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Thai food is widely known for being hot and spicy, as almost all Thai food is cooked with basic ingredients, such as garlic,
chilliles, limejuice, lemon grass and fresh coriander leaf and fermented fish sauce (nam pia) or shrimp paste (kapi) to make it salty.
Since rice is the staple diet in Thailand, it is usually eaten at every meal with soups, curries, friend vegetables
and nam phrik. Nam phrik is a hot sauce, prepared in a variety of ways and differs from region to region: nam phrik pla pon is
a ground dried fish and chilli sauce, nam phrik pla raa is a fermented fish and chilli sauce, nam phrik kapi is a shrimp
paste and chilli sauce, nam phrik oong is a minced pork, tomato and chilli sauce. In general, the basic ingredients of
nam phrik include shrimp paste, garlic, chilli, fermented fish sauce and lemon juice. Other common seasoning in Thai food include galingale (khaa), black pepper, ground peanut, tamarind juice, and coconut milk.
As a result, it takes hours to prepare a proper Thai meal in the traditioinal way, as it involves so much peeling, chopping and pounding. In fact, Thai food varies form region to region. For example, glutinous or sticky rice is more popular in the North and Northeast
than steamed rice. Moreover, in some rural areas, certain insects are also eaten, e.g. crickets, silk worm larvae, red ant larvae. At the
same time, Thai desserts are often made from sticky rice or coconut milk, flour, egg and coconut sugar. A variety of fruits are also available
throughout the year. Although the majority of Thai food is described as being spicy and chilli hot, Thai cuisine is currently very popular
around the world. One example is the Tom Yam Kung, a uniquely piquant prawn soup, renowed for its simplicity, creativity, artistic flair
and delicious taste. Thai food can also be cooked to suit individual tastes, simply by reducing the amount of chillies or increasing the
amount of lime juice.
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