Cuisine of Thailand

Thai cuisine is known for its balance of five fundamental flavors in each dish or the overall meal - hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty and bitter (optional). Although popularly considered as a single cuisine, Thai food is really better described as four regional cuisines corresponding to the four main regions of the country: Northern, Northeastern (or Isan), Central and Southern. Northern curries, for example, tend to contain coconut milk and fresh turmeric, while northeastern dishes often include lime juice.

Influence and Western popularity
Thai cuisine has been influenced by Chinese stir-fries and Indian curries while maintaining a unique taste of its own. Like Vietnamese food, Thai food is known for its enthusiastic use of fresh (rather than dried) herbs and spices as well as fish sauce.Thai food is popular in many Western countries especially in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the United States, and Canada ServingInstead of a single main course with side dishes found in Western cuisine, a Thai full meal typically consists of either a single dish or rice khao (Thai ข้าว) with many complementary dishes served concurrently.Rice is a staple component of Thai cuisine, as it is of most Asian cuisines. The highly prized, sweet-smelling jasmine rice is indigenous to Thailand. Steamed rice is accompanied by highly aromatic curries, stir-fries and other dishes, incorporating sometimes large quantities of chillies, lime juice and lemon grass. Curries, stir-fries and others may be poured onto the rice creating a single dish called khao rad gang (Thai ข้าวราดแกง), a popular meal when time is limited. Sticky rice khao neow (Thai ข้าวเหนียว) substitutes ordinary rice in rural Northern and Northeastern cuisine. Noodles are popular as well but usually come as a single dish, like the stir-fried Pad Thai or noodle soups.

There is uniquely Thai dish called nam prik (Thai น้ำพริก) which refers to a chile sauce or paste. Each region has its own special versions. It is prepared by crushing together chillies with various ingredients such as garlic and shrimp paste using a mortar and pestle. It is then often served with vegetables such as cucumbers, cabbage and yard-long beans, either raw or blanched. The vegetables are dipped into the sauce and eaten with rice. Nam prik may also be simply eaten alone with rice or, in a bit of Thai and Western fusion, spread on toast.

Thai food is generally eaten with a fork and a spoon. Chopsticks are used rarely, primarily for the consumption of noodle soups. The fork, held in the left hand, is used to shovel food into the spoon. However, it is common practice for Thais and hill tribe peoples in the North and Northeast to eat sticky rice with their right hands by making it into balls that are dipped into side dishes and eaten. Thai-Muslims also frequently eat meals with only their right hands.

Famous dishes for foreigner
Many Thai dishes are familiar in the west. In many dishes below
:-Pad Thai - rice noodles pan fried with fish sauce, sugar, lime juice or
tamarind pulp, chopped peanuts and egg combined with chicken, seafood, and tofu.
:-Rad na - wide rice noodles in gravy, with beef, pork, chicken, shrimp,
or seafood.(Originally from China)
:-Tom yam kung - hot & sour soup with shrimp
:-Som tam (Thai: ส้มตำ) grated papaya salad, pounded with a mortar and pestle. There are three main variations: Som tam poo (Thai: ส้มตำปู) with salted black crab, and Som tam Thai (Thai: ส้มตำไทย) with peanuts, dried shrimps and palm sugar and Som tam plara (Thai: ส้มตำปลาร้า) from north eastern part of Thailand (Isaan), with salted gourami fish, white eggplants, fish sauce and long bean.

information from From Wikipedia.org