Thai food for beginners? Help needed please.

[Vespa]

Hi all,

 

 

I do enjoy the street food, as I can see what it is! But feel like I'm missing out as eat mostly western food as never sure what to choose, or infact what it is!! Is there help or a youtube channel to help? Or your fav top 5/10 dishes I need to try...

 

 

Thanks.

[gdaf123]

A few of My favs (sorry if my spelling is off):

 

Penang curry

Pad gra prao

Pad prik khing

Pad see ew

Tom yum

[tourasia]

Try some of these mate, it will either make you a local or give you an arse like a blood orange 

 

 

 

• Khao phat nam prik narok; I love the name of this dish – it means ‘rice fried with chili paste from hell’! As you have no doubt guessed, it’s seriously spicy and it’s made by frying rice with a particularly spicy blend of Thai chili paste. Typically, this includes grilled onion and garlic, sugar, fried catfish and fish sauce, alongside chillies.

 

• Tom yam boran; Next up we have a noodle dish – tom yam boran. This is served in a thick sauce which has both spicy and sour notes, and it’s made with a mixture of crushed chillies, vegetables and chopped peanuts.

 

• Kaeng phet; Also known as red curry, kaeng phet contains a mix of coconut milk and fiery red chillies, making it relatively creamy while still packing a punch. There are lots of different versions of red curry, since it can be made with vegetables, tofu or seafood, while variations extras can be added, like Thai basil.

 

• Kaeng khae; Popular in the north of Thailand, this spicy curry doesn’t contain coconut milk, which I think makes the heat even more intense. It can be made with pork, chicken, water buffalo or even frog, and it contains cha-om leaves, which come from a kind of acacia tree.

 

• Neua pad prik; Also known as Thai pepper steak, neua pad prik is seriously hot. It uses oodles of famously hot bird’s eye chili to cover a simple mix of fried beef and shallots, garlic and basil – and the result is an eye-wateringly hot meal that’s famous across Thailand and Indonesia and, thanks to its intense heat, much of the rest of the world!

[Vespa]

Thanks fella's.

[FROST MEDIC999]

Just point or ask at any photos of food you like the look and say MEOW PET they will serve it up not too spicy and if you like it next time you can say NIT NOI PET.

 

Half the time I have not a clue what I am eating but if I see something looks interesting I try it some I like sone I dont.

 

As for the rest I only know thai names which does not help you too much I guess

[insider]

My top 5 that i make at home are:

1. Penang curry with chicken

2. Kang Khiao Wan Gai - Green curry with chicken

3. Massaman curry (milder taste and has potatoes in it) beef is good but i use lamb at home.

4. Som tam - Green papaya salad (made this at home using courgette instead of papaya today as ran out of papaya, not bad)

5. Kang Som Cha-Om Khai - hot and sour curry with acacia omelette

 

Of course you should also try the pad thai, as it's a well known dish and some even say THE national dish.

[pattaya669]

Just point on the food if they have it like that or ask what they have if they not have a menu. Take a risk, it's like with a barfine: you never know what u get until you tried it!

[Douchebag]

I always have the same problem. I sometimes like to ask for a recommendation and let them surprise me. If you have a thai company, ask what she (or he) recommends. Food is by the way always a good conversation with thai people. Many of the street food kitchen only have one meal, so you won't have the problem what to choose.

 

Good to know glossary:

pet = spicey

mai pet = no spicey

pet nid noy = little bit spicey

aroi = taste good

mai aroi = not good

aroi mai = taste good?

im (as in Tim) = I'm full

[mscott]

I downloaded this from Pirate Bay, must confess I haven't read it yet though. Guide to Thai Street Food.

 

http://thepiratebay.com.ua/torrent/7240648/Thai%20Street%20Food%20(gnv64)

[pattaya669]

Try some of these mate, it will either make you a local or give you an arse like a blood orange 

 

 

 

 

• Khao phat nam prik narok; I love the name of this dish – it means ‘rice fried with chili paste from hell’! As you have no doubt guessed, it’s seriously spicy and it’s made by frying rice with a particularly spicy blend of Thai chili paste. Typically, this includes grilled onion and garlic, sugar, fried catfish and fish sauce, alongside chillies.

 

• Tom yam boran; Next up we have a noodle dish – tom yam boran. This is served in a thick sauce which has both spicy and sour notes, and it’s made with a mixture of crushed chillies, vegetables and chopped peanuts.

 

• Kaeng phet; Also known as red curry, kaeng phet contains a mix of coconut milk and fiery red chillies, making it relatively creamy while still packing a punch. There are lots of different versions of red curry, since it can be made with vegetables, tofu or seafood, while variations extras can be added, like Thai basil.

 

• Kaeng khae; Popular in the north of Thailand, this spicy curry doesn’t contain coconut milk, which I think makes the heat even more intense. It can be made with pork, chicken, water buffalo or even frog, and it contains cha-om leaves, which come from a kind of acacia tree.

 

• Neua pad prik; Also known as Thai pepper steak, neua pad prik is seriously hot. It uses oodles of famously hot bird’s eye chili to cover a simple mix of fried beef and shallots, garlic and basil – and the result is an eye-wateringly hot meal that’s famous across Thailand and Indonesia and, thanks to its intense heat, much of the rest of the world!

