Salt,salt,salt

[Apache704]

Why is it that everything here in Thailand has so much frigging salt in everything. Why is is it that when I go somewhere and say that I don't want any salt at all on anything that it comes back loaded with salt? When you order something why don't they listen??? You order something and they give you what they want and not what you want and you're not supposed to complain and it's loaded with SALT... Same goes for SUGAR, everything's loaded with sugar here.. Can I not order something here in Thailand without them putting on their own spices as to how THEY like it???

Edited November 8, 2012 by Apache704

[BookMan]

Try a botlte of water

[hookedondhamma]

I can understand if you replace 'salt' with 'pepper.'

If you don't mind disclosing, what province are you in?

Never had a problem with salty food, except some intense khai khem, orange juice and lemonade. The food in Isaan is wonderful, never have encountered much overly sugared, or salty.

Edited November 8, 2012 by hookedondhamma

[Apache704]

Bookman wrong answer.

[poanoi]

say: mai aow glua loey

[transam]

Yep, same problem for me. Sooooooooooooooo, never eat Thai/Lao food, if out then eat Chinese stuff.

[loong]

say: mai aow glua loey

You would not say mai aow, they would probably be confused and not know what you are talking about, you would say mai sai.

I'm not sure that Thais actually use much salt in their cooking.

They may be adding Rod dee powder and that has a lot of salt and fish sauce is salty.

[Apache704]

say: mai aow glua loey

You would not say mai aow, they would probably be confused and not know what you are talking about, you would say mai sai.

I'm not sure that Thais actually use much salt in their cooking.

They may be adding Rod dee powder and that has a lot of salt and fish sauce is salty.

You must be kidding me or you that NAIVE as to not know the amount of salt that goes into everything that you eat here??

[poanoi]

say: mai aow glua loey

You would not say mai aow, they would probably be confused and not know what you are talking about, you would say mai sai.

I'm not sure that Thais actually use much salt in their cooking.

They may be adding Rod dee powder and that has a lot of salt and fish sauce is salty.

You are right, and I am on my last beer

[loong]

say: mai aow glua loey

You would not say mai aow, they would probably be confused and not know what you are talking about, you would say mai sai.

I'm not sure that Thais actually use much salt in their cooking.

They may be adding Rod dee powder and that has a lot of salt and fish sauce is salty.

You must be kidding me or you that NAIVE as to not know the amount of salt that goes into everything that you eat here??

Not kidding. I can't remember one single time that I have eaten Thai food and considered it too salty. Also, on the numerous times that I have seen Thais cook, I have not noticed them putting in salt. MSG, yes, but not salt.

Maybe you are extremely sensitive to salt taste.

[CharlieH]

I agree its generally the namprah that has the salt content. Never had an issue with things being too salty though, Too hot (chilli) many times and when asked they tone it down without an issue.

[CharlieH]

" One hour ago I ordered French Fries and specifically said no salt and when I received my French Fries it was loaded with salt and I complained they just said Niet Noi Kim,No Muk Muk, and I'm supposed to eat this???

What the heck do you think goes into Thai food?? No SALT, you had better go back to school because you have yet a lot to learn about Thai cooking."

If that was a Fast food place the whole basket is salted automatically when emptied into the tray.

It wouldnt take a second to pull yours out first and salt the rest, but that's western thinking and logic not Thai. They do what they are trained, not allowed or capable of thinking outside the box in most occasions. They'll serve what's there first.

Edited November 8, 2012 by CharlieH

[Shot]

I think all the salt has given you high blood pressure, and if you don’t calm down, something in your head is gonna burst.

Never seen them add salt, but plenty of fish sauce. Yum

[poanoi]

My gf has considered it too salty on more than one occasion,

i think you should drink more & take buddhas general advice for it:

there should be both salty & sour in life.

btw you havnt learn to pronounce salt, or glua, yet, it is quite difficult,

if i could type a german u in glua, i would

[arthurwait]

I think this depends on where you live. Maybe salt is or was used out in the country to preserve foods and either still is or they are used to the taste and because of that still use lots of it.

Where I am in a central city nothing is salty except salted egg. It's hard enough just trying to find salt being sold in shops. Except the french fries at Mcdonalds which are the same the world over.

[chiangmaikelly]

I think all the salt has given you high blood pressure, and if you don’t calm down, something in your head is gonna burst.

Never seen them add salt, but plenty of fish sauce. Yum

There are 1190 mg of sodium in a tablespoon of fish sauce.

[Shot]

I think all the salt has given you high blood pressure, and if you don’t calm down, something in your head is gonna burst.

Never seen them add salt, but plenty of fish sauce. Yum

There are 1190 mg of sodium in a tablespoon of fish sauce.

Tiparos 690mg

[crazygreg44]

say: mai aow glua loey

You would not say mai aow, they would probably be confused and not know what you are talking about, you would say mai sai.

I'm not sure that Thais actually use much salt in their cooking.

They may be adding Rod dee powder and that has a lot of salt and fish sauce is salty.

You must be kidding me or you that NAIVE as to not know the amount of salt that goes into everything that you eat here??

Not kidding. I can't remember one single time that I have eaten Thai food and considered it too salty. Also, on the numerous times that I have seen Thais cook, I have not noticed them putting in salt. MSG, yes, but not salt.

Maybe you are extremely sensitive to salt taste.

exactly, what the OP tastes from the food he gets, is MSG, not salt.

He can simply avoid this nasty stuff by adding to his order "mai sai pong sa rot, krap/ka" every Thai cook will understand and refrain from adding spoonfuls of white powder MSG to the dish.

Sometimes it's not possible to avoid, when devouring soups, the prepared liquids in the kettle are already infested with MSG.

