One Of The Benefits Of Living In Thailand

[MZurf]

Found this CNN article:

40 Thai foods we can't live without

As a person who loves Thai food I certainly don't agree with all that is listed here. Lots of good food is not included e.g. lots of food from southern Thailand and common dishes like stuffed Thai omelet (khai yat say).

But here is what I do agree with:

1.  Tom Yum Gung. Hard to disagree with. If done right it's delicious.

     Sadly, because of tougher economic times and the high price of lime/lemon many restaurants have started using vinegar instead (that's        the last they'll see of me!).

     For those who have not tasted it I suggest giving Tom Yam plaa gob (dried, smoked fish) a try. Mouth watering!

4.  Panaeng. Very tasty but most places use too much sugar in this dish.

19. Naam tok moo. Prefer it with duck myself – Naam tok ped. Yummy!

20. Laarb moo. Again, I prefer it with duck or chicken, but it can also be done with beef, shrimp, squid etc. Probably my favorite thai food.

21. Phad kapaow moo, khai daow. The ubiquitous phad kapaow. I eat this dish several times a week  (and again, most often with chicken)as it is served everywhere,  is hard to get wrong and tastes good.

If I don't know the place I will usually skip the fried egg since almost all food stalls have fried the eggs in advance and they all fry them to pieces.

27. Som tam. Delicious as an entrée, but it has to be som tam Thai, not poo-plaraa!

28. Kanom jeen. A good, home made kanom jeen (just like my brother-in-law makes it ) can be a very tasty meal.

30. Pad Pak Bung Nam Man Hoy. Great as one dish among many others on the table. It can also be ordered with minced chicken. I especially like to eat it together with salty egg salad (yam khai khem).

31. Nam Prik Kaphi. Prefer the chili paste with pla too (nam prik pla too).

 

Which dishes do you prefer? Which delicacies have been left out of this list?

Food lovers, please respond!

[samuibeachcomber]

I would like thailand more if its national dish was Italian food.

[Jingthing]

I also saw this link on digg. It is an excellent list, perhaps the best I have seen of more local Thai foods, many of which will not be found easily in the west. One surprise for me though, a dish I had never heard of -- Gai Pad Pongali

Left out?

Perhaps grilled pork neck salad, yam woon sen talay, hor muk talay, clams with chili paste

Edited May 7, 2010 by Jingthing

[Spoonman]

I think thai food would taste better if it was well, not thai food !!!!!

[Jingthing]

I think thai food would taste better if it was well, not thai food !!!!!

Nobody's forcing it down your throat, mate.

[Spoonman]

I think thai food would taste better if it was well, not thai food !!!!!

Nobody's forcing it down your throat, mate.

Edzacary, I love me farang food !!!

[Richb2004v2]

It's like anything, to much of it and you can sicken yourself.

[mca]

Very true. When my brother (a real Thai food fan) and his family visited from Oz every single meal was the sort of stuff my wife brings home nearly every day in plastic bags and polystyrene boxes for dinner. In the end I was like " Can we grab a steak tonight instead?"

[tartempion]

30 out of the 40 mentioned dishes are on my favourites list.

Unfortunately I live in a small village 40Kms East of Udon Thani and we have ONE so-called restaurant opened at night (when he is not closed that is )

Worse: no decent tom yam kung (my all time favourite) in ANY restaurant less than one hour drive away and I am not keen to drive 100kms after dark to get a decent plate of food. My wife makes the best Tom Yam kung around, can't ask her to make it near daily though...

In fact I explored all restaurants 30kms around my village and NO decent Thai food to be found around. Just the small eatery nearby has 5 decent dishes out of my personal list of 100 Thai dishes. From the first 10 on the 40 list he can prepare two: number 6 but with crab: poo pad pong kari and 10. But I do like the 8 others also, but no place to go to.

Even in Udon Thani I find it difficult to find well prepared and tasty Thai food. So the problem is with the restaurants, like anywhere on the planet.

I used to work in Paris and had a hard time finding a GOOD meal evenings anywhere in the big city.

Then I would have to stay overnight in some French or German town and would find surprisingly good local food, absolute toppers to remember, not so in my Thailand travellings. There is only one restaurant where we had really an excellent meal: near the Landmark hotel in Pak Chong, between Saraburi and Korat. Once a year we travel and stay overnight just for the food they serve there.

So this month of May I am in my French home village with plenty of food nearby, restaurants and supermarkets around, I am eating all these unnameable REAL foods we call cheese, charcuterie (pates, jambon, saucissons) gateaux with real fillings (crème au beurre, crème fraiche), chocolates, pralines, real bread and French rolls, Belgian Fries (there is no such thing as French Fries, only the American way to fry potatoes in such a horrible manner) stews etc.

No doubt I will gain 5kgs in one month, but Thai food is not a benefit of living in Thailand, all it would take is a decent Thai restaurant just 20kms around my place

Edited May 7, 2010 by tartempion

[givenall]

I would like thailand more if its national dish was Italian food.

Or at least you could find some dissent Italian and Mexican food

[Forethat]

You certainly picked the cherries, thats for sure. You even managed to pin point the correct Larb, my favourite is with duck. Let me just say that if we were married, we would NEVER have any problems regarding food!!

I'd like to add to this list a couple of fruits I discovered after living in LOR for a while.

1. Mangosteen

2. Lychee (season is just about to start!!!!!!)

3. Jack Fruit (anyone ever seen the Jack-fruit tree opposite the duck-restaurant on Soi 4 just before the entry to the tobacco monopoly...packed with fruit. Who actually owns the tree?? lol, I may go for it one of these nights!!)

