Rice is a staple component of Thai cuisine, as it is of most south-east Asian cuisines. Fairly bland rice or noodle dishes are accompanied by highly aromatic curries, stir-fries and other dishes, incorporating large quantities of chillies, lime juice and lemon grass[?].

Many Thai dishes use kaffir lime leaves, usually fresh - its characteristic flavour appears in nearly every Thai soup (e.g., the hot and sour tom yam), stir-fry or curry.

In Thai cuisine, kaffir lime is frequently combined with garlic, galangal, ginger and fingerroot, together with liberal amount of chillies. Fresh Thai basil[?] is needed for the authentic fragrance.

Famous Thai dishes:

• Tom Yum Gung - hot & sour soup with seafood
• Tom Yum Gai - hot & sour soup with chicken
• Tom Ka Gai - hot sweet soup with chicken and coconut
• Satay - grilled meat served with peanut sauce (originated in Indonesia)
• Pad Thai[?] - pan-fried rice noodles with various ingredients
• Red Curry
• Gaeng Keow Waen - sweet green curry
• Yellow Curry

See also: cooking, cuisine