Non-Spicy Food In Thailand?

[FuninPlural]

My gf may not be such a huge fan of spicy food (if I remember correctly), and rather than have her hate Thailand everytime food needs to be consumed, what are some non-spicy options? Would she just eat alot of fresh vegetables? What options are in Bangkok? Please be as detailed as possible. Thanks.

[gusG]

Fried rice with Pork.

[phuturatica]

You could say "mai pet" or "mai prik" when ordering? It means "no spicy" or "no chilli"

[Jingthing]

You could say "mai pet" or "mai prik" when ordering? It means "no spicy" or "no chilli"

Yes they will work indeed. However, some Thai dishes without spice taste really horrible. Ever try a coconut milk based curry with no curry paste in it? Yuck!

If you like salt flavor, there is an otherwise bland Thai Chinese soup made with ground pork, tofu, and seaweed that is rather nice.

For noodles, pad see ew, but it will be soy based salty.

Isaan food: Grilled chicken with papaya salad, ask for no chilies

Edited November 1, 2012 by Jingthing

[arthurwait]

As JT sort of hits on. Most the Chinese food here isn't spicey and most the businesses are owned by Chinese so plenty of it if you look around.

As JT said

phad see ew. noodles in soy sauce thingy.

Khao man ghia rice and chicken in prepared in some subtle flavoured sauce.

Khao mog ghia (muslim yellow rice with chicken)

Phad khoa ( Fried rice)

Baa mee grob luang crispy noodles, pork and green veg in a thick sticky brown sauce.

Grilled chicken and sticky rice (Esarn)

Any tourist place will have western food to varying standards.

Phad briow wahn Ghia/ moo / talley sweet and sour chicken/pork/ seafood.

Lots of Chinese pork dishes.

Chinese brown sauce dishes.

Phad med ma mooan (like sweet and sour with cashew nuts)

All the stir fried chinese vegetable dishes ( stir fried morning glory kale etc)

Khao ga gabee ( Forgotten the proper way to say it) shrimp paste rice with various veg and bits around it. shredded mango, marinated pork, deep fried little fish, nuts, cucumber.

jentafor Again noodle soup.

kwi dtio ( how do you spell it) noodle soups.

Yam bplahdook foo. Usually not spicey. Only had it once when the sauce was spicey.

Grilled fish. seen rotating at the markets.

Beef in oyster sauce.

Edited November 1, 2012 by arthurwait

[arthurwait]

A not very exciting option Thai omelette with or without rice. Khia jeow.

[Tim207]

There are a lot of foods you can eat tat are not spicy or can easily be made not spicy by asking for "mai pet" as mentioned already. Almost any grilled or cooked food that is sold on the street and meant to be snacked on while walking will not be spicy unless dipped in a spicy sauce at your request. Noodle shops serve bowls of noodles not spiced and you add your own spices at the table. Small restaurants will almost always have food that isn't spicy. Don't forget there are lots of kids in Thailand and they are not born with a tolerance for spicy, they are eating something.

Common restaurant foods that are not spicy: (forgive my transliteration, this is for an American accent)

Lahd Nah, Wide rice noodles in a brown sauce

Pad See Ew, Wide rice noodles in a soy based sauce

Pad Thai, Stir fried noodles (millions of versions)

Kai Jio, Crispy fried seasoned scrambled eggs

Tum Jute, Plain soup broth often some meat vegetables or noodles added

Tum Kah, Coconut milk soup

Kow Pat, Fried rice

The above are usually combined with a meat of your choosing, except Pad Thai

Kow Mon Gai, Stewed chicken with rice cooked in broth

Moo Palo, Pork stewed in a semi sweet broth

Kow Kah Moo, Stewed pork

Dishes usually served spicy but can be ordered not spicy or without chillis

Som Tam, Green Papaya Saled

Lahb, Minced meat cooked in lime juice

There are lots more but I have to go eat something now!

Curries are made from a pre-prepared paste that includes chillis and the other flavorings. If you ask for a curry not spicy they will add less of the paste which means all of the flavorings are reduced. In tourist oriented places they will sometimes have curry pastes made special with less chillis.

Learn to say not spicy and no chillis. Not spicy is a relative term and will be interpreted differently by each cook, anywhere from waving chillis over the dish to half a handful as opposed to two handfulls.

[FuninPlural]

Thanks for the super detaled posts guys. I appreciate it.

[poanoi]

massaman gai (a chicken piece & a potato, with optional rice)

kao mok gai (yellow rice with chicken, optional so-so sauce)

pat pik pla dok (fried fish, and in spite of name not spicy)

moo pat pik on (a tad spicy pork & rice dish with something resembling bell pepper)

Edited November 1, 2012 by poanoi

[poanoi]

Another tip,

when you DO get a dish you like,

ask the name of the dish and write it down on the phone

[PoorSucker]

Khaoo Kaa moo (stewed pork leg), usually only in special stalls because it take hours of cooking.

Pad king moo (pork fried with ginger).

Edited November 2, 2012 by PoorSucker

[krisb]

Thai foods not spicy.

Issan food is.

[just_Elaine]

Most of the dishes I would suggest is already here, but I just wanted to say that I used to not eat spicy food. However, the people I hung around with liked it so much that I was curious and tried it. I really ended up liking Thai food because it's not just hot, but there are some complex flavors in the food. So I guess I'm saying to encourage her to try some of the other stuff too.

[MikeLaw]

Great lists. My wife likes some spice but not the red hot food that I like, so this is quite helpful. What is Thai for "a little spicy" vice "no spice"?

[Gangnamstein]

"Mu Gratiem" -- garlic pork (or chicken - "Gai Gratiem") -- not spicy at all, tasty...but she needs to like garlic.

"Namsoop Juet" - basic soup, not spicy.

"Gaeng Kari" - usually a very mildly spicy yellow curry dish (can specify "mai pet" to be sure). I like the preparation with crab.

"Kai Jiaow" -- Thai fried omelet

Another trick is... you can order almost any common dish (within reason), for example Phad Gaphraow Gai/Mu (chick/pork stirfry with thai basil) which is usually hot/spicy -- and say "do for children, not hot/spicy" ("tam hai dek-dek, mai pet"). That works quite often.

.

[arthurwait]

Great lists. My wife likes some spice but not the red hot food that I like, so this is quite helpful. What is Thai for "a little spicy" vice "no spice"?

Noi means a small amount of something or a minor thing.

Pet noi = a little spicey.

Or to be more specific say ' sai prik nunge chin diow' = put in chilli one piece only.

Edit : There is also an awful lot of people called Noi as well. Just incase it gets confusing.

Edited February 8, 2013 by arthurwait

[swlondonmum]

I used to love really spicy food but due to a stomach problem can't eat a lot of chilli now - we're in Isaan which is the home of seriously spicy food and I easily manage to avoid very spicy food so I'm sure she will have no problem in Bangkok where there is a much wider range of food. Especially if she eats a bit of chilli rather than absolutely none. As others have mentioned all stir fries and stir fried noodles can be made with little or no chilli. And quite a lot of the well known curries are spicy but not crazy hot. Then there are all the non spicy dishes already mentioned - noodle soup where you add your own chilli (or not), kao mun gai (chicken with rice), egg fried rice.

[jamhar]

Great topic! I've been wondering what i've been eating normally i just point at the food.

PS i have no problem with spicy foods, matter of fact I love it. but I love all food. and this list is a great eye opener

Thanks