Why Thai food is booming in the UK (it’s not just White Lotus)

The Guardian reports that TV show The White Lotus, set in Thailand for season three, helped boost UK Thai food takeaway orders by up to 25%. Beyond the white lotus effect, Thai cuisine ranked fourth in 2024’s UK search statistics, and this year The Guide awarded London hotspot AngloThai with its first Michelin star, along with four other Thai restaurants recognised with Bib Gourmand awards. 

How has Thai food won over UK diners? The secret lies in the delicate balance of fresh, fiery, and fragrant ingredients.

Mustard Foods Development Chef Mons Mathew highlights the balance of flavours required to create the perfect Thai curry: “You need salt and sugar, lots of spice, a sour element, and of course creamy coconut milk to bring it all together”.

Five Essential Flavours of Thai Food

Glamorous TV shows and awards might pique the interest of UK diners, but it's a unique flavour profile that keeps them coming back for more. The five essential flavours of any Thai curry are salty, sweet, spicy, sour and creamy. Many Thai chefs consider a dish incomplete if one of these elements is missing or not balanced in the correct ratios.

Salty

Salt is incorporated in Thai food through fish sauce, table salt, tamari or soy sauce. Chicken Panang Curry uses tamari instead of soy sauce to keep the dish gluten free. 

Sweet

A common trait of all Thai dishes is a subtle sweetness most often from palm sugar, or cane sugar-derived jaggery which is used in our Massaman Vegetable Curry. 

Spicy

Depending on the dish, Thai curry pastes incorporate dried red chillies and ground spices, or fresh green chillies. Dried red chillies tend to lend a hot earthy tone compared to its fresh green counterparts. 

Peppery heat also comes from the use of galangal, a root from the ginger family, but more pungent and citrusy than its ginger cousin.

Sour

Tangy sour flavours are introduced to Thai cooking in the form of tamarind, lime peel, or fresh lime juice. Beef Massaman includes tamarind puree and lime juice to achieve an intense sourness which is later balanced by coconut milk and palm sugar.

Creamy

In Thai cuisine, creaminess always comes in the form of coconut milk or coconut cream. This simple ingredient balances the intense salt and spice, adding a silky texture and a rich creamy taste like our award-winning Thai Green Chicken Curry. 

How to incorporate Thai flavours on your menu

Mustard supplies 5-star hotels and restaurants with base sauces to incorporate authentic Thai flavours on their menu. It relieves some of the pressure experienced in a busy kitchen, but allows flexibility for chefs to be creative with the final dish. 

Kitchens with limited prep space, like an outdoor event or festival, often require fully prepared meals. Chef Tom Goodchild of Laine Pubs ordered Thai Green Chicken Curry for his festival menu at the Brighton Spiegeltent. “Thai Green Curry seems to be the dish of the week and we have flown through our stock with nothing but great feedback!”