The most delicious dishes in Thailand. Thai cuisine: which national dishes are worth trying

Its distinctive feature is the use of a huge amount of spices, so most of the treats originally from Thailand are spicy and fiery. The basis of Thai cooking is rice. Classic fish sauce, meat, vegetables, and herbs are added to it. Tom yum soup is famous all over the world; there are at least several dozen variations of its preparation. Thais use exotic ingredients to prepare their national dishes: coconut milk, galangal, avocado, lemon grass, tamarind paste, soybean sprouts.

The five most commonly used ingredients in recipes are:

They combine sweet, salty, sour, spicy, leaving an unusual aftertaste. Thais cannot do without rice or egg noodles, which are served with fried peanuts or nut sauce, boiled or steamed seafood, local vegetables and fruits. Do you want to organize an evening of specific Asian cooking and surprise your family? Use proven recipes that taste amazing. But whether you should try Thai snacks made from dried cockroaches, flies, locusts, and scorpions is a big question.

Thai cuisine is rapidly gaining popularity all over the world. Unusual dishes, exquisite appearance, delicate balance of flavors - this is what distinguishes the dishes of this amazing country.

The recipes for some dishes amaze gourmets with their exoticism and unusual combination.

Surrounded by countries with rich cuisines, Thailand has adopted many of their cooking methods. Borrowing recipes and improving them to suit one’s own tastes allowed it to soon become a country whose dishes all gourmets want to try.

Many of the types of Thai dishes are influenced by Chinese, Japanese and, believe it or not, European cuisine. Back in the 17th century, Portuguese missionaries brought chili peppers to this country. Since then, chili has become one of the most commonly used spices in Thai cooking.

Main Products

1. Fig. The main Asian agricultural crop, it is the basis for most dishes.

Recipes include the use of only two types of this grain: white fluffy rice and glutinous rice. As a side dish, the first type is eaten with a spoon, into which the rice is placed with a fork. And from the second they roll small balls, which are completely stuffed into the mouth.

Rice is the main component of many dishes.

Sweet and sour rice, stir-fry with rice and spices, liquid rice soup - this is only a small part of what is prepared from this product.

2. Noodles and pasta. It is not difficult to guess that the popularity of noodles came to Thailand from China. But in this country, noodles have turned from a side dish into a completely independent dish.

3. Meat. Many Thai recipes include meat. But because of its high cost, residents of this country do not eat such dishes very often. The most popular are duck and chicken meat.

4. Seafood. Thailand is a country with access to the sea. It is not surprising that this has influenced the cuisine of this country. Seafood is the main product after rice in the Thai diet.

5. Sauces. Sweet, sour, spicy - they can add a new taste to any dish. The chefs of this country know the recipes for hundreds of original sauces. The most original salad here is seasoned with fermented fish sauce, vegetables and rice - khao yam.

6. Seasonings. The leader among the seasonings of Thai cuisine is yellow curry. Incredibly spicy, it has gained incredible popularity in this country and is the basis for many sauces. The abundance of spices and herbs is a characteristic feature of the dishes of this country.

7. Vegetables and fruits. Thailand's tropical climate has blessed it with a huge variety of incredible fruits. There are more than 20 types of bananas alone.

In addition to all the famous pineapples, eggplants, papaya, exotic fruits such as lychee, guava, durian, tangerini, sapodilla, mangosteen, rambutan and others grow here.

Fruits of Thailand.

A European will be able to try most of these species only upon arrival in this hospitable country. The peculiarity of the Thais is that they prefer to eat fruits as part of some dishes rather than as a separate product.

Principles of Thai cuisine

An interesting feature of Thai cuisine is that recipes are not always clear cut. Even professional chefs often cook by eye. Thais consider the main secret of a delicious dish to be the perfect balance between five tastes: sour, bitter, salty, spicy and sweet.

