Thai Food: Beyond Basics

Thai Food

Thai food is so much more than stir-fries and curries. You don’t always have to sit down for a bowl of rice. I already covered The Basics but now it’s getting exciting! I’m ready to hit some fancy and unique dinner options, Western options, snacks and desserts, and my personal favorite – all the street food. It took some trial and error to get comfortable ordering at a cart on the street, but I already did that for ya so you can hit the street eating!

Please excuse my guess of the American version of Thai words – it’s what’s in my notes and I didn’t starve. I’ll go into more details in the Language for Food post. I have a lot of pictures of food from my time there, and most of them are a version of grilled chicken. Sorry not sorry!

Fancy Meals

A typical Thai street meal runs around 20-60 baht, a stir-fry dish at a casual restaurant runs 40-80 baht – these fancy meals run in the hundreds. Don’t let that turn you off! It’s still a huge amount of fresh food for $30, less than you’d pay for a night of fondue in America and way more satisfying. Treat yourself!

Jim jum or suki– Thai hot pot. All-you-eat DIY soup/fondue. You get a pot of boiling broth then hit the buffet (or order à la carte) to collect noodles, raw meat and seafood, and a variety of vegetables. There are several sauces to choose from to dress it up. Jim jum translates to “dip and dunk” and that’s how you eat the soup. Dip the meat and vegetables into the broth until cooked, then dunk into one of the spicy sauces. It’s a great slow, communal dining experience. You’ll often see these places packed to the gills, especially around universities. If you’ve never had hot pot before, check out these videos to see a NYC version of Thai hot pot or a homemade version. In the first video, Mike Chen gives a great example of hot pot eating technique (which I wish I had watched before going). There’s also a chain of hot pot restaurants complete with English menus, called MK, you’ll find at malls and large shopping centers. Pretty good, unique experience. Kind of pricey around 200 baht and they’ll charge extra if you’re wasteful, so eat up!

Seafood buffet BBQ – This was the most fun I had at a meal in Thailand. Some teachers took us out at the end of the semester to one of these glorious buffets. We cooked fresh shrimp and scallops straight on the tiny Thai grills at the table. Like a combination of Korean barbeque and hot pot, it’s a blast! The selection of fresh seafoods were amazing, the fresh grilled taste was delightful, and the options were truly endless. Beyond the grill, a hot pot was also going, and the buffet had a huge selection of prepared foods and of course, spicy sauces. Also around 200+ baht and you’ll get charged extra for wasting food. Look for “seafood buffet” or “seafood BBQ” or tables with grills on top, and look for a busy one!

Shared meals. Traditionally, people don’t order their own dish but the table orders several dishes to share. You get some rice onto your plate and take some of the other dishes in small portions. There may not be serving spoons – you’re expected to use your own silverware. As mentioned in Thai Culture post, Thais use their forks to scoop food into their spoons, which goes in the mouth. Therefore, the fork is considered the clean utensil to use on shared dishes. The eldest person starts the serving process, and dishes are passed and received with the right hand, or both hands.

I was treated to several fancy meals with the Thai teachers to celebrate various occasions or locals treating me to a true Thai style feast. Sometimes it was served in distinct courses like a fancy American meal. Other times, and more like Thai meals, it comes when it comes! Expect a combination of sweet, spicy, and pungent flavors that vary dish to dish. To be honest, I have no idea how to order half this stuff – someone else always took charge for fancy meals! But there common elements to all these meals.

