The main factor that makes Thai food unique is that each meal consists of at least 4 different taste characteristics, including spicy, salty, sweet, and sour. With Thai food, the spices are all-natural and fundamental to creating a Traditional Thai meal.
Thai street food is world-renowned for its quality and choice, with Bangkok believed to be the best street food city in the world. Walking past Thai street food stalls a person will notice all the meals that they are fond of at Thai restaurants. Although some of these food stalls might specialize in only one or two different dishes, you can still find any dish in the food market.
With Thai food stalls as well as restaurants in Thailand, it is not easy to find vegetarian dishes although they celebrate the Vegetarian Festival annually. Even with some vegetarian dishes, shrimp paste, and fish sauce are still used, which may not work for vegetarians.
Spices in Thai food usually originate from challis. The sweetness found in all Thai meals comes from palm sugar and cane, providing a naturally sweet taste. The acidity of the meals is provided by lime juice and Tamarind. The saltiness in the meals comes from a variety of different sauces including soy sauce, fish sauce, and shrimp paste.
Thai meals usually incorporate a selection of dishes that are shared by groups of friends or families. It is standard tradition when visiting a Thai restaurant to order a variety of dishes incorporating salads, soups, stir-fried dishes, grilled or fried fish or meat, and different curries. These dishes are not served as individual courses but rather together as a meal.
Mixing the meals in different varieties of hotness is usually practical when visiting a Thai restaurant as a group. Mixing spicy and mild dishes with vegetables to soften the spicy taste of the chilies usually works wonders. This way you can still appreciate all the flavors while indulging in the spiciness of the dishes.