Thailand. You come here to see the ocean views, to admire the incredible nature and amazing temples, but you want to stay there because of the hospitality, smiles and absolutely brilliant food. Asian cuisine was a mystery for me as long as I can remember. And I am not even talking about distinguishing between the different national cuisines. All I knew was that there are noodles, spring rolls and sushi. In Thailand, hovewer, I discovered there´s a lot more to it, and that the food is actually much more diverse.
This is probably the most delicious (amd most spicy) curry I have ever had.
I was worried that food in Thailand might be spicy, which would be a big issue for me, because I have zero tolerance towards spicy meals. Even BBQ sauce makes my mouth burn. Lucky for me, Thai people are used to tourists and when they see a white person, they go light on the chilli and spicy sauce. If you want to make sure the food won´t burn a hole in your throat, ask them to make it “no spicy” or “no chilli” – and keep the English as simple as possible. If your food arrives a bit too mild after all, you can always use different chilli flakes and sauces to spice things up, you find a broad variety of them on your table.
The is what dining out in Thailand looks like - old pots, plastic furtniture, no walls. But nevertheless, I still daydream about it. On the table, you usually find plenty of spices and sauces.
Truth be told, I absolutely fell in love with Thai cuisine. First place on my "favourite food list" still belongs to Italian cuisine - I don´t think that is ever goind to change. But Thai food occupies a solid second place. I fell in love not only with the taste of it, but also with the simplicity of the making. It was incredible to watch the most delicious things being created in the craziest conditions – in one big pot, on the street with no running water and refrigerators.
I put together a list of the TOP food we tried. This list might be a bit biased, because we only experienced one region of Thailand (God knows what treats they have in the north). There is no particular order to this list, either.
Pad Thai
What is your national dish? In Thailand, as the name should suggest, it´s Pad Thai. You can try this delicious meal nearly everywhere you go in Thailand, from nice restaurants to shabby street food vendors. But it will always be excellent. The main ingredients are noodles, which get mixed with eggs, tofu, soy sauce and some other yummy staff (they cook it so quickly that I didn´t have a chance to follow everything). Topped with chicken, shrimps (my personal favourite) or vegetarian, you are in for a treat. Pad Thai is served with nuts and a piece of lime or lemon. And the best part is you can get a portion for 2 euros, so there´s nothing stopping you from enjoying Pad Thai every day. Or twice a day?
I had Pad Thai basically every day...
...and I don´t even feel ashamed.
Fresh coconut
I don´t know the situation where you live in the world, but here´s the deal with coconuts in central Europe. I remember being little, and my family buying a coconut from the supermarket for Christmas. It was usually quite expensive but hey, it´s Christmas, right? So, we got this small, old coconut and my dad had to drill a hole in it to get to the coconut water. Sometimes, we even had half a glass, but most of the times it was just enough for each of us to have a sip. This coconut had to be smashed by a hammer to actually reach the insides, and the “pulp” was hard and dry.
But coconuts in Thailand are a whole different story. First of all, they are fresh, and second of all, they are full of coconut water. They are sold all year round and basically on every corner. The vendors use what looks like a machete to cut off the top of the coconut and stick a straw in it. If you have a spoon, you can reach the pulp, which is soft and full of flavour. Sipping on ice cold coconuts is one of my favourite memories of Thailand.
How do y´all pose so pretty with your coconuts?
Exotic fruit and smoothies
Sometimes, while in Thailand, I used to walk through the markets and wonder – is this a bar of soap or a fruit? Yes, sometimes it was soap, but more often than not it was fruit I have never seen before. If you like papaya, mango or passion fruit, this is the place to be. You can either buy it fresh from the market (or supermarket), or you can have it mixed into a fresh drink.
I don´t even know the names of some of the fruits we tried.
Tea quality of smoothies and shakes can vary. Sometimes, we had a smoothie that was artificially sweetened and flavoured with syrup. But if you come across a place where they make the smoothies from nothing but fresh fruit and a bit of ice, stick to that place and go there every chance you get. My body, suffering from the winter deficit of fresh fruit, is still thanking me for the amount of vitamins I received via smoothies and shakes.
