Thailand
In Thailand, food stalls appear wherever people gather, even in the smallest lanes. On busy mornings, people often buy breakfast from a stall to eat at home or work. Different stalls occupy the same spot at different times of day. In the morning, jok stalls are especially popular. Broken Thai rice is cooked until very soft and combined with chicken stock, then topped with ingredients such as pork meatballs, liver, eggs or fried rice noodles. Diners season it with pepper, fish sauce or vinegar and often eat it with small fried dough pieces called pa thong ko. Alongside jok, our Thai feature included drinks such as blue butterfly pea tea and desserts such as khao niao mamuang, coconut sticky rice with mango.
Mornings in Thailand begin with yellow-robed monks collecting alms. With 95% of the population practicing Buddhism, people place food in the monks' bowls and bring their palms together in prayer. Many exercise in parks or leave early to avoid traffic, and most workplaces and schools begin around 8 a.m. Influenced by China and other neighboring countries, Thai cuisine has developed its own distinctive balance of four tastes: sweet, hot, sour and salty.
With thanks to
Tourism Authority of Thailand