Thai Food
Thailand has one of the great world cuisines. While you’re here you should sample some of the delicious food available. Even though the Thais have only had chillies for four hundred years or so they are one of the key ingredients in Thai food. But if you don’t like spicy food don’t worry; the Thai chefs on Koh Chang are used to making dishes milder on request and there are also plenty of Thai dishes which aren’t too spicy.
Whilst the food is great you may not be familiar with some of the names of the dishes and translations can sometimes be a little confusing. One local restaurant used to have “Fish in That Sauce” on their menu. So to help you to explore Thai food while you are here in Koh Chang the following is a very brief introduction to some Thai dishes you may want to sample. With most meals you can usually choose which meat or seafood you want. Chicken is Gai, Pork is Moo, Beef is Neu-a, Prawn is Goong, Fish is Pla, Squid is Pla Meuk and Vegetable is Pak. Enjoy!
Recipes for some of the classic Thai dishes are provided so you can have a go at making them yourselves. Please click here
The Basics
If you are new to Thai food, understand these basics and the incredible choices you have on Koh Chang will be available to you!
Simple Dishes
Thai staple dishes are simple and nourishing and usually revolve around rice or noodles.
Pat Thai - classic Thai fried noodles
Khao Pat - Tasty and filling Egg Fried Rice.
Khao Tom - a peppery and wholesome rice soup.
Khao Man Gai - Garlic rice boiled in chicken stock with boiled chicken & chilli bean sauce
Thai Curries - Gang
spicy, healthy & delicious
Gang Kieow Wan - creamy green curry with lime leaf, lemon grass and chilli flavours
Gang Kati - creamy red curry soup
Gang Penang - aromatic rich, creamy, spicy curry
Gang Massaman - rich Indian style curry
Gang Som - sour spicy tamarind curry
Gang Karee - milder yellow creamy curry
Fried Dishes
Pat Gapow - spicy! stir fry with hot basil leaves
Gai Pat Med Ma Muang - chicken and cashew nut in a delicious rich roasted sauce
Pat Nam Man Hoy - Mild oyster sauce dish
Pat Poong Karee - delicious yellow curry dish usually made with crab and eggs.
Soups
Tom Yam - Nam Kon - spicy hot and sour soup with lemon grass, galangal, mushroom. condensed milk and, usually, prawn
Tom Yam - Nam Sei - without condensed milk and usually with more fresh chillies
Tom Kaa - mild, creamy with salad cream taste
Tom Jert - mild soup with pork, tofu and cabbage
Thai Salads - Yam
These salads are sour and can be incredibly spicy. Watch out for small fiery hidden chillies!
Som Tam - Delicious green papaya and lime salad. sometimes comes with raw crab - only for strong stomachs
Yam Goong - prawn and glass noodles salad
Snack Foods
Moo Dat Dieo - savoury pork strips dipped in sesame seeds and fried
Tort Man Pla - Thailand’s famous fishcakes
Kanom Bang Nar Moo - special pork toast.
Some Thai Recipes
(To print these recipes copy and paste the text below to your word processor and go from there!)
Tom Yam
This is one of Thailand’s signature dishes. It is a hot and sour soup using lime leaves, lemon grass and galangal to give a uniquely Thai flavour. Typically it is served as a seafood dish using prawns or squid but chicken or other meat or vegetables can be substituted as desired.
Ingredients
Water 500ml
Lime Leaves – torn 5-6
Lemon Grass – Chopped diagonally 1 Stick
Galangal – Sliced or crushed 2 cm cube
Onion – Sliced Half
Chopped Tomato Half
Prik Kee Noo Suan Chillies – chopped 6 or 7 to taste
Mushrooms – halved or sliced 50gms
Meat or Seafood 100gms
Sugar Pinch
Fish Sauce 1.5 tablespoons
Lime Juice 1 Tablespoon
Prik Pao Red Curry Paste 1 Tablespoon
Condensed Milk Half Tablespoon
Coriander Leaves to Garnish
Preparation
Boil the water in a wok over a medium flame. Add the meat and heat until the water re-boils. Add Onion, Mushrooms, Tomato, Lime Leaves, Lemon Grass and Galangal then re-boil and simmer over a low heat for 5 minutes.
