The main food in Thailand is rice. Everyone has eaten it since they were born. But we can't really eat rice alone so we have to have something to go with it. There are many dishes of food to go with rice. Most of them are hot and spicy and that is what Thai food is famous for.
Papaya Salad (Som Tam Korat, ส้มตำโคราช)
Easily recognised by large mortar and pestles and bright red tomatoes. Som Tam stands are one of Thailand’s most common street food vendors. In the large mortar and pestle strips of green (unripe) papaya are crunched together with a handful of ingredients which include palm sugar, lime, fish sauce (pla ra), peanuts and chillies. Som Tam Korat is an extreme salad. It is the Isan equivalent of the better known Som Tam Thai. The distinguishing difference being added pickled fish sauce (pla ra). Fiery, a little stinky but delicious.