Nurnia Book

Many Thai dishes are familiar in the West. In many dishes below, different kinds of protein can be chosen as the ingredient, such as beef, chicken, pork, duck, tofu or seafood.

Breakfast dishes

• Jok (Thai: โจ๊ก) – a rather bland rice porridge very commonly eaten in Thailand for breakfast. Similar to the the rice congee eaten in other parts of Asia.
• Khao Tom (Thai: ข้าวต้ม) – a Thai style rice soup, usually with pork.

Individual dishes

Khao Pad (Thai: ข้าวผัด) – One of the most common dishes in Thailand, fried rice, Thai style. Usually with chicken, beef, shrimp, pork, crab or coconut or pineapple, or vegetarian ( jay (Thai: เจ).

Pad Thai (Thai: ผัดไท) – rice noodles pan fried with fish sauce, sugar, lime juice or tamarind pulp, chopped peanuts, and egg combined with chicken, seafood, or tofu.

Rad na (Thai: ราดหน้า) – wide rice noodles in gravy, with beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, or seafood.

Khao pad naem (Thai: ข้าวผัดแหนม) – fried rice with fermented sausage (typically from the Northeast)

Pad see ew (Thai: ผัดซีอิ๊ว) – noodles stir-fried with see ew dum (thick soy sauce) and nahm plah (fish sauce) and pork or chicken.

Pad kee mao (Thai: ผัดขี้เมา) – noodles stir-fried with Thai basil

Khao khluk kapi (Thai: ข้าวคลุกกะปิ) – rice stir-fried with shrimp paste, served with sweeten pork and vegetables.

Khanom chin namya (Thai: ขนมจีนน้ำยา) – round boiled rice noodles topped with various curry sauces and eaten with fresh leaves and vegetables.

Khao soi (Thai: ข้าวซอย) – crispy wheat noodles in sweet chicken curry soup (a Northern dish)

Khao pad gai (Thai: ข้าวผัดไก่) – fried rice with chicken

Kaphrao gai (Thai: กระเพราไก่) – minced chicken in sauce made up of a combination of hot green chilies, garlic, and basil

Gai himaphan (Thai: ไก่หิมพานต์) – juicy chunks of chicken with cashew nuts and chilies

Central Thai shared dishes

• Tom yam (Thai: ต้มยำ) – hot & sour soup with meat. With shrimp it is called Tom yam goong or Tom yam kung (Thai: ต้มยำกุ้ง), with seafood (typically shrimp, squid, fish) Tom yam talae (Thai: ต้มยำทะเล), with chicken Tom yam gai (Thai: ต้มยำไก่).

• Gai Pad Khing (Thai: ไก่ผัดขิง) – chicken stir-fried with sliced ginger.
• Tom kha gai (Thai: ต้มข่าไก่) – hot sweet soup with chicken and coconut milk.
• Saté (Thai: สะเต๊ะ) – grilled meat, usually pork or chicken, served with cucumber salad and peanut sauce (actually of Indonesian origin, but now a popular street food in Thailand).
• Red curry (Gaeng Phet lit. ‘hot curry’, Thai: แกงเผ็ด) – made with copious amounts of dried red chillies
• Green curry (Gaeng khiew-waan, Thai: แกงเขียวหวาน) – green curry, made with fresh green chillies and flavoured with Thai basil, and chicken or fish meatballs. This dish is one of the spiciest of Thai curries.
• Massaman curry (Thai: แกงมัสมั่น) – an Indian style curry, usually made by Thai-Muslims, containing roasted dried spices, such as coriander seed, that are rarely found in other Thai curries.
• Pad prik (Thai: ผัดพริก) – usually beef stir fried with chili, called Neua pad prik (Thai: เนื้อผัดพริก)
• Pad kaphrao (Thai: ผัดกะเพรา) – beef, pork or chicken stir fried with Thai Holy basil.
• Pad pak ruam (Thai: ผัดผักรวม) – stir fried combination of vegetables depending on availability and preference.
• Panaeng (Thai: พะแนง) – dry curry with beef (Panang beef, Thai: พะแนงเนื้อ), chicken, or pork. It includes some roasted dried spices similar to Massaman curry.
• Tod man (Thai: ทอดมัน) – deep fried fishcake made from knifefish (Tod man pla krai, Thai: ทอดมันปลากราย) or shrimp (Tod man kung, Thai: ทอดมันกุ้ง)
• Boo Jah (Thai: ปูจ๋า) – crab cakes with pork, garlic, and pepper served with a simple spicy sauce, such as Sri Rachaa sauce, sweet-hot garlic sauce, nahm prik pao (roasted chili paste), or red curry paste and chopped green onions.
• Choo-Chee Plah Ga-Pong (Thai: ฉู่ฉี่ปลากระพง) – snapper in choo-chee curry sauce (thick red curry sauce)