• Large silver pot of soup, heated with live fire, tom yum talay or tom kha talay because seafood is fancy and delicious!
• Appetizers. Fried appetizer of fish or veggies with spicy dipping sauce. Maybe a surprise banana leaf wrapped treat. Or a plate of mixed goodies. There was one with shu mai dumplings, fish cakes, hot dog like sausages, and century eggs. Century eggs (khao yiao ma) are eggs that look like hard boiled black jelly eggs. They are preserved for several weeks, not a hundred years, thankfully! A very unique Asian treat. Dare ya to try! I did, and you can see it here, at one of the fancy Thai teacher retirement dinners. 
• Plate or bowl of raw veggies and greens. These are used to accessorize each dish all night long or for snacking in between, accompanied with a spicy dipping sauce (nam jim) of course. Other dipping sauces may be present as well. Try them all!
• Fried rice (khao pad). Eaten with everything.
• Whole fish. My favorite! I had a steamed spicy whole fish once (plaa kaphung), where everyone just kind of scraped the meat off the bones and scooped up the spicy tangy sauce. The other version was fried (plaa tod). The meat had been removed from the fish, fried, and then put back together. I also saw some girl friends treating themselves to a whole fish grilled at their table. Love a girls’ night out! Order a whole fish, it’s a real Thai treat. 
• Another main dish is a whole chicken (gai). I had a delightful chicken poached in spices like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. It was juicy and delightful.
• Desserts (ka nom). I’ll get into this in depth in a bit. But expect dessert! Sometimes it’s a large bowl of coconut cream with cantaloupe balls floating in there, or an iced jelly treat. 

Street Food

I love, love, love street food! Be brave, get in there. I leaned towards healthy and savory, going for grilled meats and fresh fruit (okay, and all the fried chicken!). Perfect combination, super cheap, and a nice break from rice. If you have a sweet tooth, no worries, there are plenty of options there, too. More on desserts next! Don’t pass up the stalls with stir-fries and curries. You’ll find them just as delicious as any restaurant at half the cost. The best bet is to choose the stalls where Thai people are eating.

The Thai word for snack and dessert is ka nom, and there a hundred dishes called ka nom this and ka nom that. They are sweet or savory, hot or cold, big and small. I think a lot of Thai street food falls into the snack category in that they are small, portable foods. Like a pretzel or hot dog in New York, snacks are made to easily eat on the go. You can easily turn the snacks into meals by collecting a few yummy treats, Thai style.

Gai tod – fried chicken. As mentioned, I love the crispy fried chicken! They’ll hack it up into smaller manageable pieces and top it with crispy fried garlic, yum! Usually served with Thai sweet chili sauce, nam jim gai. Especially good with Thai fruit (find your favorite fruit and a few new ones to try here).

Gai yang – grilled chicken. Absolute #1 favorite I’d eat several times a week. Thais used a semi sweet sauce on the chicken that compliments the smoky grilled flavor perfectly. You may see small pieces on sticks – that could be kruang nai gai yang, chicken butts, or kruang nai ping, chicken entrails. I got them without knowing which part I was eating and beyond the slightly chewier texture, found them delicious. Also available in pork version, muu ping. Both are recognizable as bright red skewers and best eaten hot.

Khao niaw – sticky rice. If you get any grilled meat, you can also ask for khao niaw. Sticky rice comes in a small plastic bag and here’s the trick, you squeeze it out the top until you can bite it off. Don’t try and eat it with your fingers, it’s not called sticky rice for it’s looks!

Pak – veggies. Sometimes, your meat on a stick will be served with a pinch of fresh raw veggies like cabbage. You can request sai pak if you want them or mai sai pak if not. 

More grilled things on sticks: Sai oua – lemongrass pork sausage, yum! Sai krok tod – grilled fish balls. Pla mhuk yang – grilled whole squid.

*A note about the sauces. Below you’ll see a little plastic bag filled with sauce and wrapped with a rubber band at top. This is a skill! Both to pack and to open. This is how you’ll get your sauce when you get food gab baan, to go. I wish I could tell you what the magic trick was, but after 6 months, I have no idea! I struggled with these bad boys all the time. Usually, I ended up biting into the bag and squeezing out sauce. Mai pen lai!

Yakitori – mixed grilled sticks. You’ll find Japanese yakitori stalls around the streets and market. Skewers are ready made in a chilled case, you pick what you want and hand them over to someone at the charcoal grill. Wait, pay, eat! Big fan for a quick, freshly cooked snack.

Som tam – green papaya salad. A Thai classic. Salty, tangy, crunchy, and refreshing. Shredded green papaya, tomatoes, and long beans are tossed together with a freshly made sauce. The sauce is made in a large mortar, crushing peanuts, dried shrimp or crab, dried chili, and sugar with lime juice and fish sauce. It’s crunchy, salty, pungent, perfectly balanced, and very Thai. If you’re lucky, you’ll find som tam muu dang (with red pork).

