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[mrbojangles]

I went back to that restaurant the other day(first time for a couple of years) and ordered "Grapao gai mai pet thoraai" and guess what? Too bloody spicy - I aint going there again.

Bet you do

It might be another 2 years but i bet you do

[pgs]

TW will often tell me not to eat certain meals beacuse I "can't eat - too hot". The humour comes when she complains about it being too hot & I don't notice it. Who ever heardof a Thai saying a chili dish is too hot? The best meals you have to sit outside for... ;-)

[Naam]

TW will often tell me not to eat certain meals beacuse I "can't eat - too hot". The humour comes when she complains about it being too hot & I don't notice it. Who ever heardof a Thai saying a chili dish is too hot? The best meals you have to sit outside for... ;-)

a number of waiters in restaurants (when i still frequented restaurants) were quite astonished hearing a farang (my not so humble self) saying "bring lots of phrik nam pla and dried red chillies. this food is fit for bland farangs only!" in the hotel restaurant which i frequented for many years before i settled down in Thailand i was known as "Mr. Chili"

[meemiathai]

I am going to my local restaurant for lunch today. I have lived in my house for 8 months, visiting this place regularly. I still can't get my "prik gaeng gai" right.

The first time, there was no bloody "prik" in it. I am not joking Then I tried to explain to the woman that I have lived in Thailand, "lai bpee laew"(many years now), and "chin laew" (accustomed to it now).

After several visits, she knows me quite well now. There is still the surprise and laugh when I order my food done normally. Always someone else in the restaurant inquiring about the farang who can eat spicy, hot food. When my wife ordered the same the other week, mine was ridiculously hot, almost uneatable - hers was perfect. She just doesn't understand, or is she taking the piss?. I tried to explain that people from my country generally like hot food as there are many Indian restarants, and some other stuff. Don't bother! Simple, uneducated,Thai people do not care about the reason why. They do not care about my country's culture. I will, as with countless other things, simple accept it, and try to laugh.

Language is not the problem(even got the wife to try and tell her), maybe it it because I am the one of the few farang here.

Who are these farang that don't like hot food, and have given Thais the impression we don't like chillis? Apart from the old codgers, all my friends like hot food.

Is there another reason why they think we don't like hot food?

Maybe today I will order bloody noodles, or Phad see-ow.

Come on Neeranam! Just order food "mai pet" and add chili yourself until it suits you. Are you that fussy?

Stay in a restaurant for a while and see what a big fuss the farangs make. You will see then why they are so worried adding chilis to their meal. I have seen it many many times.

[t.s]

I went back to that restaurant the other day(first time for a couple of years) and ordered "Grapao gai mai pet thoraai" and guess what? Too bloody spicy - I aint going there again.

you are also ordering a dish that is normally very spicy, why not just say mai sai prick? pretty difficult to misinterpret that.

[jing jing]

I went back to that restaurant the other day(first time for a couple of years) and ordered "Grapao gai mai pet thoraai" and guess what? Too bloody spicy - I aint going there again.

you are also ordering a dish that is normally very spicy, why not just say mai sai prick? pretty difficult to misinterpret that.

Indeed. Also why order a spicy dish if you don't want something particularly spicy? I do love my gapao gai/muu and have never ordered it any other way than straight up (pet mai? ao thamadaa krap) but if they go too heavy on the prik I just flick a few off to the side. Normally there's nothing left on the plate.

[sbk]

I went back to that restaurant the other day(first time for a couple of years) and ordered "Grapao gai mai pet thoraai" and guess what? Too bloody spicy - I aint going there again.

Two years later and he's still holding a grudge!

[technocracy]

Ahhhhh I absolutely love HOT HOT spicy food!

I have to say it though Lao food in general has more chilli's than Thai food. Some of the northern Lao 'jael' sauces are bordering rediculous in the amount of chillis but incredibly tasty with it!

I love 'dam mak daeng' aka cucumber salad . . . made same as papaya only with cucumber instead, don't like the unripe papaya. Any less than 5 or 6 chillis is bland, 10 is super-duper!

Oh yes - give me the spicy stuff it's always ordered 'pet pet sep sep der' when eating in restaurants here. Many places seem to have 'falang versions' with just a miserly 1 chilli or something in it! I have sent back numerous 'dam mak daeng' telling them it ain't got enough chillis in it . . 'jang poot' (very bland)

[Neeranam]

I went back to that restaurant the other day(first time for a couple of years) and ordered "Grapao gai mai pet thoraai" and guess what? Too bloody spicy - I aint going there again.

Two years later and he's still holding a grudge!

"I bear more grudges than lonely High Court judges", as the man said!

To change the thread a little - do you think learning Thai has been a hinderance or a help?

Is ignorance bliss?

