Top 5 Must Try Foods in Thailand

The flavoursome foods Thailand has to offer is unique and delicious with plenty of options to cater for everyone’s needs. Whether you’re eating from a street stall or dining in a high-end luxurious restaurant, prepare yourself for mind-blowing aromas and flavours. This blog will deliver my top 5 favourite meals I enjoyed during my visits to Thailand and hopefully inspire you to venture for nutritional exploration.

1. Sticky Mango and Rice

Yummy, tasty, mouth-watering, sweet, delish and divine are all words that I could use to describe this sensational dessert, however, one must try sticky mango and rice themselves to truly appreciate the level of deliciousness for offering. Although sticky mango and rice are considered a dessert rather than a meal, I can shamelessly admit to substituting dinner to indulge in this amazing traditional pudding. Ingredients include freshly cut mango fruit, accompanied by glutinous rice, topped with sweet coconut milk. It’s worthy to note that sticky mango and rice gains most popularity during Thailand’s peak mango season between the months of April and May. By far my favourite dish, so next time you’re in Thailand, try this masterpiece and discover if we agree.

2. Pad Thai (Thai style fried noodles)

Pad Thai is Thailand’s symbolic cuisine of choice for many Tourists on their travels. Handfuls of noodles are released into the searing hot wok, alongside crunchy bean sprouts, onion, tofu, and eggs in addition to your meat of choice i.e. chicken, beef, prawns. Although the exact ingredients may differ depending on where you’re dinning, Pad Thai will not disappoint. My personal favourite places to enjoy Pad Thai is from street food stalls. For those who love spicy food, season your meal with crushed chili powder.

3. Tom Kha Kai (Chicken in coconut soup)

Perhaps my favourite soup of all time, the Tom Kha Kai offers thinly sliced young galangal, crushed shallots, stalks of lemongrass, tender strips of chicken, topped with fiery chilies. The spicy blow from the chilies are calmed down as all ingredients are soothed in warm coconut milk making this dish more suitable for those with lower spice tolerance. Decorated with fresh lime leaves, the sweet-smelling aromas will leave your mouth watering for this creamy and compelling nourishment. My restaurant of choice to experience Tom Kha Kai is in Koh Tan Cuisine located on the south end of Koh Samui.

4. Khao Pad (Fried Rice)

At first glance this dish may appear like a regular egg fried rice, however, don’t be mistaken! The Khao Pad, when enjoyed in Thailand, may just be the most extraordinary fried rice to blow your taste buds with amusement. Made with fried egg, onion, and various herbs - nothing more, nothing less is needed. Feel free to customise your meal with supplementary flavours and spices to suit your preference. I’m not totally sure what it is, but the charm Khao Pad offers in Thailand cannot be replicated anywhere else and must be experienced on local soil.

5. Red/Green/Yellow Curries

A top 5 Thailand foods list would be incomplete excluding the renowned Thai curry dishes. The red, green, and yellow curries consist of varying paste and chilies cooked to perfection in coconut milk. A meat of choice is added including chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, duck, or tofu as a vegetarian option. Supplementary ingredients such as garlic, lemongrass, and galangal perfect this tummy-warming soup. Red curry is called gaeng phed, meaning ‘spicy soup.’ Green curry is known as gaeng keow wahn translated as ‘sweet green curry.’ And yellow curry often known as kaeng som, is meaning ‘sour curry.’ Why not try all three during your vacation and decide which Thai curry suits your style the most?

I hope this blog has provided a few meal options for you to explore during your travels in Thailand. We would love to hear about your holiday dining experience, so comment below if you agree, or disagree with my list above. If your Villa provides meal options (as most do) then be sure to request some of the menu items overhead or ask your villa manager for local advice on best places to dine.