40 Thai foods we can't live without
Mark Wiens, CNN • Updated 12th July 2017, http://www.cnn.com/travel/arti...ai-dishes/index.html
Mark Wiens, CNN • Updated 12th July 2017, http://www.cnn.com/travel/arti...ai-dishes/index.html
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Grilled pork skewers and sticky rice in little bags are available in all the nooks and crannies and at all hours in Bangkok.
Small bites of deep fried pork are marinated in a dark sweet soy sauce and then deep fried to accentuate the flavors.
This prized meat salad consists of dripping and tender pork cutlets, grilled and sliced then mixed with lemon juice, parsley, sweet onions and a copious amount of fiery chilies.
Just like moo yang, grilled chicken is found everywhere. It's hard to walk a few meters without detecting the scent.
Pork boiled for hours in a sweet soy sauce base with hints of cinnamon and anise are the signature characteristics of kao ka moo.
Kao mok gai, similar to biryani rice, is a Muslim dish of rice cooked with chicken stock and laced with saffron, turmeric, cardamom and bay leaves.
Another popular comfort food that is widely available is kao moo dang. A plate of rice is covered with Thai barbecued thinly sliced pork, a few slices of Thai sausage and half a hard-boiled egg.
The chicken rice of Thailand may not be as famous as Singapore's, but it is still a popular comfort food. Boiled chicken is chopped onto a plate of rice made from the fatty chicken stock.
Nam tok in Thai literally means waterfall. Grilled tender juicy pork is mingled with generous portions of lemon juice, green onions, chili, mint sprigs, fish sauce and toasted rice, making the meat taste fresh.
A famous Isaan dish of minced pork and liver dressed with lime juice, fish sauce, mint leaves, onions, chilies and the essential toasted rice crunch.
If a local Thai doesn't know what to order, it almost certainly comes down to pad ga pow. A stir-fried dish that can be trusted to turn out delicious and satisfying every time and at almost every eatery.
Chicken is seared in a hot greased wok along with onions, dried chilies and crunchy cashew nuts. Oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar and other spices create a sauce that goes exquisitely well with rice.
A whole steamed snapper swimming in a tangy lime juice sauce is served in a metal fish shaped pan with a candle lit underneath to keep it steaming.
A striking deep-fried snake head fish is smothered in a stunning sweet, sour and spicy flaming soup.
A popular fish to eat with som tam and sticky rice is plain grilled and salted fish.
A precious favorite among Thais is a prized yam plah duk foo. At first, it seems to be a deep-fried fluffy catfish essence of grease and air.
Som tam is perhaps Thailand's most famous salad. Garlic and chilies are first pounded with a mortar and pestle (krok). Tamarind juice, fish sauce, peanuts, dried shrimp, tomatoes, lime juice, sugar cane paste, string beans and a handful of grated green papaya are tossed in the krok (som tam thai).
Thin, mild-tasting and very soft, kanom jeen are noodles made from fermented rice.
Ginger is the undeniable king in this splendid recipe. Huge amounts of grated ginger, boneless chicken, various mushrooms, onions, chilies and oyster sauce are fried together in harmony.
Even if you don't really care for vegetables, you still might like morning glory. Morning glory is a stem-oriented hollow vegetable with small leaves.
Nam prik kaphi is an assortment of steamed vegetables and perhaps a small fish, eaten with rice, and a pungent fermented shrimp paste chili sauce. Carts around town sell steamed cabbage, eggplant, string beans, and other vegetables as well as small salted fish, like plah tu, for take away nam prik kaphi.
Pad thai is probably the most famous dish outside of Thailand and something that tourists rave and hype about. So famous we almost didn't include it on the list.
Guay teow rhua is known in Thai as "boat noodles," because the bowls of noodles used to be sold from boats.
Sen lek or medium-sized rice noodles are one of the more popular soup noodle choices. Beef noodles or pork and pork ball noodles are a handy lunch option.
Add celebrated rolls of wide rice noodles that look like one-inch cigars to a thick light brown and fatty broth and you've got guay jab.
Huge and thin rice noodles in the form of square tortillas are used as wrappers for these Thai style fresh spring rolls.
The answer to coffee and tea drinks from around the world is Thailand's very own and very sweet cha yen. We admit, it's not a food, but it's certainly deserving of a spot on our list as it's so damn refreshing.
Almost everyone loves yellow mango with sticky rice. A small bed of super glutinous rice is placed below some slices of super sweet, non stringy, ripened mango.
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