Cuisine

Thai

A cuisine of deliberate balance between sour, salty, sweet and hot, built on fresh herbs, pounded curry pastes, fish sauce, coconut and rice.

Flavour character: 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.

40 recipes Browse recipes

Close-up of a traditional Thai Tom Yum Goong soup with shrimp, known for its spicy flavors.

History

Thai cooking grew from Tai rice-farming cultures influenced by neighbouring Khmer, Mon, Lao, Malay and Chinese cooks; Chinese immigrants brought the wok, noodles and many stir-fried dishes. Chillies, introduced via Portuguese trade from the 16th century onwards, replaced or joined black pepper as the main source of heat. Royal court cooking in Bangkok refined curries and carved fruit. Pad thai was promoted as a national dish by the government of Plaek Phibunsongkhram in the late 1930s and 1940s.

Commonly told; not firmly documented

Geography and influences

Fertile central rice plains around the Chao Phraya, the dry north-eastern plateau (Isan), the mountainous north and the long southern peninsula between two seas.

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

Regional variations

Central: Coconut curries, balanced sweet-sour-salty dishes and the refined Bangkok style.
Isan (north-east): Lao-influenced: sticky rice, larb, som tam, grilled meats and fermented fish (pla ra), little coconut.
Northern (Lanna): Milder, earthier dishes such as khao soi, nam prik ong and sai ua sausage; sticky rice.
Southern: The hottest region: turmeric-rich curries, seafood and Malay-Muslim dishes.