A variety of seasonings and sauces are used to give a specific flavor to a dish. For example, chili or curry will make the dish incredibly spicy, bitter cucumber will make the food taste bitter, and sugar cane or ripe pineapple will add sweetness.

Lemon and lime are used to add sourness to the taste.

Thais prefer small portions, but eat often. Therefore, you should not be surprised if it seems to you that the waiter brought too little food on your plate. The use of knives is not common in Thailand. Thais prefer dishes where all food is cut into small pieces.

Thais prefer dishes where all food is cut into small pieces.

At the end of the meal there is fruit. There are many types of drinks in Thailand, but the most common is naam yen, plain cold water without any flavoring.

Cooking features

Speed ​​of cooking is a characteristic feature of Thai cuisine.

The Thai wok, a special utensil for frying over an open fire, has gained great popularity. Thick walls and a special shape speed up the cooking process significantly compared to a frying pan. The cook needs no more than 5 minutes to fry the vegetables until done.

Thai wok is a special utensil for frying over an open fire.

Vegetables are often fried for salad, which surprises many Europeans.

Serving the dish

Thai cuisine is distinguished by the exquisite type of food served. Not a single respected chef will bring a dish that is not beautifully served. An interesting presentation, sculptures of vegetables, and decoration with herbs allow you to enjoy not only the taste sensations, but also the aesthetics of the dish.

Dish of Thai cuisine.

A salad will always surprise you with its neat arrangement of vegetables, and a meat dish with additional serving elements.

Main dishes of Thai cuisine

There are hundreds of Thai recipes. And in order to try these delicious dishes, you should definitely visit this wonderful country. Yes, many restaurants of this cuisine are opening in the world, which give their customers a chance to get acquainted with the cuisine of Thailand.

But they can offer you to try only a couple of dozen dishes. True gourmets should visit this country and enjoy exotic dishes.

Salad is an integral part of the Thai diet. Their recipes surprise them with their simplicity and ease of execution. The most popular salad in the country is Som Tam. More than 10 ingredients are included in its composition. These include peanuts, fish sauce, sugar cane paste, and much more.

An unforgettable taste, a balance of simultaneous sour, salty, sweet and spicy, brought this salad to the pinnacle of Thai culinary excellence.

A salad with the curious name “Morning Glory” or Pad Pak Bung Fai Daeng intrigues many. A mixture of vegetables, basil, herbs and impomea is fried in oyster sauce, with a clove of garlic and a small amount of chili.

Morning Glory Salad is served hot.

No less famous is the Tom Yum Kung soup. Its peculiarity is that all ingredients are prepared in coconut milk. Shrimp, tomatoes, mushrooms, kolgan, a little lemongrass and a couple of lime leaves - that's all it needs. The dish is served either with or without coconut milk. Therefore, there are two types of this dish: Nam Kom and Nam Sai.

Thai recipes include hundreds of meat dishes. But the main one is Panang Gai. Chicken fried in the Thai favorite curry and served in coconut cream is loved by many fans of Thai cuisine. The spiciness of the dish is refreshed by lemongrass leaves.

The unusual balance of sour and spicy sets Panang Gai apart from other dishes.

It is also worth noting:

• Po Pia Sod - buns with sausage, omelette and vegetable salad.
• Mi Krop or "Crispy Noodles" - well-fried pasta with sweet and sour sauce.
• Yum Nua - grilled meat, cucumber, onion with pepper and lime juice.
• Larb Gai - chicken with chopped onions, lime juice and pepper.
• Pad Thai - rice noodles in a special sauce, eggs, shrimp, bean sprouts and green onions.

For dessert, Thais prefer to eat jelly or fruit pudding. Pancakes with banana are a favorite delicacy of many. Of course, this is just a small list of dishes that you can try in Thailand.

To visit Thailand and not try the national food means to return there again. It’s not for nothing that most hotels offer breakfast as a meal option.
It is almost impossible to remain hungry in the land of a thousand smiles. A variety of dishes that you simply cannot find in your homeland, incredible spices and amazing seafood await tourists at every turn.

