Under-seasoned western food in Thailand

[Everyman]

Has anyone else noticed that western food in Thailand is usually under-seasoned? They don’t salt french fries at all. Even pizza needs salt. The only western food that has enough salt is fast food. 

 

I expect that some of you will reply that you have found the opposite to be true and that you are concerned about eating too much salt. 

 

If you are also a drinker, this should not concern you since you probably have a sodium deficiency, along with a deficiency of other water soluble minerals. 

[Andrew65]

In Thailand table salt tends to have iodine added to it

I have noticed that some savoury things taste sweet in Thailand.

 

As far as 'spicy' food goes, I find that if it's very spicy any flavour that the food has is overwhelmed by hotness.

[1FinickyOne]

good restaurants are adept at proper seasonings - personally, I don't like a lot of salt - there are better flavor enhancers... and there is usually salt on the table so that should never be an issue..

[worgeordie]

Normally there is salt and pepper on the tables ,plus other condiments,

are you too lazy to put your own seasoning on your food, to your liking.?

 

 

regards worgeordie 

[hotandsticky]

2 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Normally there is salt and pepper on the tables ,plus other condiments,

are you too lazy to put your own seasoning on your food, to your liking.?

 

 

regards worgeordie 

 

 

That shouldn't be necessary, for most palates, if the chef has done his/her job properly.

 

I accept it could be different for those used to an old transport cafe on the A1.

[richard_smith237]

As a person ages their taste diminishes...

 

Particularly after 60 years old, the number of taste buds diminish and each remaining taste bud shrinks, also less saliva is produced.

 

Thus - what you have noticed as 'less seasoning' could actually be your diminishing taste...   

[worgeordie]

3 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

That shouldn't be necessary, for most palates, if the chef has done his/her job properly.

 

I accept it could be different for those used to an old transport cafe on the A1.

"Chef"  , cooks maybe in the restaurants most of us eat in ,you can always add salt ,

but cannot take it out ...

 

regards worgeordie

[HauptmannUK]

I agree with the OP, however its very easy to add salt and pepper.

[hotandsticky]

7 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

"Chef"  , cooks maybe in the restaurants most of us eat in ,you can always add salt ,

but cannot take it out ...

 

regards worgeordie

 

 

Chefs where I eat...........................or at least they think they are.

 

 

That said, the best fry up I ever had WAS at a transport cafe on the A1....... coincidentally on the way way to watch Liverpool hammer the bar codes in the 1974 FA Cup final.

[hotandsticky]

22 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Normally there is salt and pepper on the tables ,plus other condiments,

are you too lazy to put your own seasoning on your food, to your liking.?

 

 

regards worgeordie 

 

 

Do the places you go to have Celtic salt?

[JackGats]

If only the lack of seasoning were a mere lack of salt.

[Lacessit]

Salt and pepper is not commonly used by Thais, they prefer chili and sugar.

They would probably complain about the lack of chili in a Western country restaurant.

I do hope the OP recovers from two sprained wrists soon.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Andrew65 said:

In Thailand table salt tends to have iodine added to it

Table salt generally has iodine added, it's not peculiar to Thailand.

[impulse]

Most of the Thai places I eat do not have salt and pepper at the table, so I toss these in my pocket when I'm headed out.  I bought them at the spice shop about halfway down the alley next to Wat Mangkon MRT station in BKK Chinatown.  They have a website but it appears to be blocked today where I'm staying.  They also have other keychain spices, but I just carry the salt and pepper.

 

https://www.nguansoon.com/index.php?page=about&lang=_en

 

 

 

[Everyman]

53 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

As a person ages their taste diminishes...

 

Particularly after 60 years old, the number of taste buds diminish and each remaining taste bud shrinks, also less saliva is produced.

 

Thus - what you have noticed as 'less seasoning' could actually be your diminishing taste...   

 

i am in my 30s

[Hawaiian]

1 hour ago, 1FinickyOne said:

good restaurants are adept at proper seasonings - personally, I don't like a lot of salt - there are better flavor enhancers... and there is usually salt on the table so that should never be an issue..

Too much salt is an issue for me.  As the cook in our house, I am very stingy with salt.  Like you say, I let each diner decide for themselves.

From a health standpoint, excess sodium is not good for your heart.

[worgeordie]

58 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Do the places you go to have Celtic salt?

Salt is salt , the only difference is marketing ,,, I myself use Himalayan salt ,

which is better than the Celtic sh it.

 

 

regards worgeordie 

Edited January 29 by worgeordie

[Everyman]

9 minutes ago, Hawaiian said:

Too much salt is an issue for me.  As the cook in our house, I am very stingy with salt.  Like you say, I let each diner decide for themselves.

From a health standpoint, excess sodium is not good for your heart.

my point was, if you are also a drinker of alcohol, you almost certainly have too *low* sodium rather than too high. 

Edited January 29 by Everyman

[richard_smith237]

17 minutes ago, Everyman said:

 

i am in my 30s

 

Ah well...   Then you could well be right...  The restaurants you go that serve Western food perhaps do under-season their Western Food.

 

Its not something I've found issue with at Western restaurants in Bangkok (such as Wine Connection through to places such as Cocotte and El Mercado, Bacco, Big Mama's etc)... 

