This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). It’s the middle of dinner service at Bo.lan restaurant in Bangkok and our table for two is packed with all the dishes that make up a traditional Thai meal: salad, a laab of minced grey mullet that smells like nutty, toasted rice kernels; curry, a Southern-style chicken-and-prawn version made creamy with cashew nuts; a protein dish — stir-fried beef in a sauce thickened with shrimp paste; and much more besides. I take a bite of stir-fried jícama (a turnip-like root vegetable) and dried prawns, garlanded with coriander leaves — a blast...