A restaurant serving southern Thai cuisine has just opened its doors in my Bangkok neighborhood. I ordered gaeng som, a spicy, sour soup, on a recent visit there. The dish lived up to its fiery reputation, delivering heat with my first slurp, and affirming why locals rank it as the hottest soup on the Thai menu -- ahead of tom yum goong, the piquant prawn soup that is a standard fixture in any Thai restaurant.
Tea Leaves
Thais hone taste for gastro-nationalism
In multilayered culinary culture, dishes are more than just meals
Quintessentially Thai: Pad kaprao, left, a stir-fry with a distinct aroma and a flavor of Thai holy basil, and the spicy, sour gaeng som, widely considered the hottest soup on the Thai menu. (All photos by Ken Kobayashi)
Read Next
.jpg?width=178&fit=cover&gravity=faces&dpr=2&quality=medium&source=nar-cms&format=auto&height=100)
Latest on Tea Leaves