 

So.. perhaps its the individual establishments themselves and you need to experiment some more to find better places ?

 

The places I listed are in Bangkok... Where are you located ?... maybe someone has good recommendation... Or if you are in Bangkok try some of the above listed places.

 

 

 

[1FinickyOne]

20 minutes ago, Hawaiian said:

Too much salt is an issue for me.  As the cook in our house, I am very stingy with salt.  Like you say, I let each diner decide for themselves.

From a health standpoint, excess sodium is not good for your heart.

Yes. Me too. The rare time I go to a fast food restaurant, I ask them for French fries unsalted - - and they oblige. At home, I use Himalayan sea salt and that in small quantities. 

[KhunLA]

I learned years ago, not to order western food while out, especially if at a farang managed restaurant, which I no longer bother with, as with few exceptions, simply the worst.

 

Over salting & sugar is definitely an issue here, though you learn fast, where & what to order.  Simply ask them to tweak it, less or none of either, if not made in advance.   If they can't or won't, simply, don't order again or return to venue.

 

Too spicy isn't a problem for me, as if unfamiliar with the vendor, I'll tell them nit noi or mai ow phet.   I travel with Cayenne pepper  since having ordered way too meals that I couldn't eat because too spicy.

 

All that adds to why we don't eat out much when at home, just when needed, and while O&A.   We have our local favorites, and stick with them.

[impulse]

1 hour ago, Hawaiian said:

Too much salt is an issue for me.  As the cook in our house, I am very stingy with salt.  Like you say, I let each diner decide for themselves.

From a health standpoint, excess sodium is not good for your heart.

 

As much as I sweat in Thailand, I worry about not enough salt, not too much.  I still remember taking salt tablets when working outdoors back home.

 

Edit:  In the year of mourning after the beloved King died, I wore a black shirt every day. And those days that I spent a lot of time outside, it was gray every night.

 

Edited January 29 by impulse

[VocalNeal]

2 hours ago, worgeordie said:

are you too lazy to put your own seasoning on your food,

 

The chef should do that in the kitchen. That is what he is paid to do.🤔

[richard_smith237]

31 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

I learned years ago, not to order western food while out, especially if at a farang managed restaurant, which I no longer bother with, as with few exceptions, simply the worst.

 

 

Where are you travelling to...    from Nakhon nowhere to Nakhon nowhere ??.. 

 

There loads of excellent Western restaurants in Thailand, many owned by Westerners too...      But if you 'dont bother with them'... how would you know... 

 

Your comment reads a lot like the guys who state they 'avoid other foreigners' when in Thailand...  its just weird...  Loads of excellent cuisine from all over in and around Thailand, mostly in the built up areas of course. 

[richard_smith237]

9 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

The chef should do that in the kitchen. That is what he is paid to do.🤔

 

Perhaps at the restaurants where the food requires further seasoning the Chefs are not chef's but just 'cooks'....  

 

We were recently at a restaurant in Switzerland... we'd ordered a very simple lunch (Racklette ham Sandwich)...  My Wife asked for Ketchup, the owner was completely bemused... he'd never had such a request before and even came out to see if she really did 'dip' her sandwich into the ketchup !!!!...     and it was only a sandwich, but I guess, he was actually a 'Chef' and we should be eating the food as he intended...

 

 

 

[impulse]

23 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

The chef should do that in the kitchen. That is what he is paid to do.

 

Chefs have to salt their foods to please the ones who want the least salt, knowing anyone else can add salt at the table.  If they salted the food to my taste, the GF wouldn't eat it.  You can always add salt, (and hot pepper), but you can't take it away.

Of course, subject the the caveat that they need to have salt and spices at the table...

 

[UWEB]

3 hours ago, Everyman said:

Has anyone else noticed that western food in Thailand is usually under-seasoned? They don’t salt french fries at all. Even pizza needs salt. The only western food that has enough salt is fast food. 

 

I expect that some of you will reply that you have found the opposite to be true and that you are concerned about eating too much salt. 

 

If you are also a drinker, this should not concern you since you probably have a sodium deficiency, along with a deficiency of other water soluble minerals. 

So you consider French Fries and Pizza not as fast food?

[richard_smith237]

11 minutes ago, UWEB said:

So you consider French Fries and Pizza not as fast food?

 

Its only 'fast-food' in fast-food restaurants.

 

There are many excellent restaurants which serve great pizza and great fries / chips...   they are not fast food restaurants.

 

Food falls on a spectrum of quality and price etc....   to suggest 'pizza' is fast food is somewhat binary thinking.

 

 

 

 

[NextG]

1 hour ago, 1FinickyOne said:

Yes. Me too. The rare time I go to a fast food restaurant, I ask them for French fries unsalted - - and they oblige. At home, I use Himalayan sea salt and that in small quantities. 

Don’t waste your money; https://www.tops.co.th/en/kobfarkhew-flower-of-salt-500g-8850247005069

[novacova]

3 hours ago, Everyman said:

They don’t salt french fries at all. Even pizza needs salt.

If you want a saltburger, then come to cm where you’ll find the salty burger joints.