Sesame Allergy

[synoxis]

Hey guys

I'm going to Thailand next week and I have a severe sesame allergy. Speaking with one of my Thai friends he says that much sesame is used in Thai food. My allergy includes both sesame seed and sesame oil.

I was wondering whether any of you lovely people could help me with the following questions:

1. What food should definitely be avoided?

2. What types of food exist where sesame is not used?

3. How easy is it to effectively communicate a sesame allergy to street vendors/other Thai food vendors?

Thanks guys, any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

[sulasno]

avoid food served in a Chinese restaurant;

sesame is very rare in Thai food except maybe for some desserts

[AyG]

As sulasno writes, sesame is rare in Thai foods. If you stick to the traditional Thai dishes you won't encounter sesame or sesame oil. By that I mean things like curries (both with and without coconut milk), soups such as tom yam gung, yam (salads), fried rice, noodle dishes. Isaan food also doesn't use sesame.

The difficult area is with Thai-Chinese run restaurants. One or two dishes might have sesame seeds or oil. One problem dish is chicken wrapped in pandanus leaf then deep fried. The marinade for that contains sesame oil. Prawn toasts are sprinkled with sesame seeds. Some restaurants will sprinkle sesame seeds on barbecued meat.

I don't think waitstaff in most restaurants will understand your needs and won't know what ingredients go into each dish. If you stick to 5* hotel restaurants your needs will be taken seriously - but then you won't be getting the true taste of Thai food.

[sulasno]

or wear this sign

[AyG]

One other dish to avoid is muu gata (pork cooked on a hot iron pan). The sauce contains crushed sesame seeds.