Thai cuisine refers to typical foods, beverages, and cooking styles common to the country of Thailand. Thai Cuisine is known for its balance of five fundamental flavors in each dish or the overall meal - hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty and bitter (optional). Although popularly considered as a single cuisine, Thai food would be more accurately described as four regional cuisines corresponding to the four main regions of the country: Northern, Northeastern (or Isan), Central and Southern. Southern curries, for example, tend to contain coconut milk and fresh turmeric, while northeastern dishes often include lime juice. Thai cuisine has been greatly influenced by the cuisine of its neighboring and nearby countries, especially India, China, Malaysia, and Laos.Thai food is known for its enthusiastic use of fresh (rather than dried) herbs and spices as well as fish sauce. Thai food is popular in many Western countries especially in Australia, New Zealand, some countries in Europe such as the United Kingdom, as well as the United States, and Canada.

Beer Fox says, "This delectable dish is light on the tongue and dressed with a creamy sauce. Touched with lemon and orange, it is in the character of Thai cooking, using a wok to seal in juices and food flavors, and to crisp up vegetables.

Spices and various plants used in Thai cooking are herbs, which have medicinal properties that can heal illness. The benefits of herbs used in Thai food may not always be obviously known, so the following are examples of herbs used in Thai cooking are cited for reference below.

KHAO PHAD MU YANG 1 cup cooked rice 100 grams pork with some fat, 1 egg 1 spring shallot, cut into short lenths 1 cucumber, 2 spring shallots 2 tbsp. sliced onion, 1 sliced lemon 1/2 tsp. ground pepper 1 tsp. chopped garlic, 1/2 tsp. sugar 1/2 tbsp. fish sauce 1/2 tbsp. oyster sauce 1 tsp. light soy sauce 3 tbsp. cooking oil

Click here to check out what Penn alum doctor and actor Roy Vongtama (C'96) told us from his appearance from this week's episode of Style Network's "Hot Guys Who Cook".

Pad Thai - How to make great Thai Food. Real Thai Cook explains how to prepare tasty Pad thai