Southern food is the hottest in Thailand, often seasoned with fresh tiny bird's eye chilies (prik kee noo) and its usual tastes are spicy, salty and sour. The curries are colored red, yellow and orange employing both dried and fresh turmeric which is often rubbed into seafood to kill its “fishy” flavor. Southern curries make generous use of coconut milk and coconut oil, often boiled with sour pineapple and tamarind to balance the richness of the coconut milk.
When Central curries, like green and red curry, are prepared in the South, they are usually hotter and use much more shrimp paste (kapi) to intensify their flavor. The thick curries made by Thai Muslims often use ghee or yogurt in place of coconut and add fragrant dried spices like cumin and cardamom to the curry paste, in addition to the usual fresh herbs and spices used in the rest of the region.