Thai cuisine - By food author Howard Hillman

The most famous
Thai foods

Food tips you can trust

Famous
Thai cuisine foods

Kaeng (also "Kung")

These "liquid" dishes can be soups, curries or stews that complement rice. This Thai cuisine soup is quite popular:

These three kaeng curries are also local Thai cuisine favorites. They are cooked in coconut milk. Their degree of hotness is conveniently color coded (the hues come from the chilies and other spices in the curry paste):

Kaeng Kari

Has a yellow sauce.
Comparatively mild.

Kaeng Phed

Red sauce. Hotter.

Kaeng Kao Wan

Green sauce. Hottest.

Mee Krob

A classic celebration dish of rice noodles in a sweetened pork and crustacean sauce. Traditionally served in a mound with an elaborate, colorful garnish.

Nam Prik

A term used both for the beloved Thai hot sauce and for dishes of raw or cooked vegetables, eggs, fish, or meat served with rice and a sauce. There are many variations of Nam Prik sauce. Most include chilies, garlic, fish sauce, and shrimp paste, with other ingredients to the taste of the cook.

Yam

Lilterally, "mixed with the hands". A yam is a Thai salad. But the salad is not restricted to raw vegetables. Cooked vegetables, meat, fish, even flowers can be used. For example, "pork and oranges" and "beef and roses" make up the bases of two popular Yams.