[TonyLeung]

i have never had any problem getting spicy food. sounds like you like complaining!

[mittheimp]

No different in Korea - all Koreans think westerners cannot eat spicy food or Korean food in general. Gasps of amazemnet when they see you eating Kimchi! I explain that i lived in Thailand before and that food is much hotter (and better - particularly the rice!!!) and also English people love having Indian food anyway. Went to an Indian restaurant last week - 9 people, 6 brits 3 koreans - none of the koreans could finish their food as it was too hot (although they were girls!!). Koreans are also under the impression that it is foggy everyday in England, that every English person carries an umbrella (slightly ironic as almost every korean person does) and that all English people are gentlemen! (which has its advantages!)

So its not just the uneducated Thai folk then, but the ridiculiously over educated Koreans too!

Edited November 26, 2007 by mittheimp

[Jingthing]

I am a certified (certifiable?) chili-head. I usually don't have a big problem getting my food cooked plenty spicy by just saying either phet or phet phet. The level you actually get with that request varies. Occasionally, they are on automatic and assume I couldn't have really asked for that, and really said mai phet, in which case sometimes I get a dish with no spice at all. I do think it pays to always ask for it because otherwise the assumption will sometimes be to tone it down. My impression agrees with the Thais; I mostly hear farangs asking for not spicy or medium spicy, in Pattaya anyway. Once in a while a restaurant gets a kick out of knocking my socks off, making the food 10 times spicier than they would ever make it, and watch me cry and sweat, and have a good laugh. I wouldn't like this to happen very often, but I always eat it anyway with good humor (and a runny nose) and it sure does clear out the sinuses (and then I don't go back there).

I do have a chili eating code of honor which I recommend: if you ask for food extra spicy, you never complain and never send it back if turns out way spicier than you wanted. Of course, I can eat any level of spice, its not really a macho thing, its a burnt tongue thing.

Sometimes I get pushback when ordering a dish that isn't meant to be a hot dish, and I defer to that if it freaks out the cook to add extra spice to a non-spicy dish. To those who say, add your own spice at the table, it isn't the same!

I have also tried to talk to Thai people about the hot and spicy food cultures of other nations, but I haven't noticed any interest in the topic. I did hear a really funny comment from a Thai recently. He told me he doesn't like Mexican food because it is spicy. I asked, but Thai food is spicy too, and he replied, yes but Mexican is the WRONG spice.

Edited November 26, 2007 by Jingthing

[jingjoe]

Do like a bit of spice in the old meal but stop short at eating the old raw chillies dipped in that brown paste.

I'm with you, I love the spicy stuff, but not those dishes that're just plain cruel

Edited November 26, 2007 by jingjoe

[pgs]

No different in Korea - all Koreans think westerners cannot eat spicy food or Korean food in general. Gasps of amazemnet when they see you eating Kimchi! I explain that i lived in Thailand before and that food is much hotter (and better - particularly the rice!!!) and also English people love having Indian food anyway. Went to an Indian restaurant last week - 9 people, 6 brits 3 koreans - none of the koreans could finish their food as it was too hot (although they were girls!!). Koreans are also under the impression that it is foggy everyday in England, that every English person carries an umbrella (slightly ironic as almost every korean person does) and that all English people are gentlemen! (which has its advantages!)

So its not just the uneducated Thai folk then, but the ridiculiously over educated Koreans too!

right about now (0830 in Sydney) I could kill for a decent kim chi. It's so hard finding someone that makes them properly. I use to live opposite a Korean family - Mrs K would make 20 - 30 kg at a time & bless me with a 2l container full. How I miss that lovely woman.

[kat]

you know...there are about 30+ varieties of chile in Mexico. The national dish pavo en mole (turkey in chocolate sauce) uses about 5 types in it's preparation...

Oh man, you just whetted my appetite. Instead of crying about it when I was in LOS, I can now walk a few blocks and have great Mexican food.

I LOVE spicy by the way, and became addicted when in Thailand, especially with Som Tam and beer with ice cubes. However, my stomach is now wrecked and I am slowly trying to rebuild it now that I am in the states.

So, I love spicy, but my tolerance has collapsed.

[kat]

No different in Korea - all Koreans think westerners cannot eat spicy food or Korean food in general. Gasps of amazemnet when they see you eating Kimchi! I explain that i lived in Thailand before and that food is much hotter (and better - particularly the rice!!!) and also English people love having Indian food anyway. Went to an Indian restaurant last week - 9 people, 6 brits 3 koreans - none of the koreans could finish their food as it was too hot (although they were girls!!). Koreans are also under the impression that it is foggy everyday in England, that every English person carries an umbrella (slightly ironic as almost every korean person does) and that all English people are gentlemen! (which has its advantages!)

