As Thailand is now a popular holiday destination, many more people are bringing back recipes and enjoying the exotic cuisine here in the UK.

The staple food of Thailand is rice and this can either be ordinary or sticky rice glutinous rice used to be the most popular as people rolled it into balls and ate it by hand.

Most Thai meals consist of some kind of soup, a curry, a steamed or fried dish, a salad (often including fruit) and a range of sauces. Many of the Thai dishes that are eaten here originate from the Central region and are flavoured with Nam Pla (fish sauce), garlic and black pepper. Fiery chillies, coriander, lime and tomatoes are also now key ingredients.

Fresh-water fish are popular where seafood from the Gulf of Thailand is not readily available and in places like Bangkok there is a strong Chinese influence in food such as noodle dishes. In the north of Thailand curries are milder and influenced by Burmese cuisine; using ginger and tamarind to flavour their broths.

In the South coconut milk is used in the curries and the flesh is used as a condiment, cashew nuts and seafood are both widely used in stir-frys.

  • In Thailand all courses are served at once, there are no starters and mains.
  • The Thai word for to eat' actually means to eat rice'.
  • "Have you already eaten?" is a standard greeting in Thailand.
  • Measurements are rarely used in Thai cooking chefs learn by watching others.