Gin Khao Yung? Have you eaten? Thailand is a small south east Asian country with a peninsular bordering Laos, Burma and Vietnam. And like most other countries in south east Asia, rice is the central staple food. It is usually eaten at every meal with curries, fried vegetables, soups and a sauce called nam phrik (basic ingredients, chilli, garlic, shrimp paste, lemon juice and fish sauce).

Like other cuisines in the region, meals don't have distinguished courses rather eating is a communal event where several dishes are served for all to share but with everyone having their own plate of rice. Generally, a fork is used with the left hand scooping food onto a spoon held in the right hand.

Sitting between the cultural, culinary and political influences of India and China, Thai cuisine reflects both, yet Thai cuisine has also maintained it's own culinary distinctiveness with three main flavours, spicy, sour (piquant) and sweet, then highlighted with lime or lemongrass.

In the north of Thailand short grain "sticky" rice is preferred whereas in the south long grain rice is preferred. Noodles, possibly imported from China also play a prominent role in Thai cooking. Thai people eat with a spoon, knife and fork. As a matter of interest, within south east Asia only the Vietnamese eat with chopsticks.

In the south, like in southern India much use is made of the coconut. Coconut milk is used in curries and soups and the oil is used for frying.

Fish is also a large staple of Thai cuisine due to the hundreds of miles of rivers and canals around the gulf of Thailand. Nam pla (fish sauce) and kapee (shrimp paste) are very common cooking ingredients.

The fiery chilli, which was introduced to Thailand by Portuguese traders in the early 16th century also features prominently and is largely responsible for the ultra hot dishes Thai cuisine is renowned for.

Most food is either steamed or stir fried in a wok, however meat and fresh seafood is grilled and often eaten with dips or sauces nam phrik which ads a sweet and sour flavour. Chillies and other spices are generally ground into powder.

A popular and healthy Thai dish is a salad or salad making method called Yam. With yam, common salad ingredients are covered with fish sauce, shrimp paste, lemon juice, shrimp, chillies, and shallots etc as a dressing. The salad can then be filled out with pork, papaya, beef etc.

Soups are also popular dating back to when Thai people used clay pots to boil food. A popular and famous soup Tom Yam Goon (simple piquant prawn soup) originated from this method of boiling.

In the south a wide variety of leaves are used to ad flavour. Perhaps the most common of these is the kaffir lime leaf. Its aromatic flavour can be found in a host of central and southern soups, curries and stir fries.

Popular desserts introduced by the Portuguese are golden flowers and golden threads made from egg yolks and sugar syrup.

A few popular Thai dishes

Pad Thai ~ pan fried rice noodles with fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, tamarind pulp, egg and combined with tofu, seafood and/or chicken.

Gai yang ~ marinated and grilled chicken.

Larb ~ various sour salads containing meat.

Som tam ~ grated papaya salad.

Panang beef / chicken / pork curries.

Burma Influenced Kaeng Hang Le ~ pork curry with tamarind, turmeric and ginger flavourings.

Burma Influenced Khao Soy ~ meat and egg noodle curry topped with lime, spring onions and pickled cabbage.

Naem ~ spicy pork sausage.

Kaeng matsaman ~ Indian style curry flavoured with cinnamon, cardamon and cloves.

Sate ~ skewered meat with a spicy peanut sauce.