Thai cuisine is one of the most famous in the world. As with Chinese, Japanese, Italian and French you can find Thai food restaurants all over the world. This in itself is a testament to how good Thai cooking is. This post will look at some of the basic dishes that Thai people cook.

One of the standards of Thai cooking is Pad Thai. This is stir fried noodles with vegetables and either pork, chicken or tofu. It comes with a lime, ground up peanuts and finely cut red chilies that you add to taste. It is a delicious variation on the noodle theme found all over Asia and it is not a spicy dish. Also it is very cheap. When I went to Haad Salad on Koh Phangan a few years ago you could buy Pad Thai for 40 Thai Baht ($1.20) even in tourist places.

One of my favorite Thai dishes is Som Tum. Star Huts in Thong Nai Pan Noi used to make this dish really well. It is green papaya salad made with shredded green papaya, green beans, cherry tomatoes, chili peppers and a lime dressing. Traditionally, this is a very hot and spicy dish. In restaurants where foreigners visit in Thailand the spiciness is often toned down.

One of the most famous dishes to come from Thailand is Tom Yum Goong. This is a delicious dish made with shrimp in a clear soup with lemon grass, kaffir lime, hot pepper, lime juice and phrik nam pla – fish sauce. Phrik nam pla is frequently used in Thai cooking – just as soy sauce is often used in Chinese and Japanese cuisine.

Finally, a favorite in Thailand is chicken curry or Gang Gai. This is easy to buy from street vendors all over Thailand. It is a dish often made to give to monks. It is made from chicken breast, red curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce and egg plant. It is usually served with white rice or kanon jeem noodles. Again this is a spicy dish.

Thai cuisine is world famous and rightly so. It is delicious and healthy for you. The health benefits of coconut milk are well documented. It also goes very well with an ice cold lager, preferably Singha Beer.