Yum mama – Mama is a popular brand of instant ramen noodles. In the picture above, the som tam stall will also make you Yum Mama, which is basically Mama noodles with som tam sauce. You’ll often find the two together since they use the same ingredients. You can always spot the stalls – look for tomatoes, limes, and a jar of dried crabs or shrimp along with the Mama noodle packs.

This fella did an great video of a street food market and you can hear some basic interactions in Thai.

Desserts and Sweets

I’m not a huge sweets person, especially when there is so much fresh fruit to indulge in. But Thais love their sweets! There are myriad options to satisfy your sweet tooth. I’ve listed some of the common, and not so common, treats I tried, but for a full breakdown of Thai sweets, check out this extensive article that is indeed, the Ultimate Thailand Sweets Guide.

Sang kha ya – pandan custard. This was my absolute favorite sweet! If you see

bright green custard, stop and eat it. It can be injected into baked goods or served with beautiful baked soft breads to dip into the custard. Yum, yum, yum! This puts the nom in ka nom for sure! Pandan, aka the vanilla of Southeast Asia, is a tropical leaf that is aromatic and has a gentle flavoring, like vanilla. If you see any bright green dessert or candy, go for it!

Kluai khaaek – fried banana. My favorite local lady with fried chicken also made fried bananas. An almost guilt-free treat!

Roti klaui – banana pancakes. Roti is a delicious thin pancake, like a crepe, folded into a square packet of filling. Roti klaui are a delicious sweet treat, drenched in condensed milk for added creamy sweetness. They also make them with cinnamon and sugar, Nutella, or chocolate syrup. Yum! Look for the street carts with a flat silver wok and bunches of bananas.

Ka nom tong muan – crispy pancake cookies. These are a less adventurous but delicious treat. Like a crispy crepe, they are formed into funnels, cups, or highly decorated flat cookie shapes. They’re delicate, crispy, and delicious. You may see a pretty stack of them at a market or freshly made. Great snack with a Thai iced tea. 

Ka nom bueang – Thai crepes or crispy pancakes. If you see a pancake/crepe that is topped and filled like a taco, that’s ka nom bueang. The filling is a coconut cream followed by sweet or salty toppings like shredded coconut or sesame seeds. Try them both!

Khao niaw ma muang or khao niaw moen – mango sticky rice, or mango with colored sticky rice. It lives up to the hype, y’all! it’s the perfect balance of sweet and creamy. I love fruit desserts and this one is on point. But if it seems kind of boring to you, try…

Khao niaw toorien – durian sticky rice. Level  up! This is the best way to enjoy durian, in my opinion. The Thai teachers brought this to school for us foreign teachers to try. While I wish that had not brought it in the office, because it smelled like stinky boy socks for a week, I was so happy to try durian this way. The durian tastes like tangy custard and is softened by the condensed milk, and the soft fruit is countered well with the slightly crunchy rice. Durian is considered the King of Fruits in Thailand, it’d be a pity to miss it!

Nam khang sai or o-eo – cold grass jelly. If you see black jelly, go for it. Sometimes they serve it with crushed ice on top for a cold refreshing end to a meal. It tastes like… grass? Like a sweet shot of wheatgrass, but better. Worth a shot! There are other jellies available, too.

Bua loy – rice ball in coconut milk. There are several versions of this coconut milk dessert and all are delicious. There’s always something floating in there, rice balls, melon. Yum. This is usually found at restaurants.

Loi kaew – fruit in syrup. Very straight-forward but definitely not simple. Many of my favorite fruits are featured in this dessert like rambutan, lychee, and longan.  Get excited about Thai fruits!

Isa creem – ice cream . Well who doesn’t want ice cream when it’s 100 degrees outside?? you’ll find all sorts of ice cream, including the Thai-originated rolled ice cream, brownie sundaes for the classicist, and coconut ice cream for my dairy-free friends. There are incredibly fancy dessert places with amazing creations. Below is a chocolate shell served with hot chocolate to melt the shell and reveal ice cream. We do all scream for it, right? 