Three advantages of Southeast Asian cuisine:
1. Taste
2. Price
3. Exotic.

The best Thai dishes

Massaman curry

An Asian version of everyone's favorite goulash. You can start getting acquainted with Thai cuisine with it, since the amount of spices per serving is not particularly large. Massaman curry is meat fried with onions in a sauce made from coconut milk and curry paste. Served with potatoes or rice.
Cost: from 80 baht (≈ or )

Tom Yum Kung
The “calling card” of the country is coconut milk soup, which has a huge number of variations. The most common recipe includes shrimp, fish (or chicken) stock, shiitake mushrooms, lime or lemongrass, and Tom Yum paste. Each cook complements the dish with ingredients according to his own taste: these can be tomatoes, rice, galangal, ginger, seafood.
Cost: from 60 baht (≈ or ).

Som Tam
A spicy salad that can be prepared quickly, is inexpensive, and will be remembered forever. For Thais, green papaya is not a fruit, but a full-fledged vegetable, which serves as the main ingredient for Som Tam. Papaya cut into strips is mixed with chili and garlic, tomatoes, green beans, nuts and shrimp (or crab meat) are added and sprinkled with lemon juice.
Cost: from 30 baht (≈ or )

Fish Plah Plow
Grilled fish seasoned with all sorts of aromatic spices and herbs with a crispy, salty crust. Plah Plow can be served separately, or can come with a side dish of rice or vegetables. A popular dinner option for both tourists and locals.
Cost: from 90 baht (≈ or ).

Rice Khao Phat
Khau Phat is prepared extremely simply from whatever comes to hand. Boiled rice is fried with meat or seafood, vegetables, spices, and sometimes an egg are added - and the dish is served to the table, decorated with fruits and herbs. It is important that the rice is not slightly heated in a frying pan, but fried. To add juiciness, it can be sprinkled with lime juice.

Khao Man kai, Khao Man Gai
Boiled “fatty” rice with chicken. One of the few dishes that will suit the most delicate stomach. The chicken is cooked separately, and then rice is cooked in its broth. Sometimes an already cooked dish can be poured with broth or served in a separate bowl, adding a little winter melon. Served with a mixture of soy and bean sauces, seasoned with garlic, ginger and chili.
Cost: from 40 baht (≈ or ).

Khao Pad
Rice is fried with chicken, and during the cooking process all kinds of vegetables and seafood are mixed in. Soy or fish sauce is served separately, or, at the client’s request, it can be poured over the finished dish. For those who prefer non-spicy food, it is better to refrain from experimenting with sauce.
Cost: from 40 baht (≈ or ).

Yams Nua
A spicy salad that will quickly satiate a tired traveler. The main ingredients are beef, onions and tomatoes. But the brightness of the dish is given by the abundance of spices, including: mint, coriander, lime and, of course, hot chili. If you want to try Yam Nua, but don’t like it spicy, just ask the waiter to add less chili (or remove this ingredient altogether).
Cost: from 40 baht. (≈ or )

Geng Deng
The harmony of sour and sweet typical of Thai cuisine is Geng Dang red curry. Tender meat is cooked with plenty of curry in coconut milk. It is supplemented with kaffir lime leaves. It is noteworthy that relatively recently Geng Deng was not in particular demand among tourists, but with each new season its popularity increases.


Pancakes Roti
You should definitely try them and bring this gastronomic experience home. The dough is rolled out into a thin pancake and placed in a frying pan. The filling (usually bananas) is placed inside, the pancake is wrapped in an envelope and fried on both sides. The envelopes are topped with chocolate, condensed milk or another topper.