Whilst this is cooking mix the Fish Sauce, Prik Pao Paste, Lime Juice & Sugar. Now add this to the pan together with the condensed milk. Remove from the heat and serve with boiled rice.
Pat Thai
This is a very popular Thai snack. It takes no time to make and since little oil is used and the vegetables are only lightly fried it is healthy and nutritious.
Ingredients
Chicken strips 50gms
Crushed Garlic 2 cloves
Grated Carrot 25gms
Chopped Cabbage 50gms
Spring Onions – Chopped 25gms
Flat Noodles – pre-soaked for 5 minutes 50gms
Oyster Sauce 1 tablespoon
Soy Sauce Few Dashes
White Pepper to Taste
Sugar Pinch
Unsalted peanuts – crushed Tablespoon
Lime Half
Spring Onion 1
First soak the noodles in cold water for about five minutes and drain well.
Fry the chicken in a wok for 2 minutes until coloured. Add the garlic and stir in.
Then add the Carrot and Cabbage and stir fry on a medium heat for about a minute.
Now add the noodles and a dribble of water and mix everything together.
Then add the Oyster Sauce, Soy Sauce, Sugar and Pepper together with the onions and fry for another minute.
Serve on a plate with half a lime, a raw spring onion and the peanuts as garnishes at the side.
Gang Keow Wan
This rich curry is one of the more famous Thai dishes outside Thailand. It showcases some of the typical flavours of Thai cuisine which come through from the Keow Wan curry paste. In contrast to some of the stir fry dishes this cooks with a lot more fluid provided by the coconut milk and has a thick soupy texture.
Ingredients
3 white egg sized eggplants – roughly chopped 100gms
or half a larger purple eggplant
Meat - Chopped 100gms
Green beans – 2cm pieces 50gms
Large red chilli – Chopped Half to taste
Cauliflower florets OR Bamboo shoots 25gms
Coconut Cream 250ml
Keow Wan green curry paste 1 Heaped Tablespoon
Sweet Basil Small bunch to garnish
Sugar Pinch
Fish Sauce 1 tablespoon
Preparation
If you can find the small white eggplants that are used in Thailand then use them in this recipe. If not then use larger purple ones but remove the bitter skin.
Boil the eggplants and cauliflower for a bout five minutes or until soft and drain well.
Now in a drop of oil fry the Kiow Wan curry paste on a low heat for a couple of minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and mix well. Then add the meat and bring to the boil.
Straight away add the Green Beans and Chilli (and bamboo shoots if you are using them) and about 50 ml of water. Boil this mixture over a medium heat and stir occasionally. After a minute add the fish sauce and a pinch of sugar.
Now turn to a lower heat and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens a little. Break the basil leaves roughly, add to the dish and serve.
Pat Med Ma Muang
This famous chicken and cashew nut dish takes it’s a rich aromatic character from the use of roasted red chillis.
Ingredients
Chicken 100gms
Onion – Roughly Chopped Half
Cashew Nuts 50gms
Spring Onions 4-5
Dried Small Red Chillies 10 or to taste
Prik Pao Curry Paste Tablespoon
Oyster Sauce Tablespoon
Nam Pla fish sauce Few dashes to taste
Sugar Pinch
Preparation
Firstly the Cashew nuts must be prepared by frying. Heat plenty of oil in the wok and add the cashew nuts and fry over a low flame until they turn a deep brown colour.
Then do the same thing with the dried chillies. Use the same oil if you like.
Add the chillies and fry slowly until they turn a deep brown, almost black colour.
Note that the above ingredients are used in several Thai dishes so if you are going to do a lot of Thai cooking you may wish to prepare a larger amount and keep for future dishes.
Now add a couple of tablespoons of oil to the wok and when hot add the chicken and fry for three or four minutes until medium brown. Then add the onions and stir fry for a further minute until softened. Now add the Oyster Sauce, Prik Pao Paste, Sugar and Fish sauce together with a little water. Mix this all together and then immediately add the Spring Onions, Cashew Nuts and Chillies. Fry for a further minute, tasting and adding a little water and a little more fish sauce if required.
