Thai Food

The Thai food that you will experience outside of the country is usually not the same food that you will find here. Thai food in Thailand is much more diverse and much spicier than Thai food outside of Thailand. Thai food will range from barbeque on the street and small noodle shops to more formal Thai Restaurants. For all the comedians out there they do call it "Thai Food" here (ahaan thai) not just food!

When you eat food with Thais in a restaurant they will ask you if you want to eat "Thai Style" or "Western Style". Western style would be where you order your own dish and eat it. Thai style is where they order several dishes and everyone shares the food and eats it on their own separate plate. A typical Thai meal would include soup to start and appetizers and the main meal followed up by some fresh fruit at the end. The portions on each of these will be small since Thais do not generally sit down to three main meals during the day, they will eat some at meal time but will also snack during the day and during the evening, in fact Thais love to eat! Thais also love to share their food with everyone around them, that is Thai style.

The Thai food from the central part of the country (Issaan) is generally street fare and VERY spicy. Foods include "somtam" and "papaya salad", this food is not for those without very strong stomachs. Issaan food will usually not be sold in Thai Restaurants and is usually sold by street vendors. Southern Thai food has curries and other spices and is more influenced by Malaysia. Northern Thai food (lanna cuisine) is also subtly different than traditional Thai Food. Traditional Thai Food is more similar to the food you will find outside of the country, minus some of the cheaper noodles (pad thai).

Any meal in Thailand will include White Rice or Jasmine Rice. In fact the Thai word for eating (ghin khao) is literally translated as "eat rice". Thai food will have a heavy emphasis on fish and vegetables, there are dishes with meat and chicken also but the Thai diet will usually involve lots of seafood and rice.

One good thing about ordering Thai food in Thailand is that you can usually order anything you want in any restaurant. If the food that you want or like is not on the menu, just ask the waiter if they can make it. You will be surprised how many Thai Restaurants are flexible in making things not listed on the menu.

Thai Food - Wikipedia

For those people who want a more formal description of Thai Food, here is the Wikipedia description of Thai Food:

Thai cuisine refers to typical foods, beverages, and cooking styles common to the country 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 would be more accurately described as four regional cuisines corresponding to the four main regions of the country: Northern, Northeastern (or Issaan), Central and Southern. Southern curries, for example, tend to contain coconut milk and fresh turmeric, while northeastern dishes often include lime juice. Thai cuisine has been greatly influenced by the cuisine of its neighboring and nearby countries, especially India , China , Malaysia , and Laos .

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 , some countries in Europe such as the United Kingdom , as well as the United States , and Canada .

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