Video of making pancakes with a makashnik:

What to try in Thailand

It is not customary for Thais to cook at home. There are several reasons for this: expensive gas, a large number of street cafes and mobile food stalls, lack of time. Therefore, at any time of the day or night, you can eat cheap and tasty national dishes here or go to a European restaurant.
The most profitable way to satisfy your hunger is to buy food from a mobile tray. The tiles and workspace are attached to a motorcycle or cart, and the kitchen on wheels is sent to cruise the city streets. This structure is called a makashnitsa and is in demand both among the “farangs” and the indigenous population. Everyone who has visited the kingdom probably has photographs of this engineering miracle.

From the makashnitsa you can buy a hot dish, or you can refresh yourself with light snacks, of which there are a great variety of options in Asian countries. These include kebabs on a stick, amazing seafood prepared in various ways, sweets with fruit, and even exotic insects. Food in makashnitsa is safe because it is cooked right before your eyes, and the abundance of hot spices not only gives a colorful taste and aroma, but also helps the dish maintain its freshness. Often in makashnitsa you can find something that is not served in a regular restaurant, and you will pay pennies for it.

“Hits” of makashniks:

• seafood or meat skewers
• Kanom Jin (rice noodles with meat or fish and vegetables)
• Luk Chin (boiled meatballs and sausages, grilled and served with Nama Jin sauce)
• Hau Mok (crab or fish mousse with curry sauce or coconut milk; served wrapped in banana leaves)
• Hokkien noodles (noodles stir-fried with seafood, fish or bacon).

Thai sweets deserve special admiration, which even in the photo look like you really want to try them. Add to this a fantastic aroma and attractive prices - and your beach holiday will turn into a gastronomic tour.

Thai sweets

Kuay Tod
Bananas coated in flour, sugar and sesame are grilled and sold by weight. Sweet, fatty and, of course, high in calories.

Khao Tom Mood
Envelopes of banana leaves with sweet rice, tied with stems or pinned with toothpicks. Outwardly, they are very similar to the package that Mei received as a gift from the forest troll in the Japanese anime “My Neighbor Totoro.”
Cost: from 10 baht (≈ or ).
Khao Niao Mamuang
Sweet pilaf with mango. Rice is boiled in coconut milk and pieces of the aromatic fruit are added to it. The rice may be colored, and the kind vendors sometimes give you a little coconut sauce as a gift.
Cost: from 30 baht (≈ or ).

Roti Sai Mai
Multi-colored threads made from cane sugar are the Thai analogue of domestic cotton candy. They are sold in bags, but it is customary to eat them after wrapping them in thin roti pancakes.
Cost: from 20 baht (≈ or ).
Kanom Tarn
Yellow pies mixed with rice flour and coconut milk.
Cost: from 20 baht (≈ or ) for three pies.
Tong Yord
Egg yolk boiled in sugar syrup. Small balls are formed from the sweet mass and sold in bags of several pieces.
Cost: from 20 baht (≈ or ).
When you're going to eat, take a look at street cafes and mobile food trucks: this way you can save money and try more amazing flavors. Objectively assess your body’s capabilities and don’t forget to add “No Spicy” when you see chili peppers in the hands of the cook.

Getting hooked on Thai cuisine may require as little as one or two tastes of dishes flavored with galangal, cardamom, lemongrass, coconut milk and chili pepper. Their taste and smell have such a strong effect on the brain's pleasure center that the desire to please the receptors of the tongue and nose once again with something similar will periodically arise against one's will. Thai dishes will appeal to both inveterate meat-eaters and vegetarians, because almost each of them has a double. According to one of the recipes, the list of ingredients may include pork, chicken, seafood, in another - only components of plant origin. Many Thai dishes can be enjoyed at attractive prices from mobile carts called .

