Cooking oil in Thailand

[Scand]

Does anyone know what kind of cooking oil is normally used in Thailand? Is it peanut oil? I need to find out about this because my daughter is allergic to peanuts and she will be visiting a rural area in Thailand.

[pubstud]

I think it's mostly palm oil they use, it's cheaper than peanut oil.

 

Your daughter will also have to be careful of peanut traces because Thais use peanuts in many dishes, for example sum tum and pat thai.

 

I've read on other forums that tourists with this alergy have it written out in Thai on a piece of card and have it laminated, then show that to the restaurants when ordering.

[Dr.Winston]

Palm oil is saturated fat which can actually be a good thing for cooking. Although saturated fats aren't good for you they can be heated to higher temperatures before their molecular structure changes. Higher quality, unsaturated fats are better for you cold but more susceptible to molecular changes when heated to frying temperatures and can form trans-fatty acids which are worse for you than saturated fats.

 

Upcountry they often use animal fat and I should imagine that vegetable oil is becoming more common in the big cities now.

[7-Eleven]

These laminated cards might help, alternatively it might be cheaper/easier/better to make your own.

[Scand]

These laminated cards might help, alternatively it might be cheaper/easier/better to make your own.

 

This was very helpful – they do indeed have a card for peanut allergy. Thanks much!

[Dr.Winston]

You could print this up แพ้ถั่วลิสงหรือน้ำมันถั่วลิส. I says allergic to peanuts or peanut oil.

[Roo Ted]

Why not go for rice-bran oil. I was at Tops Supermarket the other day and they had some specials.

 

Better for you than many other oils - google.