Menus in Thailand

The most common words on the Thai menu include kai (egg), gai (chicken), moo (pork), nua (beef), and pet (duck). Dried beef and pork have a particularly strong flavor.

Thailand is particularly renowned for its fish and seafood dishes, though if you are dining some distance from the sea, bear in mind that river fish might be fresher. Popular seafood includes gung (prawn),pla (fish),plakapong (sea bass, a great favorite),plamik (squid), hoi (shellfish), hoi kreng (cockles), aharn taley (seafood), and boo (crab).

Among the vegetables you will find ham (onion), (mushroom), pakad ham (lettuce, which should be avoided unless you know it has been washed in clean water), makeyatet, tomatoes, and prik (chili). If you want food that is not too highly spiced, say, “mai sai prik”-“don’t add chili.”.

Typical Thai Dishes

Thai dishes use all the ingredients specified above, to which they add various flavors, notably garlic, coriander root, black pepper, lemon grass, ginger, and chili. Here are some of the most common dishes. Geng ped (curry), and geng ped gai (chicken curry). You may need to differentiate between geng pet kiau (green curry) and geng pet deng (red curry). Geng mussaman will be a Malay-type curry common in the extreme south of Thailand. Geng jert is soup. Again, you need to specify. Geng jert nua is beef soup. It is often served in metal vessels with charcoal underneath to keep the soup hot.

• Tom yam is a hot, spicy soup. This is one of the most popular dishes in Thailand, especially tom yam gung (spicy prawn soup).
• Kau pat (fried rice) is a popular one-dish meal, and can be served with almost anything. Kau pat moo is pork-fried rice. Cucumber and spring onions usually accompany the dish.
• Kwitiau (noodle soup) is of Chinese origin and found on many a noodle stall. It is sometimes eaten with chopsticks. Bami are noodles, and come in various shapes and sizes.
• Bami lad na gung is prawn cooked with noodles, and is a meal in itself.
• Meekrob (crispy noodle) is also worth trying.
• Tawt man pia or tawt man kung (fish or prawn cakes) are interesting, chewy dishes.
• Yam (salad) is much spicier than the Western type of salad, and should be sampled only by the more intrepid visitor.
• Kau sooay (plain rice) is usually steamed, delightfully fluffy, and of high quality. This is the staple food of Thailand, and the Thais eat it with virtually every meal.
• Kau niau (sticky rice) is a speciality of the northeast, where it is sometimes cooked in banana leaves.
• Potatoes (man farang) do not feature in Thai cooking, being rather expensive, though they are served with Western- style food or sour fish).