The most famous and popular Thai dish Tom Yam, to which the epithet “sour” is usually added, although it is both sweet and salty, and, traditionally, very spicy. It is very thick, almost everything in the house is put in it. In coastal areas, for example, shrimp, and in villages in the north - mushrooms. Mandatory ingredients are tomatoes, lime leaves, galangal. The basis of Tom Yum soup is coconut milk; in the “basic” version, “Nam Sai” is added to its name. But if the recipe also includes coconut cream (something similar to our sour cream), then “Nam Kon”. This soup has more calories, and the sourness in it is less pronounced.

2

Second most popular dish Thai cuisine Kung Som. At its core, it is a light vegetable soup prepared in meat broth. The taste is traditional for Thailand - it combines sour, sweet and spicy. Main ingredients: stewed cabbage, carrots, green beans. There is a recipe where omelette and acacia leaves are added to this soup. Then “Cha Om Kai” is added to the name. This soup is served with fresh herbs and the obligatory chili pepper.

3

Rice for Thais, like all residents of Southeast Asia, is the basis of the diet. Therefore, recipes Thai rice dishes I can’t count it – one of my favorites. Rice noodles, quite large in size, which are fried with shrimp, along the way adding everything that is edible at home. For example: tofu, bean sprouts, green onions... The dish is seasoned with lemon juice, fish sauce, and pepper is traditionally added to it. The finished noodles are poured with egg. The result is a kind of casserole. Depending on the degree of readiness of the egg, it can be thick, semi-liquid or chunky. It is topped with lime juice, vinegar, and some gourmets add granulated sugar.

4

Panang Gai - favorite Thai chicken dish, cooked in red curry sauce and topped with whipped coconut milk cream, which enhances the flavor sensation. To stimulate appetite and suppress the feeling of fullness, serve with finely chopped lemongrass leaves.

5

A Thai scrambled egg called Gai Pad Pongali, which contains chicken, onions and tomatoes. It differs from the European one, consisting of bacon and tomatoes, with a killer portion of spices. Yellow curry paste and finely chopped parsley are used, which is generously sprinkled on Thai scrambled eggs. In general, many people eat this dish in the morning, but have absolutely no idea that it is Thai.

6

Very delicious Thai dish It is popular mainly among tourists, since meat is not very common in the Thai diet, and also because each chef can cook it in his own way. For example, use meat in pieces or minced meat. The types of spices used also vary. The main ingredients are meat, garlic, basil and chili pepper. There are recipes that allow deviations from the canons and the use of chicken or fish fillet. It is prepared using the “stir-fry” technology – quick frying in hot oil.

7

The main ingredients of green, yellow and red curry are: green chilies, lime leaves, lemongrass, basil, shrimp paste, coconut milk. Changes color depending on the recipe. The hottest and hottest is green curry, a little milder is red, and yellow curry is tolerated almost calmly by Europeans. Basic seasoning for rice.

8

Kung Massaman is a Thai sauce that falls out of a fiery sweet and sour symphony of flavors. It is sweet and moderately spicy. The base includes yellow curry with coconut milk, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg. Originates from the southern provinces of Thailand, bordering Malaysia, and is considered a halal dish. Served with boiled potatoes and meat (beef), poultry, tofu mushrooms.

9

Keo Wan - one of the national dishes of Thailand is prepared based on green curry paste. Additional ingredients are: bamboo shoots, eggplant, basil, galangal, lemongrass leaves. Serve thick with rice and boiled chicken.

10

The most famous and equally unusual salad in Thailand. Firstly, the ingredients for it are not cut, but pounded in a mortar. Secondly, it is often added to fermented fish sauce, known in Vietnam as Nuoc Nam - spicy and fragrant, a real test for European stomachs. For cooking, use: chili pepper, garlic, tamarind juice, tomatoes, lime juice, cane paste (sugar), beans, green papaya, crab meat or shrimp.

As you can see, Thai dishes They are very appetizing and attractive, but if you decide to taste all the delights of Southeast Asian cuisine, then first assess the health of your stomach and start with small portions. Bon appetit!

