Cuisine of Thailand - where to eat, prices, what to try, drinks

Features of Thai cuisine

In China they say: "There are no bad products, there are bad cooks." In In Thailand they say the opposite: "There are no bad cooks, there are bad products".

In Thailand, they believe that the basis of any dish should be delicious and high-quality ingredients, and everyone can make a delicious dish out of them. Who knows how true this is, but one thing is for sure: Thai cuisine is one of the most exotic in the world, one of the most delicious and healthy.

In Thailand, everyone eats, of course, within reasonable limits. There are no taboos about pork, chicken, beef. Thai cuisine is very liberal: You will find everything from Italian pizza to fried grasshoppers here. In general, Thai cuisine is characterized by a combination of sour and sweet flavors on the background of spicy. The diet of Thais is diverse and includes all kinds of meat, a huge assortment of fish, a large number of fruits and vegetables.

The basis of Thai cuisine, as usual in Asia, is rice. The word "food" is translated from Thai literally as "there is rice." Thais eat rice of different kinds and with everything. Rice can be served with meat, fish, seafood. In general, rice in Thailand is something! Not only is Thai rice the best in the world, but it has the most incredible types here – white, black, red, fragrant, glutinous rice... They say that there is even a special kind of rice that Thais chew and get drug or alcohol intoxication from it.

Another popular base for Thai dishes is noodles, which also has a wide variety: wheat, rice, egg, mung bean flour noodles, etc.

In their diet, Thais use a lot of spicy spices, the most common of which is Thai curry, which Thais call "kaeng" (kaeng). Sometimes there are so many witticisms that it just takes your breath away when you scoop up a spoon of Tom-Yam. But Thais are polite people: if you order something, they will add spices there not as for themselves, they will spare you. Tell them when you order: "no spicy" or "little spicy". They brought you a plate, you scooped it up, washed your face with tears and think: "These are not good, they brought spicy, they didn't understand anything." If you think so, then go somewhere else. To some place where there are fewer tourists. Where only locals eat. And order the same dish. Try it and you will realize that no one has forgotten anything. You will return to the first place to have a snack with that soup, this "real" one. In general, everything is so acute there.

By the way, Thais believe that it is better not to drink spicy, but to eat rice. Rice for spicy dishes is often served on a separate plate, but is not always included in the price of the dish and it must be ordered additionally.

Popular Thai dishes and what you should definitely try

• Tom Yam is a spicy and sour soup with shrimp and mushrooms, the hallmark of Thai cuisine. There are several varieties of this soup depending on the ingredients: with shrimp (tom yum goong or tom yum kung), with chicken (tom yum kai), with fish (tom yum pla) or seafood (tom yum thale or tom yum po taek). Long-term studies have shown that Tom Yam soup is an excellent cancer prevention, and it is because of it that Thais so rarely suffer from this disease. This soup is so popular in the world that it even has its own fan clubs. We have also joined this community and are preparing this wonderful soup in our own way Tom Yama's recipe is here.
• Pad Thai (Phat Thai) - rice noodles in a special tamarind sauce, eggs, shrimp, bean sprouts and green onions.
• Spicy Papaya Salad (Som Tam or Papaya Salad) - green papaya salad, another of the business cards. Extremely sharp.
• Tom Kha Kai - spicy and sour coconut milk soup with chicken.
• Poh Piah Sod - rolls with sausage, omelet and vegetable salad.
• Mi Krob - well-fried pasta with sweet and sour sauce.
• Yam Nua - grilled meat, cucumber, onion with pepper and lime juice.
• Larb Kai - chicken with chopped onion, lime juice and pepper.

Of course, this is only a modest list of traditional dishes that you can try there. Also see what you should definitely try in Thailand.

Sweets and desserts

Thais do not have a special love for sweets, so sweets and desserts in Thai cuisine are rather poorly represented. From a mixture of eggs, bananas, coconuts and glutinous rice, they prepare all kinds of puddings, pies and ice cream that do not delight foreigners. Two exceptions to this are "Fou Thong", a sweet meringue in the form of balls, brought to these parts in the 17th century by the Portuguese, as well as "khanom luuk chup" - coconut mass with jelly, somewhat reminiscent of marzipan, from which delicious balls are molded in the form of exotic fruits.

