The Most Popular Thai Food among Foreigners
Many Thai dishes are popular among foreigners such as Som Tam (Spicy Papaya Salad), Pad Thai (Fried Noodles), Geang Kiaw Waen Gai (Green Curry with Chicken), Tom Kaa Gai (Coconut Soup with Chicken), and Pat Ga Praw (Pork Fried in Basil), etc. However, the most popular Thai food for foreigners in my opinion is Tom Yam Goong.
Tom Yam Goong or Spicy Shrimp Soup is the name given to a very popular Thai soup, that is, hot, spicy, and sour. It is truly one of a kind with its fierce spiciness and sourness and a blatant use of fragrant herbs, including galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, shallot, tamarind, and chili pepper. As far as I know, the herbs have many health benefits, such as kaffir lime leaves helps drive the wind in the stomach and blood circulation to flow well. In addition, garlic is very good health wise because it can prevent heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and cancer.
So, I think this is one of reasons that many people like to eat Tom Yam Goong because they want to be a good health. In general, there are two styles of Tom Yam; the clear spicy soup and thick spicy soup and Tom Yam Goong is the most popular variety of Tom Yam since Spicy Shrimp Soup is the original. It is definitely a significant dish of Thailand.
To sum up, I do think that Tom Yam Goong is one of Thai food that foreigners like to eat as well as Thai people. Whenever, my friends who are both Thais and foreigners coming to visit me, I always take them to try Tom Yam Goong at my favourite restaurant.