Remove from heat and serve.
Pat Poong Karee
A rich yellow curry which is often eaten with crab in Thailand but can be made with squid, chicken, pork or other meats and will still come out well.
Ingredients
Crab, Squid, Chicken, Pork, Vegetables 100gms
Onion roughly chopped Half
Spring Onions (scallions) roughly chopped 4 or 5
Green Vegetable (Keun Shai) 4 or 5 sticks
Large Red Chilli roughly chopped Half or to taste
1 Egg
Chilli Oil 1-2 Tablespoons
Oyster Sauce Half Tablespoon
Nam Pla (Fish Sauce) Dash
Curry Powder (Karee) Heaped Teaspoon
Pinch of sugar
Preparation
First lightly beat the egg in a separate bowl and add the chilli oil. If you can’t obtain chilli oil then use ordinary cooking oil and add a little crushed garlic and chilli powder to taste.
Stir-fry the meat in a wok on a medium flame for 3 or 4 minutes until it is lightly browned. Add the chopped onion and fry for another minute or so until the onion is softened.
Now add the Oyster Sauce, Fish Sauce, Curry Powder and Sugar together with a dribble of water and mix.
Straight away throw in the Chillies, Spring Onions and Kheun Shai and stir fry on a medium flame for another minute.
Now add the egg mixture and mix for about 30 seconds before taking off the heat. Any longer than this and the egg will separate.
Dish out and serve.
Pat Gapow
One of the spicier Thai stir fries, this dish has a characteristic flavour provided by garlic, chilli and, most noticeably, the Hot Basil leaves added at the end of cooking.
Thai people often eat this dish over rice and a fried egg served at the side.
Ingredients
Chicken, Pork or Beef 100gms
Large Red Chillies Roughly chopped 2 chillies to taste
Green Beans chopped into in 2cm pieces 50gms
Hot Basil Leaves Bunch
Garlic cloves roughly crushed 3 cloves
Nam Pla (Fish Sauce) Dash
Oyster Sauce 1 Tablespoon
Prik Pow Curry Paste (or substitute red curry paste) 1 Tablespoon
Sugar Pinch
Oil for stir frying
Preparation
Stir-fry the meat in a wok on a medium flame for 3 or 4 minutes until it is coloured on all sides. Then add the Red Chillies and fry for another 30 seconds or so before adding the green beans and garlic and frying for another minute.
Now add the Oyster sauce, Prik Pao paste, Fish Sauce and Sugar. Mix and then add a dribble of water, fry for another minute and then take off heat and add the loosely torn Hot basil leaves.
Like many Thai dishes Pat Gapow is often served over rice with a fried egg on top. If you are a fan of hot food add several of the fiery small green and red bird’s eye chillies with the milder red chillies.
Khao Pat
Fried rice is another staple dish which is often eaten as a breakfast or daytime meal. It can be made with pretty much any meat, seafood or vegetable.
Ingredients
Chopped or Minced Meat (If required) 50gms
Pre-Cooked Rice 100 gms
Onion – Sliced Half
Egg One
Tomato – Roughly chopped Half
Spring Onions – Roughly chopped 2
Garlic – Crushed 1 Clove
Oyster Sauce Half Tablespoon
White Pepper Few Shakes
Nam Pla Fish Sauce Few Dashes
Golden Mountain Sauce Few Dashes
Lime Half
Spring Onion 1
Preparation
Fry the chicken, meat or whatever until browned or softened. Don’t add too much oil because all the oil used in this recipe is absorbed by the rice later on.
Add the onion and fry for another minute or so until soft.
Now add the Garlic, spring Onion and Tomato and mix everything together. Then add the egg and stir until it has cooked.
Now add Rice, Fish Sauce, Golden Mountain Sauce, Oyster Sauce and Pepper and stir fry vigourously mixing everything together over quite a high heat.
Serve with the lime and spring onion on the side.