One of the most famous dessert dishes and very much loved by the Thais themselves is Mango Sticky Rice. These are boiled rice sticks and mango slices with the addition of condensed or sweet coconut milk, nuts or seeds to taste.

Exotic food

Not in all Asian countries you can try such exotic things as fried locusts, cockroaches, scorpions, caterpillars, etc. But Thailand has everything. Of course, these fried "bastards" are not sold at every turn, but if you look closely and search, you can find them, especially at local food markets. They are cooked in boiling oil right in front of your eyes (although sometimes they are sold from trays already prepared in advance), put in bags or paper bags, add salt, sauce, spices, some leaves. It doesn't taste like anything special – something crunchy and salty – but with beer it's very good. One small bag costs from 20 baht (0.62 rubles, currency of Thailand, exchange rate). You can order a mix of different "reptiles" to choose from, which will be a little more expensive. In any case, it's worth a try.

Fruits in Thailand

In Thailand, you can try any fruit, starting from our traditional apples and ending with the most exotic durian, mangosteen, etc. Here it is impossible to find only some very rare exotic fruits of Africa and South America.

Traditional fruits familiar to us, such as apples, pears, grapes, strawberries, are found in Thailand, but at a high cost. Basically, these are imported fruits (that's why they are expensive), or they grow only in certain cool mountainous regions of Thailand, since they cannot withstand the too hot climate of the tropics.

But mango, pineapple, lychee, durian, rambutan, mangosteen, longan, carambola, jackfruit, papaya and many others are inexpensive and present in great abundance. For example, a kilogram of mango can be found for 20 baht, one pineapple, fresh coconut or a huge pomelo for the same 20 baht. There are all exotic fruits in Thailand not all year round, as even they have their own ripening seasons. You can read more about exotic fruits and their seasons here.

But low fruit prices are not found everywhere. In tourist areas, the price in the markets may be even higher than in supermarkets. The lowest prices, as a rule, can be found at local markets in provincial cities or at markets along the highways. In tourist areas, fruits are cheaper in large supermarkets than in markets, where prices are usually inflated for tourists.

Fruit prices in most cases are already written on price tags, the price is indicated per piece or per kilogram. It is not customary to bargain when buying fruits, their prices are already quite low. But if you see that the seller is clearly getting impudent and "breaking" the price especially for the tourist, you can bargain or just go to another seller. By the way, it should be said that high prices in the markets for tourists are still justified, since such markets are usually located on expensive rental trading floors in front of shopping centers or on pass-through streets.

Which is very convenient, some of the fruits are sold already peeled and butchered. This mainly concerns large fruits. So, you don't have to suffer with pineapple, jackfruit, papaya, durian, pomela, mango. And a fresh coconut will be opened in front of you and given a straw for juice and a spoon for pulp.

Where to eat in Thailand, prices

The Thais themselves eat mostly outside the house: it is not customary to cook at home. Of course, they do this not in tourist-level restaurants, but in "their" establishments, the menu of which usually consists of one or two dishes, and the interior consists of several plastic tables. Everywhere on the street you can see carts or counters where they immediately cook and sell food that you can take with you – for example, chicken legs in sauce, shish kebab from potatoes or meat, sausages. You can eat all this, the prices are very low. You can calculate the budget for food at approximately the following prices per person:

• Have a snack with street fast food - from 30 baht / 0.92 rubles
• Have a snack in a simple local cafe - from 60 baht / 1.85 rubles
• To eat at a local cafe with a drink - from 80 baht / 2.47 rubles
• Dinner in an inexpensive cafe with beer or other alcohol - from 200 baht / 6.16 rubles
• Dinner in a restaurant for tourists - from 300 baht / 9.25 rubles
• Dinner at a seafood restaurant for tourists - from 400 baht / 12.33 rubles

There is, however, one peculiarity in these places – the smell. The mixed smell of rotten fish, meat and something else is unclear. Those who first encounter this in places of cooking, shy away for a good dozen meters with a firm decision never to go there again. But in fact, the kitchen owes this smell mainly to fish sauce, which, by the way, is common not only in Thailand, but also in Asia in general. This sauce is made from rotten fish, or rather, by its fermentation. For the first time it may seem terrifying, but it's not for nothing that Asians love it so much.

