Thai food is one of the original fusion cuisines, marrying Chinese, Indian, and other ethnic flavors to the indigenous cooking style. Thai food has an assertive flavor and fragrance with a layering of seasonings. Sour and citrus flavors, palm sugar and tamarind pulp provide distinctive flavor notes. Popular spices include cardamom, dried chiles, cinnamon, cloves, coriander seeds, cumin, curry spices, nutmeg, star anise, and white peppercorn. Fresh basil, Chinese chives, cilantro sprigs and roots, galangal, garlic, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, mint, sawtooth herb, and Thai basil are the characteristic herbs that make up the Thai flavor palette.
Aromatic accents come from the use of jasmine, banana, and pandanus leaves.
Grilling also is common. An herbaceous cuisine, fragrance plays a role with flavor in defining the cooking style. Vietnamese cooking, with its Chinese and French influences, tends to be lighter and more delicate than other Southeast Asian cuisines. Other flavors include garlic, shallots and lemongrass, turmeric, tamarind, lime juice and shrimp paste. A classic dipping sauce, nuoc cham, is made with fish sauce that is sweet and hot, with garlic, chiles, sugar and lime juice.