You may like Thai cuisine or not, but it does not leave anyone indifferent. If you are preparing for a trip to Thailand, then you will need a list of the 10 most delicious Thai dishes that are definitely worth trying.
Thai cuisine is hot, spicy, sweet, salty, sour and all at the same time. But the combination of flavors in 10 popular Thai dishes should appeal to everyone.
Even if you’ve already been to Thailand a hundred times and know the local cuisine inside and out, it’s always nice to be nostalgic, right?

The most popular Thai dishes

Let me start with the fact that, contrary to general opinion, in Thai cuisine there are many dishes that are not spicy at all and those that even small children can easily eat.
Yes, Thais love spicy food; it seems to me that their taste buds are different from European ones.

If you are just getting acquainted with Thai cuisine and you can’t eat spicy food or you are simply afraid of it, just tell the waiter or cook “Mai Phet”. Or at least – “But spicy.”
Keep in mind that in 99% of cases, if you ask for a little bit (nit noi), they will bring it to you like ordinary Thais. Spicy from the heart.

The most popular dish of Thai cuisine is not Tom Yam. Thais generally eat it quite rarely; although it is a cult soup, it is more for tourists. Although its popularity does not negate the fact that it is damn tasty, especially if you order it in the right place.

About Thai food and Thais

To understand how Thais feel about food, it is worth knowing that the verb “to eat” in Thailand (Kin Khao) literally means to eat rice.
Thais always eat. All day. If they are not eating, they are talking about food or discussing food with friends.
And as a greeting you may be asked “Kin Khaw”, which literally means “have you eaten rice?”, but in reality - how are you? And it does not require an answer to this rhetorical question.

Breakfast in Thailand starts early. At 5:30-6 in the morning, makashniks are already in full swing plying the streets of cities and towns and Thai people go out for a morning snack. At the same time, monks walk by and collect alms.

Breakfast can be anything. From doshirak noodles “Mama” to fried chicken. But most often “Jock”. This is rice boiled into porridge with meat balls.

At 12 – lunch. If you suddenly need something from the Thais from 12 to 13, forget it. Workers of offices, shops, offices go out for lunch. If you can’t leave, they eat all this hot, fragrant food right at the workplace, accompanying the matter with conversations.

Dinner is at 19-20 pm. The makashnitsa workers have all their tables occupied. Office clerks, taxi drivers, moths, students - everyone goes to dinner.

It is not customary to cook at home. And for what? The street is full of delicious and inexpensive food. Useful? This is a complex topic. Thai food, by the way, is quite high in calories and is not about “healthy lifestyle” at all.
Although many Europeans here are losing weight, because it’s hot, they want to eat less, more fruits and vegetables, fiber, fiber. So whether you eat healthy or unhealthy Thai food depends only on you.

Not spicy Thai dishes

I’ll probably start with the fact that everyone can eat without fear and immediately upon arrival. We will talk about non-spicy Thai dishes with rice and chicken, which even a child can eat.

Gai Yang +Khao Niyao – Grilled chicken with sticky rice

Well, it’s impossible to describe this on an empty stomach. Now I’ll finish writing and run outside to my beloved grandmother, who sells this most delicious version of Gai Yang Khao-Niyao near her house.

Grilled chicken leg, specially marinated and chopped into pieces, plus sticky rice in a bag, what could be tastier???
I love this Thai dish for its simplicity and incredible taste. No two recipes are the same. There can be 5 chicken and rice bowls in a row and everyone will have completely different options. So to find yours, you need to try.

How to find? Easily. Literally on any street you will find a makashnitsa (a mobile kitchen on a moped) with a grill on which are ready-made fried chicken legs. You come up, say hello, choose your piece and the seller immediately warms it up for you and chops it into pieces. Rice is not suitable a priori, so don’t forget to say – now khao niyao kap.

