Thai Food Tips
You probably love Thai food but you order the same things all the time because you don’t know what to get that you might like. I’ll offer some suggestions here by covering some popular Thai foods that you might enjoy…
I think there are many people that don’t know what to eat when they go to a Thai food restaurant. Before I came to Thailand I usually ordered the same things over and over. If I ate with someone that ordered something different - I tried it and almost always loved it. Thai food is so diverse, so delicious in all its different forms… I won’t lie, Thailand’s food had a lot to do with what country I chose when I left the USA. I looked at India, Thailand and Viet Nam. In the end Thailand’s safe environment won me over. But, I’ve been loving the Thai food for more than three years here.
I wondered, is it possible for me, an American to eat Thai food full time? It was a tough question because I usually only ate two or three things at a Thai restaurant in the US. Typically I would have Gai Pad King (ginger chicken) and an appetizer that wasn’t even Thai - but it was in the Thai restaurant. I had “Crab Rangoon”. It was a fried crab dessert that was really delicious at the Thai restaurant in Tampa, Florida called “Jasmine Thai”. I’ve asked many restaurants and friends here in Thailand if they ever heard of Crab Rangoon - or anything similar. Nobody has. Hmm, go figure.
So this is about what you can order in a Thai food restaurant in your home city. First off - if you haven’t, you might want to have a look at our list of Thai restaurants in the USA. We put together a large list that covers 49 states (I don’t know which one we’re missing!) and lists Thai food restaurants by city. You might find one that you didn’t know existed. Or, you might find one that doesn’t exist anymore! If you find one that is no longer valid - would you please send us a note and let us know? (Trythaifood**at**gmail**com).
Ok, so here are some foods I think you might like. Keep in mind that there are MANY ways not only to say the Thai food dishes listed here - but different ways to spell them. For me, this was part of the problem in the states since I would see something called “Tom Yum Pla Meuk” at one restaurant and at a different restaurant it would say “Spicy & Sour Tomyum bpla muk” or “Thai spicy sour soup”.
There is little agreement on how to spell things. In Joy’s Thai food blog you’ll see too that her spelling of things is probably different than what you might see online somewhere else. It differs from cookbooks and Thai restaurant menus in your home town too. Try to figure out the major sounds and you’ll have an easier time than if you study the spellings!
Here are some variations in spelling for common Thai foods…
Rice: Kow, kowl, cow, cowlSticky Rice: Kow Niao, kowl niao, kow neeow, kowl neowSteamed Rice: Kow niao nung, kowl neow neungBlack Sticky Rice: Kow niao dum, kowl neeow dum
Thin glass (clear) Rice Noodles: Sen mee, sen meThick Rice Noodles: Sen yai, sen yi, sen yay
Pork: Moo, mu, muu, mewBeef: New-uh, neu-uh, noo-uh, noouhChicken: Gai, gy, guy, kai, ky, kuy, giSquid: Pla Meuk, bpla meuk, bpla muk, pla muk, pla muhk, bpla muhkShrimp: Goong, gung, guung, koong, kung, kuungFish: Pla, bla, bpla, blah
Salad: Salad, salatSpicy Salad: YumFermented Fish Sauce (not sure you’ll find this in USA): Bla rah, pla ra, bpla ra, bla la, blah lah, bpla rahCurry: Gang, gaeng, geng, gehng
Milk: Nam nom, nom, nome, noam
Coconut Milk: Gati, gadi, gadhi
Coconut: Mapraw, ma prow, mah praw
Ginger: King
Egg: Ky, kai, gy, kye
Morning Glory: Boong, bung, boohng, buung
Chili Peppers: Prig, prik, prihg, prigk
Bean sprouts: Tua ngoh, dtua ngaw, too-uh goh
Mushroom: Hed, head, het
Onion: Hom, hawm
Corn: Kowl pod, kow pod, pood
Carrot: Mango: Mamuang, ma muang, ma mooung, ma moouhng
Orange: Som, SawmApple: Appun, Apun, Apon
Banana: Gluay, glooay, glooai
Papaya: Ma lagaw, malaga
Pineapple: Sapparad, sapparat
Lemon/Lime: Minao, minow
Dessert: Khanom, kanom, kanawm
Sweet: Wan, Waan, Wahn, Won, Wohn
Sour: Prio, priow, preeow, pri-ow, pree-ow, preow
Bitter: Kom, Kohm
Salty: Kem, KehmSpicy (hot, chili pepper spicy): pet, ped, pedt, phet, phed
Really Spicy: Ped-Ped
Spicy so much that you go into a coma: Ped Silop Silai (ped silop si ly). If you say this they might look shocked, but it’s a funny phrase here!
Cold: YenHot: Ron, lonIce: Nam Kaang, Nam Kang
Sugar: Nam taan, Num TanWater: Nam, Naam, Nom
Skin (of pork, chicken, whatever…): Nung, nuhng
Fat: Mun
I hope that list helps you figure some things out. Print it and take it to the restaurant, don’t be shy! Especially in a place where the waitresses (and nobody) speaks English well enough to help you decide what is good to eat. I have been in a few of those restaurants and usually I just resort to my default Tom Yum soup which is always good, though sometimes spicy spicy! (Pet-pet).
Here are some typical Thai dishes that you might find in America or in your home country. Try them!
Tom Yum: Spicy and sour soup. Can be with shrimp (tom yum goong); with chicken (tom yum gai); with squid (tom yum pla muk); seafood (tom yum talay); or with fish (tom yum pla). Tom yum is a really nice soup. There are usually tomatoes, straw mushrooms, and onions to eat along with shrimp or whatever type you ordered. Thais eat it with their rice, mixing it on the same spoon or eating separately. Thais LOVE tom yum soup. (me too) For some reason Thai food is the hottest when the food you’re eating it with is really wet. Soup is wet.
Tom yum soup can be blistering hot - and that’s the way we like it here - but you may find it overwhelming. If you don’t want it spicy tell the waitress / waiter: “Mai Ped” (my ped) It means, ‘not spicy’. Still, the soup might be a little spicy because they make tom yum all at once in some restaurants. They make it a minimum level of spicy - but once the peppers are in the soup - can’t take the spice out. Tip for spicy food - eat lots of rice with it - it takes away the hotness from your mouth. So does cucumber and other vegetables. If you can stand it, the best way to stop your hot mouth from erupting is by drinking as hot as you can stand - water, tea, coffee. It will hurt a LOT, but then the spice goes away. Really!