Thailand is where you will find a culture packed with history and the most delicious food ever. Stepping into 2024 with us, let's examine the top 10 Thai specialities you must taste. From spicy curries to cooling salads, these dishes witness Thai gastronomy excellence.

1. Tom Yum Goong

If there's a dish that represents the Thai spices in the best way, it's Tom Yum Goong. This soup is rightly iconic as it combines spicy, sour, and fragrant flavours perfectly. These key elements are fresh shrimp, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and chilli peppers. When these herbs are added to the broth, they create a special harmony of tastes that will send your taste buds into overdrive.

2. Pad Thai

A Thai cuisine without Pad Thai is like a desert without water. This noodle dish with a stir-fry technique has become popular worldwide for its great taste and texture. The stir-fried noodles are made with shrimp, tofu, bean sprouts, and eggs, then topped off with a tamarind sauce prepared from fish sauce, tamarind paste, and palm sugar. Garnished with crushed peanuts and a dash of lime, Pad Thai is an amazing blend of sweet-sour-savory notes that will make you hunger for more.

3. Healthy Curry (Kaeng Khiao Wan)

Thai curries are very popular because of the fantastic flavours and fragrances that you can get in them. One of the most famous healthy curries in Thailand is the Green curry. The paste in this curry is made by mixing green chilli peppers, garlic, lemongrass, and other fragrant spices. Coconut milk, protein of the choice and vegetables are added to the paste and kept for simmering. This cream-based curry is served with plain steamed rice. Hence, because of the combination of sweetness, heat and herbal flavour, this curry has gained a lot of fame in Thailand.

4. Som Tum (Papaya Salad)

Looking for a refreshing and zesty treat? No worries—Som Tum (also called Papaya Salad) is your best bet. This salad includes different ingredients, such as tomatoes, peanuts, chilli peppers, and papaya, mixed with lime juice, palm sugar, and even fish sauce. Its combination of crunchy textures and vibrant flavours makes Som Tum a strong point for both locals and tourists.

5. Mangoes Sticky Rice (Khao Niew Mamuang)

Mangoes Sticky Rice is one of the famous desserts in Thailand. In this dish, you will find ripe mangoes with sticky rice cooked in sweetened coconut milk. The cake is then topped with a coconut sauce and finished off with toasted sesame seeds or mung beans for some crunch and texture. These sticky and juicy mangoes are the perfect combination of flavour, and the different textures in this dish make it a treat to the people.

6. Massaman Curry

Massaman curry is a flavorful meal that represents the cultural diversity of Thailand. Here, you will find Indian and Malay cuisine mixed as one. This curry is packed with intense and aromatic ingredients, such as meat pieces, roasted peanuts, and onions. These are then simmered in a paste of coconut milk and other spices to give you a rich and flavorful curry.

7. Khao Soi

Khao Soi is a dish from Northern Thailand, and it is a kind of soup that will become your comfort food after one sip. It consists of egg noodles drowning in the coconut curry soup, with chicken or beef slices on top of it, and crispy fried noodles, shallots, cilantro, and a wedge of lime. The combination of creamy coconut milk, aromatic spices, and the crunchiness of fried noodles results in a fabulous play of textures and tastes, which is why Khao Soi is often referred to as a "comfort food" in Thailand.

8. Hoy Tod

Today, Hoy Tod is almost synonymous with the Thai-style oyster omelette available on the streets of Thailand and is both luxurious and comforting. The dish is made of juicy oysters encased in an egg batter, which is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with a delicious sauce made from the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and a bit of chilli. The omelette is usually accompanied by some fresh bean sprouts and a dipping sauce that is a bit sour, and the whole thing is a marvellous combination of flavours and textures that will delight your palate.

9. Pla Rad Prik

The seafood admirers are spoiled for choice with Pla Rad Prik, a dish that tastes like heaven. It consists of fried fish coated in a spicy red chilli sauce. The fish, usually tilapia or sea bass, is crispy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth tender on the inside, perfectly paired with the spicy red chilli sauce made of garlic, bird's eye chilli peppers, fish sauce, and a dash of sugar to balance the taste. The plate is topped with fresh herbs such as cilantro and Thai basil, which brings an herbal aroma to the dish, complementing the spicy and savoury flavours.

10. Khanom Buang

The Khanom Buang may have ended, but it is still a sweet note that is as beautiful as it is delicious. Thai-style crispy pancake, also known as Thai crispy pancake, is a typical Thai finger food made of thin and crispy crepes filled with a sweet and creamy mixture of coconut cream and mung bean paste. The crepes are then carefully folded into beautiful flower shapes, and golden egg yolk threads are added to the top for a touch of luxury. Besides its delicious taste, Khanom Buang is a sight for the eyes, which is another reason it should be on your dessert list in Thailand.

Conclusion

Thai dishes are a treasure of flavours, and these ten specialities are the best examples of what the country has to offer. Whether you like eating or tasting a lot of different food or just want to taste Thai food, these dishes are a must-try in 2024. Therefore, we hope this article was beneficial for you.