One can easily use Maggi as an alternative to salt, original Maggi in Thailand carries the "J" sign on the bottle, meaning it is true vegetarian quality. It does not contain any sodium glutamates, instead uses naturally fermented soy and other natural ingredients. But never SALT !

[crazygreg44]

I think all the salt has given you high blood pressure, and if you don’t calm down, something in your head is gonna burst.

Never seen them add salt, but plenty of fish sauce. Yum

There are 1190 mg of sodium in a tablespoon of fish sauce.

Tiparos 690mg

and all this Thai Salt that can be bought, is Salt from the coast of Samut Songkhran. Marshland dried salt. It does not contain any Iodium, which is said to increase the growth of bodyily and brain cells and hardens the teeth and bone when humans grow up.. Indeed, the lack of Iodium in their nutrition has entered Thailand into statistics of the World Nations Organization of Health

[tinfoilhat]

You would not say mai aow, they would probably be confused and not know what you are talking about, you would say mai sai.

I'm not sure that Thais actually use much salt in their cooking.

They may be adding Rod dee powder and that has a lot of salt and fish sauce is salty.

You must be kidding me or you that NAIVE as to not know the amount of salt that goes into everything that you eat here??

Not kidding. I can't remember one single time that I have eaten Thai food and considered it too salty. Also, on the numerous times that I have seen Thais cook, I have not noticed them putting in salt. MSG, yes, but not salt.

Maybe you are extremely sensitive to salt taste.

One hour ago I ordered French Fries and specifically said no salt and when I received my French Fries it was loaded with salt and I complained they just said Niet Noi Kim,No Muk Muk, and I'm supposed to eat this???

What the heck do you think goes into Thai food?? No SALT, you had better go back to school because you have yet a lot to learn about Thai cooking.

may i point out that french fries are not thai food.

in my experience salt is replaced in thai food largely by fish sauce. you want salty food, eat german.

msg and sugar, sure, salt, no so much unless it is derived from a condiment

edit: it would seem we have achieved that rare beast, consensus on the board

Edited November 8, 2012 by tinfoilhat

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I also find Thais will use more salt than I prefer, not just eating out but home cooking as well, and yes of course I'm including overuse of the various sauces and packaged powders that are salty. But I've never had any blood pressure problems, just a matter of taste.

Solution works for me - shop at the fresh market and prepare your food at home. If you have a helper in that regard, take the time to teach them how to cook they way you like it. When they do a good job at it, give them a little extra to go out and buy the food they like to eat, when they screw it up they have to eat your "weird" stuff or go hungry. . .

[jocko]

6g a day that's it check everything you eat i believe soy sauce has a lot of salt in it

Take care yourself.

[loong]

[One hour ago I ordered French Fries and specifically said no salt and when I received my French Fries it was loaded with salt and I complained they just said Niet Noi Kim,No Muk Muk, and I'm supposed to eat this???

What the heck do you think goes into Thai food?? No SALT, you had better go back to school because you have yet a lot to learn about Thai cooking.

Why would I need to go back to school? One does not have to be a chef to be able to eat and appreciate food.

I have never found Thai food too salty and that's a fact. I often add a little extra fish sauce to make it a touch saltier.

French fries! Are you talking about Thai food or Farang food cooked by Thais?

You may not realise it, but you manage to come across as having quite an attitude problem in your posts. Makes me wonder if you are unable to deal with people politely and calmly in real life.

Maybe the staff don't like your attitude and are putting extra salt in your food because you piss them off!

As another poster has already said, you need to calm down, it's bad for your blood pressure, especially as you probably have too much salt in your diet

[redwood13]

My cardiologist in Bangkok ordered me to stop eating salt. Of course he knew this would not be entirely possible, but one thing he did emphasize was that I should completely stop eating Thai food.

-redwood

[farang000999]

i think many farang mistake msg for salt.

thais dont use salt directly but there is salt in the sauces condiments and seasonings etc

Edited November 8, 2012 by farang000999

[Chittychangchang]

A Thai is married to their salty fish sauce(Nampla) first and their spouse second!

Don't mess with the salt......

[krisb]

More worrying than using salt is all the MSG.....are Thais the last to know that craps bad?

[LennyW]

i think many farang mistake msg for salt.

thais dont use salt directly but there is salt in the sauces condiments and seasonings etc

Not true, whilst they do not tend to use it sprinkled on top of food, a lot used in cooking - go to any noodle shop and you will see them putting bags of salt into the soup pot, small white bags that they buy by the pack, a motorbike trailer comes around daily selling the stuff.

My wife has had a few noodle shops and i was shocked to see just how much salt they use in the cooking then copious ammounts of fish sauce whilst eating!!!

[Naam]

I think all the salt has given you high blood pressure, and if you don’t calm down, something in your head is gonna burst.

Never seen them add salt, but plenty of fish sauce. Yum

There are 1190 mg of sodium in a tablespoon of fish sauce.

there's no "Sodium" in any food stuff even though this misleading expression is used widely in the U.S. of A. including ads and stickers on food and drinks.

Sodium (called Natrium in civilised countries) is a metal and chemical element. what is wrongly labelled as Sodium is actually Natrium Chloride (NaCl) = common table salt (aka Sodium Chloride).

this lesson is free of charge

[endure]

One hour ago I ordered French Fries and specifically said no salt and when I received my French Fries it was loaded with salt and I complained they just said Niet Noi Kim,No Muk Muk, and I'm supposed to eat this???

What the heck do you think goes into Thai food?? No SALT, you had better go back to school because you have yet a lot to learn about Thai cooking.

French Fries aren't Thai food...