Asian Foods Headquarters

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 is really better 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.



Instead of a single main course with side dishes found in Western cuisine, a Thai full meal typically consists of either a single dish or rice khao with many complementary dishes served concurrently.

Rice is a staple component of Thai cuisine, as it is of most Asian cuisines. The highly prized, sweet-smelling jasmine rice is indigenous to Thailand. Steamed rice is accompanied by highly aromatic curries, stir-fries and other dishes, incorporating sometimes large quantities of chillies, lime juice and lemon grass. Curries, stir-fries and others may be poured onto the rice creating a single dish called khao rad gang, a popular meal when time is limited. Sticky rice khao neow, substitutes ordinary rice in rural Northern and Northeastern cuisine. Noodles are popular as well but usually come as a single dish, like the stir-fried Pad Thai, or noodle soups.

Thai food is generally eaten with a fork and a spoon. Chopsticks are used rarely, primarily for the consumption of noodle soups. The fork, held in the left hand, is used to shovel food into the spoon. However, it is common practice for Thais and hill tribe peoples in the North and Northeast to eat sticky rice with their right hands by making it into balls that are dipped into side dishes and eaten.

Korean cuisine is based on the traditional food of Korea. From the complex Korean royal court cuisine to regional specialties to modern fusion cuisine, the ingredients and preparation are richly varied, and many dishes are becoming internationally popular. The foods described in this article are very different from Korean royal court cuisine, and were (and still are) widely enjoyed by the Korean masses. Kimchi is believed to be a healthy food with many purported health benefits.

It is based largely on rice, noodles, vegetables, meats and tofu (dubu in Korean). Traditional Korean meals are notable for the number of side dishes (banchan) that accompany the ubiquitous steam-cooked short-grain rice, soup, and kimchi (fermented, spicy vegetable banchan, most commonly cabbage, radish or cucumber). Every meal is accompanied by numerous banchan.



Korean food is usually seasoned with sesame oil, doenjang (fermented soybean paste), soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger and gochujang (red chili paste). Korea is the largest consumer of garlic, ahead of the rest of Asia (particularly China and Thailand, excluding Japan) and the Northern Mediterranean (mainly Spain, Italy, and Greece).

The cuisine varies seasonally, and especially during winter, traditionally relies much on kimchi and other pickled vegetables preserved in big ceramic containers stored underground in the outdoor courtyard. Preparation of Korean food is generally very labor-intensive.

Korean royal cuisine, once only enjoyed by the royal court of the Joseon period, take hours and days to prepare. It must harmonize warm and cold, hot and mild, rough and soft, solid and liquid, and a balance of presentation colors. It is often served on hand-forged bronzeware or bangjjaa. The foods are served in a specific arrangement of small dishes alternating to highlight the shape and color of the ingredients.

The Cuisines of Taiwan have several variations. In addition to the following representative dishes from the Hoklo ethnicity, it also encompasses aboriginal, Hakka, and local derivatives of Chinese cuisines (one famous example of the last is beef noodle soup).

Taiwanese cuisine itself is often associated with influences from mid to southern provinces of China (Canton, Fujian, etc., due to proximity) along with Japan (due to Taiwan's time under Japanese rule). Traditional Chinese food to be found in Taiwan, alongside classically Taiwanese and Hakka-style dishes, includes dishes from Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Shanghai, Hunan, Sichuan and Beijing.


Pork, rice, soy, are very common ingredients. Beef is far less common, and some Taiwanese (particularly the elderly generation) still refrain from eating it. This is in part due to a traditional reluctance to slaughtering precious cattle needed for agriculture, and an emotional attachment to such beasts of labour.

Taiwan's cuisine has also been influenced by its geographic location. Living on a crowded island, the Taiwanese had to look aside from the farmlands for sources of protein. As a result, seafood figures very prominently in their cuisine. This seafood encompasses many different things, from large fish such as tuna and grouper, to sardines and even tiny fish the length of a thumbnail. Crustaceans, squid, and cuttlefish are also eaten.

Because of the island's sub-tropical location, Taiwan has an abundant supply of various fruit, such as papayas, melons and citrus.

Some of Taiwan's agricultural products in general are rice, corn, tea, pork, poultry, beef, fish, and other fruits and vegetables.

The scarcity of natural resources has made for hard living on the island. As the Taiwanese had to make do with very little, they show remarkable adaptiveness and creativity when it comes to preparing food.

From many of their dishes, the Taiwanese have shown their inventiveness in the selection of spices. Taiwanese cuisine relies on an abundant array of seasonings for flavour: Soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, Black beans, pickled radishes, peanuts, chili peppers, parsley, and a local variety of basil ("nine story tower"). The resulting dishes thus combine and form interesting tastes which make Taiwanese cuisine simple in format yet complex in experience.