THE BEST THAI FOOD YOU CAN EAT
March 29, 2012 / By NomadicMatt
I know Monday’s post was a bit of a Debbie Downer, but don’t worry, I’m not done writing about travel — just being a permanent nomad. So in a complete 180 from Monday’s post, let’s talk about travel and my love of good Thai food. When I returned to Thailand a few weeks ago from being in Cambodia, I went on an eating binge. Cambodia, as much as I love it, doesn’t have a lot of great food. It’s very bland, and I missed the zesty, spicy, and flavorful Thai food. Since I was leaving Bangkok soon, I tried to enjoy as much Thai food as I could. So as a way to remember all the food I ate, as well as make you run off to your local Thai restaurant, here’s a list of all my favorite Thai food:
Pad Thai
This is the quintessential Thai dish, but it’s often ruined in restaurants around the world, as they standardize it to the point where it becomes generic. Yet I love a good pad thai, and when you veer out of the tourist destinations, it’s easy to find it in Thailand. On Sukhimvit 33 in Bangkok, there’s a pad thai stall so good that even my Thai friends compliment it. I bring every visitor to Bangkok there. Pad thai may be standard fare, but it’s oh so good.
Spring Rolls
I love eating spring rolls as a quick street snack. You get five for 50 cents. Throughout the streets of the main cities, you find little stalls around, and for a quick midday or late-night appetizer, nothing beats a spring roll — draped in sweet chili sauce, of course.
Red Pork Noodle Soup (Kuay Teow Moo Daeng)
By far my favorite Thai dish, this red pork noodle soup is sadly only found in Thailand. It’s street food (i.e., not found in restaurants), and because of the way they make the broth, you’ll never find it outside of Thailand. The broth sits for a long time, and health and safety organizations don’t really sign off on kitchens doing that. This dish consists of noodles, a potent and flavorful broth (made from boiled pork bones and onions), sprouts, bok choy, and slices of red pork. You can eat it a few ways, and I eat mine with a little fish sauce (sour), a few spoonfuls of sugar (sweet), and a small amount of chili. It’s always the first dish I eat when I return to Thailand.
Kai Jeow
This Thai omelette is my breakfast of choice. It’s egg mixed with fish sauce and chilies, cooked in oil, served atop white rice, and slathered in sweet chili sauce. I never would have imagined egg, rice, and sweet chili sauce would work together, but they do. It’s the breakfast of champions.
Pad Kra Pao
Minced pork or chicken stir fried with basil and chilies and served over rice. This dish is a favorite of mine — but only when I’m looking for something with a little kick. Even if you get them to make it “not spicy,” for a Thai that only means two chilies, and I end up trying hard not to breathe fire. It’s a common dish, but I prefer mine from the night markets and street stalls, where they tend to mince and chop the meat a little more finely than in restaurants.
Chicken Soup
As the books have told you, chicken soup is good for the soul — and the Thai version is good for your tastes buds too. Thai chicken soup is exactly like any other chicken soup, but the broth (made with chicken bones, onions, ginger, and garlic), just like the pork noodle soup broth, sits out there for a while collecting all those delicious flavors. It’s a taste explosion in your mouth. I also love putting some basil, fish sauce, and sugar in it.
Pad See Ew
This is a dish of fat rice noodles cooked with eggs, chicken, and bok choy. The noodles are
Som Tam
This dish is a staple of Thai cuisine, and you can’t throw a stone without hitting a dozen som tam sellers. Shaved papaya is tossed in a mortar and pestle with carrots, peanuts, tomatoes, string beans, palm sugar, fish sauce, and a whole lot of chilies. It’s as delicious and amazing as it is fiery. It’s so spicy, I simply don’t get it made with any chilies. As it’s used throughout the day, th