Sam-oo-tee ponlamai – fruit smoothies. Fruit shakes were enough to satisfy my sweet tooth most of the time, unless I crossed paths with sang kha ya! And again, that thai fruit, y’all! So good. I went into smoothies in the Food Basics post and delved into fruit in the Language for Food post.

Safe Snacks

So you’re not into eating from street carts. That’s cool. I will still encourage you to try some new things. Maybe finding things in packages in a nice air conditioned environment where you can inspect the ingredients is more reassuring. I get it. The streets can be overwhelming, the cacophony of a foreign language and scooters whizzing behind your back, and the stress of making the “right” decision when you’re hungry. And man, sometimes a lady just wants a freakin’ sandwich! Been there. And that’s when we say, “Oh thank heaven for 7 Eleven!” The thing with 7 Eleven food in Asia, is that it’s way better than American 7 Eleven food. There are a ton of pre-made options and it’s not all heated up in a microwave. Here are my favorite 7 Eleven snacks.

Panini – that’s right, 7 Eleven has a PANINI PRESS! You pick your pre-made

sandwich from the cold case (ham and cheese, please!), take it to the counter, pay for it, and they pop it on the panini press. Warm, crunchy, familiar. Comforting.

Hard boiled eggs – also in the cold case are packaged hard boiled eggs. These are a great quick protein snack on the go. They look a little weird, peeled eggs in plastic wrap, but I never had a bad one (check the best by date!).

Bao buns (or pao) – also in the cold case, these are another heat and eat treat. Soft doughy buns surround fillings like red pork. Not as good as fresh dim sum buns, but a really nice non-spicy treat. Vegetarian options, too!

Dumplings – you can see them there in the cold case, too. There are usually a few varieties of dumplings. They’ll heat em, you eat em!

Breads – there are great baked goods at 7 Eleven, who knew! I love the cinnamon raisin bread with a banana, hard boiled egg, and coconut water or coffee for breakfast. I prefer to have my coffee and eat breakfast before leaving my room for the day, and these baked goods help that mission. Grab one with a banana the night before and boom, breakfast in bed. If you have a mini fridge, add the egg for a great start to your day of adventuring. Some of the sweet pastries may be handed out on long bus rides, too. 

Chips – so many different flavors to choose from! You won’t find cool ranch and BBQ won’t be what you expect. There are a ton of cool flavors to try. I like a salty snack, especially with a cold beer, so I usually had an “emergency” bag around. Oddly, Thais love their Pringles. The mini cans are sometimes handed out on long bus rides, and once you pop, you can’t stop.

Porridge cups – a fast jok option. In the bottom left corner, you’ll see green cups labeled jok, distinguishable from noodles cups by the photo of the egg. These are instant rice porridge cups. There isn’t much to them, regardless of the pictures on the outside, but it’s a cup of warm soft rice porridge. We ate these for breakfast while camping at Khao Yai National Park. Not bad!

Cup-o-noodles – again, your flavor options may not be familiar but the convenience will be. Cups of noodles come with tiny FORKS inside them in Thailand – finally, someone thought of everything! You’ll find hot water over by the coffee. They prefer that you pay before making your  noodles. The top left corner shows my favorite green curry cup. You can adjust the spiciness by avoiding the red liquid packs – hot chili oil!

Western Options

If you’re away from home for a long time, you may long for some standard Western foods. Or just a break from Thai food. It happens! Depending on where you are, the choices may be limited. Big hubs like Bangkok, Pattaya, and Chiang Mai are limitless as they tend to cater to the expat populations who live there. Personally, all I wanted was a cold salad and after 3 months, I would have given my right arm for a sandwich! Turns out, I just had to look harder and click my heels- it was there all along. Just know that any non-Thai food is going to be way more expensive.

Breakfast – Thai people cook one thing for the day so eating curry for breakfast is normal. I’m a traditional American breakfast kind of lady and I was very disappointed with the Thai versions of it. It’s just not what I expected. Instead, I preferred the Thai omelet (khao ki jiaw) or porridge (jok) over the Thai interpretation of American breakfast – think hot dog instead of sauage. Or in a pinch, my 7 Eleven version (see above). 