My absolute favourite is pitahaya, also known as dragon fruit. It´s good in a shake, it´s good in a fruit salad and it´s good on its own as a quick snack, light breakfast or tasty dessert.
Passion fruit shake (with my eyes "sticking" out from it at the top)
The orange one is from the sweetest mango in the world, and the pink one is made with my dearest dragon fruit. Such a treat!
Mango sticky rice
I know, this sounds super weird, but I swear – it shouldn´t work but it does! I wouldn´t be the first person to put mango and rice on the same plate and call it a dessert, but lucky for all of us, Thai people actually came up with it and it´s incredible. Every time I remember mango sticky rice, I get tears of joy in my eyes.
It´s a traditional dessert, and the name is basically the recipe. The sweet mango (sweeter than anything I tasted in Europe) is paired with sticky rice, which is topped with some black seeds – no idea what they are – and sweet coconut milk. The whole thing is just amazing, delicious and overall the absolute top of the world´s gastronomy. If there were Nobel prices for food, mango sticky rice would definitely get it. The only thing I regret is trying it only once towards the end of our trip.
I can´t believe I actually never taken a picture of my mango sticky rice. In the front there is Martin´s fruit salad, my mango is waiting for me in the back.
But this is kind of what it should look like.
Roti
Let´s talk about desserts a bit more. Roti is something like a pancake or a crepe. They work for breakfast, they work as a light lunch, but most of all they work as a second dinner (the nights are long and I am always hungry, deal with it). Roti are not made from liquid dough like normal pancakes, making them reminds me of making pizza. After it´s done, you can fill it with fresh fruit (mango for the win), chocolate, jam or all of the above. It is served cut into little squares. Is there a better way to end the day? No, didn´t think so.
Really need to do something about the lack of food-pictures I have. Because I usually eat everything before the idea of photos crosses my mind. Anyway, this is roti making station.
Seafood
Lots of people don´t like seafood, but I love it. Octopus, shrimps, fish – I am here for it. Thailand made me very happy, when it welcomed me with wide variety of different fresh seafood to try. And it was very cheap as well. Here´s how it works with street seafood. There are fresh fish and other things lined up in front of you. Without needing to know what is what, you just point to the things you´d like and the cook will prepare it in front of you within a couple of minutes. The only thing that disappointed me a little were little octopi which were made and served as a whole, with their heads (see the picture below). But have I mentioned the giant shrimps on Pad Thais? Sooooo good.
This is how you choose your sea food. See it, want it, point at it, eat it.
Soups
I have never liked soups that much. Must be the school cafeteria training I received as a kid, where soup meant bland tasting water with exactly three noodles and one piece of carrot swimming in it. But Thai soups are nothing like that. They consist of a strong a hearty broth and they are full of different type of noodles, meat, vegetables, sprouts and spices. We tried many kinds of soup, each a bit different and each of them absolutely magnificent. You can opt for a soup instead on a main meal, because they are served in big bowls and can actually fill you up very nicely. And if you are still hungry afterwards, just grab a roti or some fruit drink. Thank me later.
Yes, you can have a full chicken thigh swimming in your soup (at least I hope it´s chicken), together with eggs, nuts and meat balls.
I know I mentioned this soup in my Ayutthaya article, but it was just too heavenly not to include it the second time.
The cost of things (autumn 2019, street food prices in tourist areas)
- Pad Thai: 60-100 THB
- Fresh coconut: depending on the size, but usually around 40-50 THB
- Fresh smoothie: 35-50 THB
- Mango sticky rice: 60-80 THB
- Seafood: shrimps and other smaller things from 20 THB, a full plate can be about 250 THB
- Soups: the prices vary from 40 THB to 120 THB, with the average around 60-70 THB
All things get more expensive, when you reach those ultra touristic areas, such as Phi Phi islands. The cheapest and most authentic food we had was in Bangkok, also the food there was the most diverse.
And I repeat myself - Thailand is a food heaven, so just avoid all those packed sandwiches and fast food chains and really give into the street-food mania.
Where to next?
Check out my other guides and travel experience from Thailand - a complete itinerary and full list of articles is HERE.
Check out my instagram as well - whereisiveta
Next article - All you need to know about renting a scooter in Thailand (coming soon)
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