Northeastern shared dishes

Som tam (Thai: ส้มตำ) grated papaya salad, pounded with a mortar and pestle. There are three main variations: Som tam poo (Thai: ส้มตำปู) with salted black crab, and Som tam Thai (Thai: ส้มตำไทย) with peanuts, dried shrimp and palm sugar and Som tam plara (Thai: ส้มตำปลาร้า) from north eastern part of Thailand (Isan), with salted gourami fish, white eggplants, fish sauce and long bean.

Larb (Thai: ลาบ) – sour salads containing meat, onions, chillies, roasted rice powder and garnished with mint.

Nam Tok (Thai: น้ำตก) – made with beef and identical to larb, except that the beef is cut into thin strips rather than minced.

Yam (Thai: ยำ) – general name for any type of sour salad, such as those made with glass noodles (Yam Wun Sen, Thai: ยำวุ้นเส้น), or with seafood (Yam Talae, Thai: ยำทะเล).

Tom saep (Thai: ต้มแซบ) – Northeastern-style hot & sour soup

Gai yang (Thai: ไก่ย่าง) – marinated, grilled chicken

Sticky rice (Thai: ข้าวเหนียว)

Nam prik num (Thai: น้ำพริกหนุ่ม) – dipping sauce made from roasted eggplant, green chillies, and garlic grounded together in a mortar and pestle.

Desserts and drinks

• Kao niao ma muang (Thai: ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง) – Sticky rice and ripe mango
• Kao niao Durian (Thai: ข้าวเหนียวทุเรียน) – Sticky rice and durian in coconut milk
• Gluay buad chee (Thai: กล้วยบวชชี)- Banana in coconut milk
• Foi Tong (Thai: ฝอยทอง), Tong yib (Thai: ทองหยิบ), Tong yod (Thai: ทองหยอด) – Different forms of egg yolk mixed with sugar and other ingredients. Some believe this is European in origin.
• Kanome Maw Gaeng (Thai: ขนมหม้อแกง) – sweet potato pudding
• Fried Banana with Ice Cream
• Cha Yen (Thai: ชาเย็น) – Thai Iced Tea
• Kah-Feh Yen (Thai: กาแฟเย็น) – Thai Iced Coffee

Coconut is a main ingredient in desserts, in particular the milk and the shredded coconut pieces. The coconut milk is used in a lot of dishes as the soup or base and some of the desserts are rolled in shredded coconut for taste and look. These are some of the desserts that contain coconut:

• Lod Chong Nam Ka Ti – Pandan flavored rice flour noodles in coconut milk
• Kanom Tan – Palm flavored mini cake with shredded coconut on top
• Ruam Mit – Chestnuts covered in flour, jackfruit, tapioca, and Lod Chong in coconut milk
• Kanom Chun – multi-layers of pandan-flavored sticky rice flour mixed with coconut milk
• Kanom Bua Loy – taro root mixed with flour into balls in coconut milk

Variations

Throughout the country there are many interpretations and variations on these common dishes. Other dishes from the northern part of Thailand include unique sauces and exotic foods, such as raw beef, fermented fish paste, and deep fried insect larvae (also enjoyed in the Northeast). The culinary creativity even extends to naming: one tasty larva translates as “freight train” (rot duan ; Thai: รถด่วน) and the smallest, hottest chillies are known as phrik khii nuu (Thai: พริกขี้หนู), literally “mouse shit chillies”. In the Northeast, eating insects is common, and the giant water bug (mang dah; Thai: แมงดา) is popular.The dish nam prik pla too (Thai: น้ำพริกปลาทู) is particularly common in central Thailand because of its low cost. It consists of deep fried Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta (pla too) served with a shrimp-and-chilli paste (nam prik kapi). The fish are traditionally presented in pairs, placed head-to-tail on a round bamboo dish.

References