Thai cuisine · Hot, sour, salty, sweet: nam prik, fish sauce and the regional map from Bangkok street to Isan grilled chicken.
The dishes that carry Thai cuisine are the ones a market cook and a home kitchen would both recognise.
Eight signatures below explain the table to a first-time diner and to a grocer stocking the aisle.
Takeaway · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tamarind-fish-sauce rice noodles, a nation-building street plate.
Pad Thai is a reference plate of Thai cuisine, cooked in Bangkok and copied abroad.
“The lesson of Pad Thai is the pantry: nam pla / pla ra and jasmine rice / sticky rice.”
Takeaway · CC BY-SA 3.0
Hot-and-sour soup with lemongrass, lime leaf and chili.
Tom yum is a reference plate of Thai cuisine, cooked in Bangkok and copied abroad.
“The lesson of Tom yum is the pantry: nam pla / pla ra and jasmine rice / sticky rice.”
Terence Ong · CC BY 2.5
Coconut curry from green chili paste, Thai basil and meat or fish balls.
Green curry is a reference plate of Thai cuisine, cooked in Bangkok and copied abroad.
“The lesson of Green curry is the pantry: nam pla / pla ra and jasmine rice / sticky rice.”
Takeaway · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pounded papaya, chili, lime, fish sauce, often pla ra or dried shrimp.
Som tum is a reference plate of Thai cuisine, cooked in Bangkok and copied abroad.
“The lesson of Som tum is the pantry: nam pla / pla ra and jasmine rice / sticky rice.”
Dennis Wong from Hong Kong, Hong Kong · CC BY 2.0
Coconut sticky rice with ripe mango — a dessert that became an export icon.
Mango sticky rice is a reference plate of Thai cuisine, cooked in Bangkok and copied abroad.
“The lesson of Mango sticky rice is the pantry: nam pla / pla ra and jasmine rice / sticky rice.”
Iudexvivorum · CC0
Holy-basil minced-meat wok with a fried egg — the actual home lunch.
Pad krapow is a reference plate of Thai cuisine, cooked in Bangkok and copied abroad.
“The lesson of Pad krapow is the pantry: nam pla / pla ra and jasmine rice / sticky rice.”
Takeaway · CC BY-SA 3.0
A Muslim-Thai coconut curry with warm spice and potato.
Massaman curry is a reference plate of Thai cuisine, cooked in Bangkok and copied abroad.
“The lesson of Massaman curry is the pantry: nam pla / pla ra and jasmine rice / sticky rice.”
Gunawan Kartapranata · CC BY-SA 4.0
Grilled skewers with peanut sauce, a shared Malay-Thai street form.
Satay is a reference plate of Thai cuisine, cooked in Bangkok and copied abroad.
“The lesson of Satay is the pantry: nam pla / pla ra and jasmine rice / sticky rice.”
Stats are relative 0–100 marks within this cuisine, for comparison only.
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Does Pad Thai abroad still count as Thai cuisine when the pantry is rewritten?
Capitals claim Tom yum; provinces disagree, loudly.
Fermented heat and shared grills: kimchi, gochujang and banchan from the Korean Peninsula.
Overall 76 🍣Dashi, rice and seasonal restraint: washoku from sushi counters to home miso soup.
Overall 72 🥟Eight great traditions, one wok logic: soy, rice, wheat and the regional map behind "Chinese food".
Overall 80 🍲Herbs, nuoc mam and a French-colonial overlay: pho, banh mi and the regional split from Hanoi to the Mekong.
Overall 68