Thai food combines five basic tastes: sweet, spicy, sour, bitter, and salty. The herbs and spices most commonly used in Thai cooking have medicinal properties. These include, among others, garlic, lemongrass, kaffir lime, galangal, turmeric, coriander, and coconut milk. Each region of Thailand has its specialties: green curry in the central region, green papaya salad in the northeast, khao soi in the north, and massaman curry in the south.
In 2017, seven Thai dishes were included in the list of the 50 best foods in the world.
The staple food in Thailand is rice, especially jasmine rice (also known as Mali hom), which forms part of almost every meal. Thais consume over 100 kg of rice per person per year.