If you disdain to eat in such local eateries, we recommend eating in canteens or food courts (food court). These rather serious, clean establishments, as a rule, are available in all large supermarkets and shopping centers. Very tasty, varied and high-quality food is prepared here. You can eat everything there, from Russian dumplings to fiery-spicy Tom-Yam. The prices are very reasonable: you can eat enough for 100 baht.

Service in such establishments usually takes place as follows: you buy a plastic card or paper coupons at the checkout, for example, for 200 baht, then go to the numerous counters, choose something there, and pay with a card or coupons. When you exit, you give the card or coupons, and the unspent money is returned to you. In general, everything happens like this, or something like that, with various variations.

It is a little more expensive to eat in restaurants, cafes or bars. There are a lot of such establishments in tourist areas, you can choose a place for every taste – expensive or cheap, quiet or noisy. There are a lot of Russian restaurants, German, Italian, Chinese and all sorts of. There are a lot of restaurants specializing in seafood, floating or crawling in aquarium showcases.

A special place to eat is night markets of Thailand. There are such markets in most major cities, and they always have excellent street food courts. Such a choice of main dishes, appetizers, desserts and drinks you will not find anywhere else. The food there is prepared right in front of you from fresh products.

In Thailand, the networks of small supermarkets "7/11", "Family mart", "Friendship Market" and large "Big C", "Lotus" and many others are very developed. In tourist places, they are almost at every turn. In any of these stores you will always find something edible, and even quite European. In general, even the laziest will not die of hunger in Thailand.

Drinks and booze

As for water, then, as usual in Asia, you should not drink tap water. You can brush your teeth, wash your face with tap water. Bottled water is sold everywhere. The cost is 10 baht (20 rubles) per bottle. In hotels, a couple of bottles of water are put up in the room every day for free.

Juices that are drunk both fresh and with ice are very common. A lot of carbonated drinks.

Thais, especially young people, drink a lot of energy drinks. But these are not the kind of energy that we are used to seeing on our shelves. The most popular of them is the M-150, which tastes very good. But be careful, M-150, Shark, .357, Red Buffalo and other energy drinks in large quantities are harmful, no more than 2 pieces per day are written on the bottles themselves. Do not drink them before going to bed, otherwise it will be difficult to fall asleep.

Thais are a non–drinking people (in the sense of alcohol). Well, or at least they were, until the tourists spoiled them. The diet of alcoholic beverages is rich here, but mainly due to imported drinks. Duties on the import of alcoholic beverages in Thailand are high, so the prices of imported drinks are high. Locally produced drinks – beer, whiskey and wine.

Beer

Beer in Thailand is very popular and not bad in quality. Usually it is bottled in small bottles or cans of 0.33 liters, or in large ones of 0.6 liters. Popular brands: Singha (from 60 baht for 0.6 liters.), Tiger (from 55 baht), Leo (from 55 baht), Chang, Kloster, Amarit. There are Heinecken and Carlsberg almost everywhere. The most popular beer is Singha, about 90% of the Thai market. It is quite strong-6 degrees, so if you want to keep a clear head as long as possible and not fall asleep ahead of time, give preference to light beer of the same variety - Gold. Kloster and Amarit beer brands have a single producer. These brands are suitable for those who consider Singha too strong and Carlsberg too expensive.

Whiskey

Thailand produces local whiskies. They are cheap and of quite satisfactory quality. Whiskey "The Mekong" is drunk with soda water or Cola, ice and green lemon. Song Thip whiskey is made from sugar cane, it is somewhat more expensive than "The Mekong", but no less strong. The cost of a small bottle of Mekong is from 80 baht.

Wine

In Thailand, exotic palm wines or pineapple wine are made, and ordinary grape wines. But the quality of local wine is very far from the level of Italian or French brands. If you are going to order imported wine in a restaurant, then remember about very high import margins.

By all means, treat yourself to a homemade alcoholic cocktail in coconut. It is done like this: pour a little coconut milk from freshly opened coconut and add a little whiskey, rum or cognac there. If you add a moderate amount, then you are guaranteed pleasure, especially if the coconut milk is cool. For reference: fresh coconut on the street costs from 10 to 30 baht.

If you want to know more about alcohol in Thailand, where to buy it, what prices, whether there are prohibitions - read here