Armenian vs Thai food & cuisine

The food is distinct in how it layers flavors. Herbs aren’t garnishes – they’re ingredients. Parsley, cilantro, tarragon, and fresh basil appear in massive quantities. Fermented dairy, especially yogurt, plays a big role in soups, sauces, grain dishes, and meat marinades. You’ll notice bulgur is preferred over rice, unlike in Persian cooking.

Armenia shares the mezze dining tradition with the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. Coffee outpaces tea in daily life, prepared unfiltered with grounds left in small cups. The ritual includes fortune-telling using those grounds. Wine has deep roots here – Armenia is one of the world’s oldest wine-producing regions. Brandy, particularly Armenian cognac, is a national pride.

Thai meals consist of rice with many complementary shared dishes served at once, including soups. Traditionally, a meal should have at least five elements: a dip or relish for vegetables; a clear soup, a curry or stew; a deep-fried dish; and a stir-fried dish.

Bread is central. Lavash, baked in a tonir clay oven and served at nearly every meal, is recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. Matnakash offers a thicker, chewy crumb and crisp crust. Other staples include pita, Easter bread choreg, and sweet gata.

Boeregs, known by many spellings, are crisp phyllo pastries filled with cheese, meat, or vegetables. Though found across the former Ottoman Empire and Balkans, Armenians have fully made them their own.

Barley suits Armenia’s dry climate and appears in soups, stews, and porridges, eaten savory or sweetened with honey. It shows up in dishes like tanabour and ashura, a grain pudding related to Turkish Noah pudding.

Rice arrived through trade routes and became plav, a celebratory pilaf often cooked with vermicelli. Rice also forms the base of dolma fillings, wrapped in grape leaves or stuffed into vegetables.

Rice is dominant, but noodles are hugely popular! Made from the flour of rice, wheat, or mung beans. One of the oldest types of noodles in Thailand is khanom chin, fresh rice vermicelli made from fermented rice, eaten with green curry, chicken or in green papaya salad.

In many parts of  Southeast Asia, rice noodles are fermented instead of dried.  In hot, humid regions, dried noodles were harder to keep dry without mold before modern packaging. Freshly made, lightly fermented noodles could be produced daily and eaten within hours, fitting local market culture. Fermentation changes the starch structure, giving noodles a soft, springy bite and a slight tang – all valued in this cuisine.

Starting from the 1970s, wheat began gaining popularity in Thailand, driven by the emergence of instant noodles – precooked, dried noodle blocks. This rise of instant noodles marked a significant shift in Thai dietary patterns, moving away from the traditional rice and vegetable-based meals.

Fresh greens such as purslane, sorrel, and wild arugula appear in salads. Spinach and chard enrich soups and stews. Pumpkin stars in ghapama, where the hollowed pumpkin becomes the cooking vessel, stuffed with rice, dried fruits, and nuts.

Dolma, or tolma are also important. Vine or cabbage leaves, eggplants, zucchini, peppers, chard, and beet leaves are stuffed with rice, herbs, and often meat, then served with garlicky yogurt matzoon. Dolma is essential on New Year’s Eve.

Harsh winters shaped preservation habits. Vegetables are pickled in colorful brines, sometimes with plums or apricots, and sun-dried tomatoes and eggplants provide intense flavor year-round.

Potatoes rose to importance during the Soviet era and are now second only to wheat. Fruits are abundant, but pomegranates stand apart as symbols of eternity in art and cuisine. Apricots are especially loved, fresh and dried, appearing in mezze, stews, puddings, and snacks.

Several types of mushrooms feature in Thai cuisine, such as straw mushrooms, shiitake, and white jelly fungus. Flowers are also common.

Tofu is not a staple food in Thailand the way rice is, but it became widely used after being introduced by Chinese. It can be firm, soft, or fried; is commonly added to pad thai; is sold as fried snacks by street vendors; and is used in vegan versions of traditional recipes.

Unripe and sour fruits are especially popular in Thailand compared to most other cuisines. The crisp, tart texture is valued rather than avoided. Fresh fruits are served after a meal as dessert with spicy dips made from sugar, salt, and chilies. Fruits feature salad.

In Thailand, one can find papaya, jackfruit, mango, mangosteen, langsat, longan, pomelo, pineapple, rose apples, durian, Burmese grapes, and other native fruits. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, and strawberries, which do not traditionally grow in Thailand and in the past had to be imported, have become increasingly popular in the last few decades.

Preservation matters. Basturma, air-dried and heavily seasoned, cures for about a month and is eaten on its own, with eggs, or in pastries. Yershig, also called sujuk, is a dry-fermented sausage of beef or lamb with garlic, cumin, sumac, and paprika, denser and spicier than Turkish versions.

Winter favors soups and stews. Kololik is a lamb meatball soup thickened with rice and sometimes eggs. Khash simmers beef shanks and offal for hours, producing a collagen-rich broth believed to cure hangovers. Khashlama, a lamb soup, cooks slowly with herbs and salt, using the whole animal.

Armenian dumplings include manti, small open canoe-shaped parcels filled with spiced meat, steamed, then baked so the edges crisp. They are more common among Western Armenians. In the east, closed khinkali dumplings are preferred.

A famous dish is khao kha moo, slow-braised pork leg stew served with rice, marinated vegetables, and a soft-boiled egg. Chinese BBQ pork (char siu) is also popular. Gai yang, grilled chicken marinated in garlic, soy sauce, coriander, and spices, is a classic and very popular throughout country.

Cheeses are usually white, semi-firm to firm, brined or aged in salt water. Made without additives, they mature in clay pots or wooden barrels. Popular varieties include chechil (stringy and smoked), lori (mild), chanakh (brined), motal (crumbly with herbs), and yeghegnadzor (aged and sharp).

Eggs are often a supporting protein, kept on street stalls to bulk up the dish. In stir-fries, eggs add softness and bind ingredients; in fried dishes, they provide a coating stick. Salted duck eggs are a staple, they’re salty and oily, eaten with rice soups, rice porridges, and salads. Century eggs (kai yiew ma, from Chinese influence) bring rich, savory, sometimes sulfurous notes. Eggs are essential in Thai custards (sangkhaya) and golden egg-yolk sweets (thong yip, thong yod, foi thong).

Thai cooking uses sugar and other sweeteners widely in savory dishes to balance salty, sour, and spicy elements, with especially notable sweetness in central Thai cuisine and many street foods. Local and Thailand-focused sources emphasize palm sugar and coconut sugar as core seasonings in curries, stir-fries, and dressings.

In the global context, Thai desserts feature tropical fruits, coconut milk and cream, palm sugar, rice flour, and glutinous rice. These ingredients create uniquely rich, creamy, and subtly sweet bases. Aromatic elements are essential, often using jasmine, pandan leaves, and other fragrant plants. Dessert textures revolve around stickiness – sticky rice, soft custards, layered jellies.

Unlike some Western desserts that may be intensely sweet, Thai desserts balance sweetness with aromatics, hints of saltiness and richness from coconut.