[eurasianthai]

I love Thai food and eat Thai food every day.

But well, as far as variety is concerned, they still have a long way to go before they reach the level of European food.

[Thongkorn]

I would not put the word benefits of Thailand , think you may get some EU residents trying to slip in on the back of wagons.

[Jingthing]

I love Thai food and eat Thai food every day.

But well, as far as variety is concerned, they still have a long way to go before they reach the level of European food.

Or Chinese food either.

[eurasianthai]

And besides, the OP forgot the Tom Kha Gai and quite a few others...

Edited May 7, 2010 by eurasianthai

[MZurf]

You certainly picked the cherries, thats for sure. You even managed to pin point the correct Larb, my favourite is with duck. Let me just say that if we were married, we would NEVER have any problems regarding food!!

Maybe not regarding food but take a good look at my avatar and tell me if we would ever eat in the same restaurant?

[bangon04]

And besides, the OP forgot the Tom Kha Gai and quite a few others...

Tom Kha Gai made without too many bones... Unfortunately many restaurants make the soup with water instead of milk/coconut milk. But made with rich soup, it is nice but deadly.

[KASABIAN]

I cant stand Thai food myself, Ive tried to make myself like it but just cant enjoy it. Many things i like here but the food aint one of them. I often hear why come here and eat farang food? well do people say to Thais in England for example why come here and eat Thai food whats wrong with bangers and mash? Or the Chinese community why come to Europe and eat Chinese food? It's what your used to and more importantly what you enjoy eating!

Note: not slating Thai food or people who do, I just don't like it....but as someone else mentioned...Italian food now were talking!

[hawthorne]

I eat Thai food for lunch and dinner and western breakfast. I love it and once in awhile with work I go to another ethnic food service. Regarding Thai food I prefer my wifes over any other. Most of the others I have tried is Issan foods which I do not like, the southern thai food is ok but my wife has a nothern-chinese-thai style that is fantastic. The fruit I love the Rambutans.

[Tejas]

I would like thailand more if its national dish was Italian food.

Me too

Thai food (what you find outside of the fancy restaurants that cater to tourists) is one step away from horrible.

Chinese food is 1 million times better and far more interesting (Thai food is almost totally boring to me).

On an international food scale, 100 top and 1 bottom, I would put Thai food at about 5 and Chinese food at 95.

[IanForbes]

What I hate is when I'm back in Canada and my friends think I might want to eat a Thai meal that I'm always raving about. Then, when we go to a Thai restaurant I have to pay $14.95 for the same meal that I pay about $1.00 for in Chiang Mai.

[Birdman]

So much really delicious fresh seafood here nicely prepared indeed, homog talee, plah ob glua, puh pat bon garee etc etc.

Apart from that and all the delicious classic Thai food you can mix it with Western food. Paneng Gai with mashed potatoes for instance, moo tod gra tiam prik Thai with creme spinach, goong joot paeng tod with tomato/potato salad... It's very delicious and ideas are boundless.

[tuky]

I often crave some Thai food, my favourite is Tom Kha Gai, real Tom Kha Gai that is. Most on the list are great.

But, the problem is that the majority of food stalls cook with inferior products, that is what puts me off Thai food in general.

But it seems that is the way Thais like their food. What we consider the waste part of, well anything, the Thais consider to be the best part. Sometimes that suits well, prawns for example, my ex-wife and her family would eat the heads while I ate the meat, crabs the same too. Can't complain about that, but other foods like Tom Kha Gai, needs to be cooked with chicken meat, not chicken gristle or bone.

[Ulysses G.]

Thai food (what you find outside of the fancy restaurants that cater to tourists) is one step away from horrible.

Chinese food is 1 million times better and far more interesting (Thai food is almost totally boring to me).

On an international food scale, 100 top and 1 bottom, I would put Thai food at about 5 and Chinese food at 95.

I concur, but I am talking about Singapore, Hongkong, San Francisco type Chinese food as i have never visited mainland China.

[mahtin]

So long as it contains no refined sugar or MSG and is cooked in fresh oil.

I'm eating a lot of mangosteen now.

[David006]

What I hate is when I'm back in Canada and my friends think I might want to eat a Thai meal that I'm always raving about. Then, when we go to a Thai restaurant I have to pay $14.95 for the same meal that I pay about $1.00 for in Chiang Mai.

well said...good Thai/Farang owned little restaurant on Denman in Vancouver. (opposite commuity centre)...prices good for Canada...used to give me the occasional free glass of wine too...can't remember where they are from ...South I think. Stay away from the fancy ones on Davie and or Georgia...

[BlackArtemis]

Love Thai food, I love rinky dink little shops, holes in the walls, and street vendors.

I begin to miss something carby/bready after a week or two of no farang food and a huge greasy slab of meat is great once in awhile.

I usually end up eating 1 farang meal a week and it has nothing to do with money.

[Forethat]

You certainly picked the cherries, thats for sure. You even managed to pin point the correct Larb, my favourite is with duck. Let me just say that if we were married, we would NEVER have any problems regarding food!!

Maybe not regarding food but take a good look at my avatar and tell me if we would ever eat in the same restaurant?

But...you may be nice to the kids!

[Richb2004v2]

I used to put Thai food down as my favourite. I still really like it, but after living here a while and eating at so many places where the food is badly prepared I am no longer so keen. Plus the often dire service takes the sparkle off it, with the random arrival of dishes and delivery of the wrong food etc. Dogs wandering around in outdoor restaurants also drives me crazy. Bah humbug!!

[REDRAM]

I love it also....Some of the dishes are such a beautiful combination of sugar spice and everything that is good!

Just another reason to love living here....