Was just eating kaeng phet. My Thai gf thought it was too spicy. I like it how it was and perfect in my taste!

[Leon25]

Was just eating kaeng phet. My Thai gf thought it was too spicy. I like it how it was and perfect in my taste!

 

Wow, you must have a serious tolerance to chillies! I couldn't even touch the kind of food my ex TG used to eat.....but she was from Chiang Mai so i know the food is hotter up there.

 

Literally some of the food she ate was like eating a volcano...

[SLEUTH]

Great topic

 

I try to eat local wherever I go and in Thailand tend to go for the curry and rice dishes I sort of identify with back home.

 

I am embarrassed to say that I only tried Thai green curry once and was disappointed...it was a watery afair similar to soup and had all sorts of green crap floating in it little meat and not very appetizing, I wont tell you where I had it as I love the place...but fuck me that was awful, never ordered one since.

[Long Hair]

 

I am embarrassed to say that I only tried Thai green curry once and was disappointed...it was a watery afair similar to soup and had all sorts of green crap floating in it little meat and not very appetizing, I wont tell you where I had it as I love the place...but fuck me that was awful, never ordered one since.

 

Green curry can range from awesome to disgusting. Usually it's pretty good though.

 

Penang curry with pork is my favorite.

Red curry with chicken or beef is also very good.

Pad Ka-pow (stir-fried meat with chili and holy basil) is spicy but good.

All of the above should be accompanied by steamed rice.

Fried rice with chicken and vegetables is pretty standard breakfast/lunch. Tasty and recommended.

Sometimes you'll see people selling boiled peanuts. Try them, they're delicious. Sometimes you'll see people selling fried insects. They're disgusting, but you should try them too just for the experience.

[B-Man]

A few other favorite dishes that have not yet been mentioned are:

 

Gaeng Keow Wan

 

Khao Man Gai

 

Yam Woon Saen

 

Larb Moo

 

Rat Naa

[Luv2Phuket]

I always have the same problem. I sometimes like to ask for a recommendation and let them surprise me. If you have a thai company, ask what she (or he) recommends. Food is by the way always a good conversation with thai people. Many of the street food kitchen only have one meal, so you won't have the problem what to choose.

 

Good to know glossary:

pet = spicey

mai pet = no spicey

pet nid noy = little bit spicey

aroi = taste good

mai aroi = not good

aroi mai = taste good?

im (as in Tim) = I'm full

 

Very helpful -- thanks!

 

I was aware of mai pet and pet nit noi, but the others are good to know

[J1066]

All these savoury/spicey recommnedations are good, but if you want something sweet afterwards then you sometimes find street vendors selling roti with banana and chocolate sauce.  Roti is an Indian style flat bread - bit like a nan bread in UK curry house, they put chopped bananas and sauce on top and sell them for about 40 to 50 bht.  The pronunciation is a bit hard on a non familiar UK ear so it sounds like Lohtea.

A beer bar girl bought me one last year in early part of my trip and I had lots of them afterwards. 

[griffithvoice]

Thats a helpful thread. So how do you know what the cart is selling generally? I've looked and often they dont have a sign/menu up. 

 

I'm another one that ends up eating thai in restaurants because never quite sure how/what to order off the street.

[Shilo]

A little more then just street food.... here is a Youtube channel that I like to watch with a Thai lady friend so we both can understand what's going on.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/RinSilpachai/videos?flow=grid&sort=p&view=0

[jesse99]

Favourites are paneng curry with pork or pad thai with shrimp, usualy combine those with some red curry and sweet and sour pork..

[Buddy Edgewood]

I downloaded this from Pirate Bay, must confess I haven't read it yet though. Guide to Thai Street Food.

 

http://thepiratebay.com.ua/torrent/7240648/Thai%20Street%20Food%20(gnv64)

 

Just an FYI, I'm not sure if it's a false-positive, but Symantec says the (executable) file is infected with the low-grade adware called SAP.Amonetize.1c2.  Carry on if you don't mind targeted advertising.

[mscott]

Just an FYI, I'm not sure if it's a false-positive, but Symantec says the (executable) file is infected with the low-grade adware called SAP.Amonetize.1c2.  Carry on if you don't mind targeted advertising.

Ok, thanks for the heads up. Sorry to put a bad link on the site.

I download lots of books but run a malware clean-up program quite often to tidy up any crap.

[sonny]

http://migrationology.com/2010/03/100-best-thai-dishes-to-eat-in-bangkok-ultimate-eating-guide/

[pattaya669]

Wow, you must have a serious tolerance to chillies! I couldn't even touch the kind of food my ex TG used to eat.....but she was from Chiang Mai so i know the food is hotter up there.

 

Literally some of the food she ate was like eating a volcano...

Haha, yes I have! According your ex from Chiang Mai it's not so spicy food in the north of Thailand. Isaan have spicy dishes and many are used to eat hot food. The Bangkok area is less spicy and south of Thailand have the most spicy dishes. I bought my ex wife a cooking book with south thaidishes. And we cooked together. It's really spicy. She had sometimes hard to eat it as well. And she can eat spicy! My daughter can eat same as me, tho.