meat.
42 recipes
- Malaysian and Singaporean
A shared multicultural table of Malay, Chinese, Indian and Peranakan cooking, centred on rempah spice pastes, sambal, coconut, noodles and hawker food.
26 recipes
- Nepalese
Dal-bhat-tarkari with achar twice a day in the hills, the rich ritual food of the Kathmandu Valley's Newars, Tibetan-style noodles and momos in the mountains, and Maithil and Bhojpuri cooking in the Terai.
16 recipes
- Pakistani
A meat-centred cuisine of wheat breads, karahi and nihari, kebabs and biryani, ranging from Punjabi Lahore and Sindhi Karachi to Pashtun Peshawar, Baloch sajji and the apricot valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan.
32 recipes
- Sri Lankan
Rice and curry of many small dishes, coconut in every form, roasted curry powders, Maldive fish and goraka, sambols and mallungs, and hoppers, string hoppers and kottu.
16 recipes
- Taiwanese
A Hokkien-rooted island cuisine layered with Hakka, Japanese and post-1949 mainland influences, best known for night markets, braised pork rice, beef noodle soup and bubble tea.
14 recipes
- Thai
A cuisine of deliberate balance between sour, salty, sweet and hot, built on fresh herbs, pounded curry pastes, fish sauce, coconut and rice.
40 recipes
- Vietnamese
A fresh, herb-heavy rice cuisine seasoned with fish sauce, known for noodle soups, rice-paper rolls and a table of raw herbs and dipping sauces at every meal.
22 recipes
Compare two cuisines
| Indian | Thai | |
|---|---|---|
| Flavour | Layered rather than simply hot: whole spices bloomed in ghee or oil, aromatics fried down, ground spices cooked out, and a sour element (tamarind, tomato, yoghurt, kokum, amchur, lime) balancing sweetness from onions, jaggery or coconut. Heat varies enormously by region. | Bright and layered: lime and tamarind sourness, fish-sauce saltiness, palm-sugar sweetness and fresh chilli heat, perfumed by lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime leaf and Thai basil. |
| Staples | Rice, Wheat (atta), Pulses and lentils (dal), Millets (jowar, bajra, ragi), Milk, yoghurt and ghee, Seasonal vegetables, Coconut on the coasts, Mustard oil in the east and north | Jasmine rice, Glutinous (sticky) rice in the north and north-east, Rice noodles, Fish and shellfish, Pork and chicken, Fresh herbs and vegetables |
| Key spices | Cumin seeds, Ground coriander, Turmeric, Cayenne / chilli powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, Mustard seeds, Fenugreek, Asafoetida, Cardamom, Cloves | Fresh red chilli, Dried whole chillies, White pepper, Ground coriander, Cumin seeds, Turmeric, Cardamom, Cinnamon |
| Techniques | Tadka (tempering), Bhunao, Dum, Spice roasting (dry-roasting), Dry grinding, Wet grinding, Tandoor cooking, Slow-cooked gravy, Deep-frying, Fermentation | Wet grinding, Stir-frying, Grilling, Simmering, Steaming, Deep-frying, Fermentation |
| Signature dishes | Dal tadka with red lentils, Chicken biryani, Masala chai, Phulka (puffed roti), Vegetable pulao, Moong dal khichdi, Rice kheer, Chicken korma, Chana chaat, Kachumber | Tom yum goong, Thai green curry with chicken, Pad Thai, Som tam, Pad kra pao gai, Massaman curry with beef, Tom kha gai, Larb gai, Khao soi gai, Pad see ew |
| Influences | Harappan and Vedic agriculture (wheat, barley, rice, pulses, sesame, dairy), Jain, Buddhist and Hindu vegetarian and ritual-purity traditions, Arab and Persian traders on the coasts, Delhi Sultanate and Mughal court cooking, Portuguese introduction of New World crops (chilli, potato, tomato, cashew), British colonial tea, bakeries and curry powder, Chinese (Hakka) community in Kolkata (Indo-Chinese food) | Chinese immigrants (noodles, wok cooking, pork), Lao and Khmer neighbours, Malay and Muslim cooking in the south (massaman), Portuguese traders (chillies, egg-yolk sweets), Bangkok royal court cuisine |
Shared spices: Cumin seeds, Ground coriander, Turmeric, Cardamom, Cinnamon · Shared techniques: Wet grinding, Deep-frying, Fermentation