Thai Cuisine:

Subtlety and balance are the hallmarks of Thai cuisine. There are five fundamental flavors in harmony: spicy hot, sour, sweet, salty and bitter. A Thai meal is typically made up of several complementary dishes served at the same time, rather than in courses.

As with most Asain cuisines, rice is a staple and the sweet smelling jasmine rice is indigenous to Thailand. Rice noodles are also popular and paht thai is a favorite all over the world. As with most sophisticated cuisines, there are regional variations to almost every recipe but typical ingredients include garlic, galangal (similar to ginger, but with a citrus-y taste), ginger, thai basil, eggplants and coconut milk.

In Thailand curries are meat or vegetable dishes in a spiced sauce. They are often described by color: red curries use red chilis and green curries use green chilis. Yellow curries are similar to the Indian kind using turmeric and cumin.