Before living in Bangkok, I was only familiar with the typical Thai dishes that most tourists are acquainted with, like phat thai and tomyam, but somtam (ส้มตำ) is now one of my favourites. [Side note: Even the pineapple fried rice that many Singaporeans like---and associated as Thai food---isn't popular in Thailand or with the Thais themselves.] Many expats I know don’t seem to take to the taste of somtam very much and seldom venture beyond the classic Thai dishes that they like. Perhaps it takes a couple of tries to appreciate somtam, but I’m certainly addicted to somtam.