Salads – on some restaurant menus, or on street carts in bags. Heads up! The typical salad dressing is a creamy, sweet white sauce. Mai sai, ka! It took me weeks to figure out how to get a grilled chicken salad but so worth it!

Sandwich – a cold turkey sandwich would have been nice on the beach. No such luck! The common sandwich meats are closer to bologna, which is not my jam. Eventually, an amazing sandwich shop Yolk opened in my town with real French bread, real cheese, and really good meats. Meatball sub, anyone? It was dreamy and definitely a splurge.

Steak – Ok I did not go to a fancy steakhouse and those were available. I can’t speak to that. However I did stumble across a mid-range steak chain, Jeffer, at a mall somewhere. A steak and baked potato sounded good. And it was…fine. They are a little cagey about whether you’re getting a pork steak or a beef steak and whether is it steak or ground meat. Assume the most expensive if the beef steak you’re after.

Burgers – all that being said, the burgers I had in Thailand were awesome. I tried one with a black charcoal bun, I added an egg. If you’re craving beef, this is a much better option. And yes, one night after drinking, I did try McDonald’s. Go with the fancy burger option. And heads up! The ketchup is a little sweeter than at home. I liked Rock Me Burger and Bar in Chiang Mai. No beer with your burger between 2pm-5pm, sad face.  

Pizza – crab meat and pineapple? I’m good! You can get pizza and you can get it delivered, too. It’s just not the same as home (and not even getting into delicious NY style, I’m saying it’s not even as good as Pizza Hut). The tomato sauce is sweeter, the dough isn’t as good, and the toppings can get weird. However I stumbled across a brick oven pizza place at the beach that I loved! If you’re craving a pie, look for the brick oven. Otherwise, hard pass. The Pizza Company is the Thai equivalent of Domino’s you’ll find all over. Just check out that menu…

Fast food – you will find fast food chains around. I saw a lot of KFC and McDonald’s, some Burger Kings and Dairy Queens. In Bangkok, you’ll find Carl’s Jr, Texas Chicken, Chester Grill, Subway, Pizza Hut, and Domino’s. Food Panda is a great delivery service like GrubHub or Uber Eats, if you’re in a big enough city. If you really want a break from Thai food, I suggest heading to the food court at any large mall or market. You’ll find the most diverse options there.

Some Non-American Western Favorites

Italian pasta – Thais love spaghetti. Again, with a sweeter tomato sauce than we’re used to. But it’s comfort food! You’ll find it on larger Thai restaurant menus. I did not try an official Italian restaurant because I cannot handle heartbreak!

Mexican food – as a California native, Mexican food is my comfort food. My small town did not have any – y’all, I couldn’t even BUY a tortilla! Heart break. So any time I was in a big city, I hunted down tacos like they were made of gold. And as a long-time Southern California resident, we’re very judgy about our Mexican food and this was certainly not quite there. But it was pretty darn good! Not mad at Thai Mexican food. Try Salsa Kitchen in Chiang Mai for pretty legit food. That’s where I went for my birthday dinner and was quite happy.

Indian food – I love Indian food and found it comparable to what I’m used to at home ( I cannot speak to Indian food from India – yet!). But more expensive, relatively speaking. I’d go all the way to the Kalare Night Bazaar Food Court when I wanted a break from Thai food and it was worth the trek. New Delhi in Chiang Mai was also pretty good but nothing came with rice (okay that’s weird!).

Sushi – another California favorite, there were varying degrees of sushi. At the night walking market in Nakhonsawan, there was a cart with sushi ready to go. But it was covered in some sort of mayonnaise sauce and sitting out in the heat, hard pass. However in the fancy Nimmanhaemin Road area of Chiang Mai, there are all sorts of (relatively) expensive restaurants and I had some of the best sushi in my life there at Tengoku on a “treat myself” night. 

Wow, you made it to the end! There is certainly more to learn about Thai food, if you’re into it. I love this Wiki article -scroll down to the subtopics for a *huge* list of Thai food and beverages, where you can hover over the list and see a photo and quick description. It’s a rabbit hole – have fun!