So its not just the uneducated Thai folk then, but the ridiculiously over educated Koreans too!

right about now (0830 in Sydney) I could kill for a decent kim chi. It's so hard finding someone that makes them properly. I use to live opposite a Korean family - Mrs K would make 20 - 30 kg at a time & bless me with a 2l container full. How I miss that lovely woman.

Oh god, yes, love Kimchi and good Korean food, bibimbap with lots of spicy paste - heaven!

[chicowoodduck]

really dont like it. i suffer diaarhoea every morning whenver i have spicy food. fail to understand how the thais can eat it every ###### day.

I like it, I suffer, and therefor I go........often. I grew up on bland food, so anything with an extra zing has an appeal to me. Of course that's me talking and not my stomach.

[thomo]

Do You Like Hot,spicy Food?, Why can't Thais understand?

How about going back home where everything is perfect instead of drooling on here about how you can't climatise to a different country.

Another farang complaining about how things are done here...

F off home and be happy.

[PhilHarries]

you know...there are about 30+ varieties of chile in Mexico. The national dish pavo en mole (turkey in chocolate sauce) uses about 5 types in it's preparation...

Oh man, you just whetted my appetite. Instead of crying about it when I was in LOS, I can now walk a few blocks and have great Mexican food.

I LOVE spicy by the way, and became addicted when in Thailand, especially with Som Tam and beer with ice cubes. However, my stomach is now wrecked and I am slowly trying to rebuild it now that I am in the states.

So, I love spicy, but my tolerance has collapsed.

I am in the same situation. Like Jingthing I am a certified fire head and the Thais I associated with would very often warn me that I should not eat so much chilli. Well I ignored them "I've got guts of refractory lined corten steel". It seems the lining has failed and I now have to avoid Chillis which p1sses me off to the n'th degree especially when I return "home" to Thailand. Seeing all those lucky b@st@ds tucking in to all that luverly grub and I'm stck with a sweet and sour or similar. That's not to say non-spicy Thai food is not good, it is great stuff but I miss my eye watering dishes.

[quiksilva]

I like spicy food, in moderation. Not too spicy, but its good to get a sweat on every now and then.

[Jingthing]

I could kill for a decent kim chi.

Surprised to hear that is hard to find in Sydney. Not many Koreans there? I mostly have lived near Korean communities and do love their spicy food. No problem getting good kim chi in Pattaya either.

[pgs]

I could kill for a decent kim chi.

Surprised to hear that is hard to find in Sydney. Not many Koreans there? I mostly have lived near Korean communities and do love their spicy food. No problem getting good kim chi in Pattaya either.

Actually we have a reasonable Korean population in Sydney - mostly in the Strathfield/Burwood & Eastwood areas. Some of the problem comes from there being some 17 recipes that I'm aware of for kim chi. The real problem is finding a place or someone that can make the ones I like. A lot of the commercial versions here are a bit like the western version of Chinese food - made bland or basic to suit the masses.

[Jingthing]

Yeah, I don't like the stuff you see in groceries. The restaurants here seem to make their own and some of them are very good, as good as the Koreatowns in the US. They get big groups of tour bus Koreans and they won't tolerate bad kimchi.

Edited November 27, 2007 by Jingthing

[zorro1]

I like it red hot spicy and its only natural that they tone it down for farang. Bet ya she had some drunken hooligan try to tear her head off because it was to hot and she wouldn't refund? just ask for spicy after she brings it out not before and you will get it on the side then simply add if needed

[Khnom]

I am going to my local restaurant for lunch today. I have lived in my house for 8 months, visiting this place regularly. I still can't get my "prik gaeng gai" right.

Isn't it about time for you to switch restuarant?

[sweetchariot]

How do you ask for medium spicy.

I like a bit hot, but if its too hot it just hurts.

In my experience if I order 'mai pet' it is too bland, and if I say nothing 9 times out of 10 it is way too hot for me.

There's probably nothing in the Thai language that accurately says this, as the food is either bloody hot, or not at all.

[Khnom]

How do you ask for medium spicy.

Try "Ped Klang" or medium heat. This should work for most things, except for som tum, which seems to have its own scale that is hotter than everything else.

If you aren't sure, you can ask for low heat or "ped noi" or no heat "mai ped", then add chilies later if it isn't enough.

[Stephen Cleary]

How do you ask for medium spicy.

I doubt the Thais are gonna understand if you try to translate this into Thai directly.

Thais would say something like 'Mai Tong Phet Mak' (It doesn't have to be too spicy)

Edited November 27, 2007 by Stephen Cleary

[Jingthing]

Another tactic is to act like a tourist, speak no Thai, and then they will probably tone it down without asking, but also usually include some spice unless you specifically ask for not spicy. Of course, just a guess, I am usually trying to get them to make it even MORE spicy.

Edited November 27, 2007 by Jingthing