Price: 50 baht for chicken leg + 10 baht for a bag of rice

They eat chicken and rice with their hands, dipping all this deliciousness in sweet or spicy sauce

Khao Tom – Rice soup with meatballs

If it’s time for your child to have lunch, and you are a supporter of having soup for lunch, then there is a way out. In Thailand, you can order him Khao Tom soup.

In general, in Thailand, Khao Tom is most often eaten for breakfast, but it is also served for lunch and is on the menu of many cafes.

Khao Tom soup includes jasmine rice cooked in meat broth. Eggs, green onions, shallots, meat, lemongrass and a little ginger.
Most often you will have pork meatballs floating in the soup. Sometimes - chicken.

Issue price – 50-60 baht

Khao Pad Gai/Kung – Chicken fried rice or shrimp

Khao pad is fried rice, the basis of Thai cuisine. Popular with both Thais and tourists. Classic.
If you don’t know what to eat, always take khao pad, you can’t go wrong.
It is almost impossible to spoil it, it is always filling and tasty.

You can find khao pad anywhere from the top of your head to a cool restaurant.

Khao Pad Gai is prepared like this: boiled rice is fried along with eggs, herbs and onions, meat is added and served.

You can order Khao Pad Kung, then you will get rice with shrimp. There is also Khao Pad Moo - fried rice with pork.

Served with a wedge of lime, which is usually squeezed onto the rice to improve the taste.

Children eat Khao Pad with pleasure, and so do adults.

Issue price – from 40 baht

Fish in salt – Pla Pao – grilled fish in salt with lemongrass

You've probably seen and eaten this grilled fish in salt a hundred times, but you didn't know what it was called. Or maybe you haven’t eaten or seen it, then I highly recommend that you buy it and try it.

Pla Pao is a win-win option even for those who don’t really like fish.

Fish in salt is a great dinner. Nourishing, healthy and not high in calories at all.

It is prepared like this: peeled perch is “stuffed” with lemongrass, coated with coarse salt and baked over coals. The fish is cut in front of you, and in order to feel all the taste and aroma, you need to break off the soft, juicy white pieces of fish from the inside and dip them alternately - either in the sauce that is served with the fish, or in pieces of sea salt, which remains on its crispy skin.

The asking price is from 80 baht. During the high tourist season, the average price is 100-160 baht, depending on the size of the fish.

There are few bones in this fish and they are large and can be easily removed. But still, be careful if you give it to children, sort through each piece.

Pad Krapao Mu Kai Dao – Rice with fried pork, basil and fried egg

I love it, I'm crazy about Pad Krapao. If I want “something Thai”, then the right thing to do is go and buy Pad Krapao.

This simple dish combines everything that Thais love - spicy, spicy, fresh, fragrant, unusual and satisfying.

Plain unleavened rice served with minced fried pork and basil. Before ordering, be sure to mention what you need - Kai Dao, that is, with scrambled eggs on top. Without it it won't be the same.

The melting yolk of the egg should envelop the rice and minced meat, shading the basil and removing the heat of the chili.

You can, of course, ask to make it not spicy, but this will disrupt and ruin everything. Pad krapao should be eaten spicy. That's the whole point of it.

Issue price – from 50 baht

Yam won sen – Spicy glass noodles

And here is a dietary product for you. Yam Woon Sen uses thin glass noodles, garlic, dry shrimp, peanuts, onions, lime, Chinese celery and chili. The taste is spicy, with sourness.
Very often it is made with boiled shrimp.

In general, Thais are not good at salads. The fingers of one hand are enough to list their “strong” salads.
Neither in cool restaurants, nor in seedy cafes, Thais know how to make salads close to European ones. For example, “Caesar” salad, or “Greek”, or even the most common one – “Vegetable”.
Their vegetable salad will look like this: coarsely chopped pieces of cabbage and onions, a couple of tomatoes and cucumbers + sweet mayonnaise. It's impossible to eat.

At the same time, variations of the Yam salad are tasty and surprising. But keep in mind, it only looks simple, but it’s easy to mess up. So if you don’t like it the first time, it’s possible that they simply didn’t taste good.

