Rice

Thai Hom Mali jasmine rice smells like flowers and is one of the most prized rice varieties in the world.

Rice is an annual grass grown in flooded fields, with panicles of small grains that feed more than half of humanity. It needs plenty of water and warmth, so it does best in the lowlands of monsoon Asia. Many varieties are grown in Thailand, but the most famous is the long-grain jasmine variety Khao Dawk Mali 105, whose grains are slightly sticky when cooked and give off a delicate floral aroma. Sticky rice is also widespread in the northern and north-eastern provinces.

Significance in the country

For decades Thailand has been one of the world’s two or three largest rice exporters, and rice paddies are the country’s most typical landscape. The annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony in Bangkok symbolically opens the planting season.

Where it grows

Across the whole Central Plain in the Chao Phraya basin and on the Khorat Plateau in Isan; the most famous jasmine rice comes from the Thung Kula Ronghai plain in Roi Et, Surin and Sisaket provinces.

More: Wikipedia (en) Wikipedia (pl)