11 recipes
A vibrant cuisine famous for balancing hot, sour, sweet, salty and aromatic flavours in a single dish, with fresh herbs and coconut milk.
Read its storyThailand's most famous street dish: rice noodles stir-fried in a sweet, sour and salty tamarind sauce with egg, bean sprouts and peanuts.
A spicy yet creamy and fragrant Thai curry of chicken and vegetables simmered in coconut milk with green curry paste.
A clear, hot and sour Thai shrimp soup fragrant with lemongrass, galangal and lime.
A crunchy Thai salad of lightly pounded green papaya, tomatoes and long beans in a hot, sour and sweet dressing; it also works with carrot, cucumber or green mango.
A classic Thai dessert of steamed sticky rice soaked in sweet and salty coconut milk, served with ripe mango.
A quick Thai stir-fry of minced chicken with garlic, chilies and holy basil, served over rice with a crispy-edged fried egg.
Beef slow-cooked in coconut milk with potatoes and peanuts: a mild, cinnamon- and cardamom-scented Thai curry balancing sweet, salty and sour.
Chicken simmered in coconut milk scented with galangal, lemongrass and makrut lime leaves: a sour, salty and creamy Thai classic.
Minced chicken tossed with lime, fish sauce, toasted rice powder and lots of fresh herbs: a bright, punchy Lao-Thai salad served warm.
Day-old jasmine rice stir-fried over high heat with chicken, egg and garlic and finished with a squeeze of lime: a quick Thai street-food staple.
Red curry paste fried in coconut cream, then simmered with chicken, vegetables and basil into a spicy, fragrant and creamy Thai dinner.
Thai cooking grew out of a life entwined with rivers and rice paddies. The everyday Thai phrase for "to eat" literally means "to eat rice". Fish, shrimp and other freshwater foods from the rivers and canals joined rice as the pillars of the table, while fermented fish sauce (nam pla) and shrimp paste have added saltiness and depth to dishes for centuries.
Thanks to the region's historic trade routes, Thai cuisine absorbed many influences and made them its own. Chinese immigrants brought wok stir-frying, noodles and soy sauce. Indian and Persian traders inspired dry-spiced dishes such as massaman curry. The most striking change came in the 16th and 17th centuries, when chillies from the Americas arrived, largely via Portuguese traders. The fiery heat now so closely linked with Thai food is therefore a relatively recent addition; before it, heat came mainly from black pepper and ginger. Portuguese egg-yolk sweets are also said to have inspired several Thai court desserts.
Central Thailand and Bangkok are known for the refined, coconut-rich and carefully balanced dishes of the royal kitchen. The northeast, Isan, is home to sticky rice, grilled meats, green papaya salad (som tam) and larb, all sour, hot and herb-laden. The north, influenced by Laos and Myanmar, offers milder curries and khao soi, a curry noodle soup. The south brings plenty of coconut, turmeric and seafood, and some of the country's spiciest food.
The aromatic foundation is lemongrass, galangal (a root related to ginger), kaffir lime leaves, garlic, shallots, coriander root and fresh chillies, pounded in a mortar to make curry pastes. Fish sauce brings salt, lime brings sourness and palm sugar brings sweetness; a skilled Thai cook adjusts this balance by tasting constantly. If galangal is hard to find, fresh ginger will do, and a little grated lime zest can stand in for kaffir lime leaves.