Issue price – from 60 baht

Som Tam – Green Papaya Salad

Som Tam came to central Thailand from the country's poorest region, Isan. Thais love Som Tam. It goes as an appetizer to the main course and as an independent product.

It’s done like this: pieces of green papaya cut into strips are pounded in a mortar, along with chili peppers, green beans, cherry tomatoes, garlic, dry shrimp and peanuts. Add lime, cane sugar, fish sauce.

Tip: if you want it spicy, ask for 2 chili peppers. Medium sharpness -1. Not spicy at all - zero.
I don’t like dried shrimp, they’re kind of weird, so please don’t add them either.

Som Tam is a must try, as along with Tom Yum it is the hallmark of Thai cuisine.

Easy to find. If you see a pestle and mortar on a coffee table or in a cafe, then there is definitely catfish there.

They also make catfish from green mango. In my opinion, this option is even tastier than Papaya.

The asking price is from 50 baht.

There are dishes whose prices are established and fixed throughout the country. So the price of Som Tam on the street is usually 50 baht. This is the simplest option, only made from vegetables, but that’s what we need.
If you buy catfish there with crabs, for example, it will cost 100 baht. But crabs are just a name and a shell, so I don’t recommend it.

In a cafe, som there can cost whatever you want, of course.

Tom Yum Kung – spicy shrimp soup

I don’t know what else to write about Tom Yam, you probably all ate it and admired it. Tom Yam is the most popular dish among visitors.

Surprisingly, Tom Yum is made from scratch before serving. No broth, preparations.
Vegetables and herbs, tom yam paste, shrimp and, at the very end, coconut cream are thrown into boiling water. It may be spicy or not at all. Ask for no chili if you don't want it spicy.

Lyuli are usually divided into two camps. Those who are in the “more cream” camp, and those who love without it at all.
There is no right or wrong; each version has the right to exist.

Makashnits also sell Tom Yam. For example, one of the most delicious ones is sold by a grandmother opposite the Wat Bun market. It's open in the evening, so if you want something hot at 11 pm, you know where to find it.

The asking price is from 80 baht. Most often, the price of soup in a cafe is from 120 to 160 baht.

Khao Niyao Mamuang – Mango Sticky Rice

Thailand's most famous dessert. Ice cream and even cosmetics are made with its taste.

Usually, sellers of this dessert enlighten the whole place about it, and if you see beautiful mangoes hanging above the seller’s head, it’s definitely Khao Niyao.

Inexperienced tourists are surprised by the price. Why so expensive??? In tourist places, rice with mango can cost 120-150 baht. On the market 70-80.

The fact is that the rice is cooked for a long time and in a special way, in coconut milk, the syrup is boiled down.

It is served like this: sticky rice in syrup is placed on a plate and mango cut into strips is placed on top. Drizzle with sauce, or just like that.

For those who love sweets and something unusual, this is the place to come. My kids love this dessert, but I don’t understand it at all. I find it both weird and too sweet. And I’m not yet ready to combine rice with fruit.

Pad Thai – fried wide noodles with shrimp

Another popular and mild Thai dish.

Pad Thai is a classic of the genre. Wide noodles are fried in tamarind sauce, onion, egg, dry shrimp, boiled shrimp are added and sprinkled with fresh bean sprouts and peanuts.

Tasty, filling, you have to try it. Sometimes, careless cooks serve some kind of sticky noodle mass instead of pad thai. So it shouldn't be like this.

Price – from 60 baht

Bottom line

I hope that you, like me, wanted something tasty and this article has whetted your appetite and desire to come to Thailand as soon as possible.
If you’re not going to Thailand soon, you can easily cook something Thai yourself. It requires basic ingredients like rice, fish sauce, chili and cane sugar.

What are your favorite Thai dishes?

In any case, bon appetit!