Articles
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Dishes, ingredients and how to get the plate you want. Pick a topic.
- How to order at a Thai made-to-order stall and get the plate you want
- Thai food by region: how North, Isan, Central and South differ
- Eating Thai food with a food allergy: peanuts, shellfish and hidden seasonings
- Tom yum clear or creamy, and why tom kha is not just tom yum with coconut
- Thai curries compared: green, red, panang, massaman, jungle and sour curry
- The four Thai table condiments: how to use them, and a prik nam pla ratio
- Thai one-plate meals: khao man gai, kra pao, khao kha moo, fried rice, rad na
- Tom yum kung and UNESCO: what the 2024 heritage file actually records
- Mae Khrua Hua Pa: Siam's 1908 cookbook, its weighed recipes and lost dishes
- Khao chae: from Mon Songkran rice to a royal dish, and when it reached the court
- Before chillies: where Thai food got its heat, and when chillies arrived
43 articles
Before chillies: where Thai food got its heat, and when chillies arrived
Chillies came from the Americas and reached Asia with Portuguese traders in the 16th century. Before that, Thai heat came from pepper, long pepper, ginger and galangal.
5 min readPattani budu: 9-15 months of fermenting, 18-29% salt, different in every bottle
Budu is salt-fermented anchovy from Thailand's far south. Pattani research gives ratios, time and saltiness; a Malaysian study found microbes differ by bottle.
5 min readDurian and alcohol: is the warning real, and what has research proved?
Durian extract blocks an alcohol-clearing enzyme in a test tube, and rats fed durian cleared acetaldehyde more slowly. No human trial yet: what is proven, what is not.
5 min readWhat makes fish sauce smell: Thai research on its key odour compounds
Thai researchers fermented fish sauce from anchovies of three coasts for 18 months, sniffed it compound by compound with GC-O, and found 18 standouts that vary by catch.
6 min readWhat the Thai GI mark on food guarantees, how many there are, examples
A Thai GI is a name tied to a place; the gold GI mark means a producer passed local controls. Why counts say both 239 and 252, and GI foods by province.
6 min readHoly basil vs Thai basil: two species, two smells, and how to get real kaphrao
Kaphrao is Ocimum tenuiflorum, peppery and clove-like; horapha is Ocimum basilicum, sweet like anise. Check the hairs, the stem and the smell, and how to order abroad.
5 min readHorseshoe crab eggs in Thailand: tetrodotoxin, no antidote, and why to skip them
One Thai horseshoe crab carries tetrodotoxin that cooking does not destroy and no antidote reverses. Real case numbers from Chon Buri, the warning signs, and what to do.
5 min readKhanom jeen is not Chinese: a Mon name and a fermented rice noodle
Khanom jeen is a rice noodle widely traced to the Mon. What the name means, fermented versus fresh noodles, what fermentation does, and why it keeps only days.
5 min readKhao chae: from Mon Songkran rice to a royal dish, and when it reached the court
Khao chae began as the Mon Songkran rice. Sources split on whether it reached the palace under Rama II or Rama IV. Plus clay pots, candle-smoked water and side dishes.
6 min readPhetchaburi's lost tastes: nam phrik lam paen, phat ai khui and a dish to skip
Three Phetchaburi dishes in Thailand's Lost Taste project: what goes in them, their seasons, why they faded, and why the horseshoe crab egg dish is to know, not eat.
5 min readMae Khrua Hua Pa: Siam's 1908 cookbook, its weighed recipes and lost dishes
Lady Plean's cookbook began as a magazine column around 1888-89 and became a book in 1908. How to convert its baht weights to grams, and why some dishes vanished.
6 min readIs MSG bad for you? What double-blind trials actually found
When people did not know if they got MSG or a placebo, reactions were few, did not repeat, and vanished with food. What JECFA, FASEB and FSANZ found, and sodium vs salt.
5 min readPhetchaburi, UNESCO food city of three tastes: salt, palm sugar, lime
A UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy since 2021, built on three local tastes: sea salt, toddy palm sugar and lime. The dishes and sweets to know, and a one-day plan.
5 min readPhuket's Baba food: the UNESCO food city, from moo hong to o-aew
Phuket has been a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy since 2015 because of its Baba cooking. What each dish is, where it comes from, how to order, and allergy watch-outs.
6 min readSticky rice is one gene away from ordinary rice, and why Isan and Laos eat it
Sticky rice sticks because its Waxy gene is broken, so its starch is almost all amylopectin. The mutation arose once, and Laos is still the heart of sticky rice.
5 min readHow hot is a Thai bird's eye chili? Lab data, and why first picks burn most
Kasetsart researchers measured heat in 10 Thai chili cultivars by HPLC: most 50,000-80,000 SHU, one only 20,250, and every cultivar hottest at its first harvest.
5 min readPad, phat or phad? Why Thai menus spell dishes differently, and the RTGS
Thailand's official RTGS spells ผัด as phat, yet most menus say pad. A study of 15 Thai menus in Paris found they did not follow it. How to read menus right.
5 min readWhy Thai tea is orange: Sunset Yellow, the Thai FDA limit and what tests found
The bright orange in Thai tea comes from the synthetic colour Sunset Yellow FCF, not the leaf. The legal limit, what 2025 tests found, and how to drink it sensibly.
7 min readTom yum kung and UNESCO: what the 2024 heritage file actually records
Tom yum kung joined UNESCO's intangible heritage list in December 2024. What the file says about who it belongs to, how it is passed on, and what Thailand must protect.
5 min readWild mushrooms in Thailand's rainy season: why folk poison tests fail
Boiling with rice, a silver spoon or insect bites cannot spot a poisonous mushroom, and some toxins survive cooking. 2026 case counts, symptoms, and when to call 1669.
5 min readHow to choose a good Thai street food stall: signs to read before you sit
What a queue of locals, a short menu, a one-dish stall, busy hours and cooking to order tell you, hygiene points, the SAN sign, and what reviews miss.
4 min readEating halal in Thailand: the logo, what to watch for, southern Muslim dishes
Thailand's halal logo is issued by the Central Islamic Council of Thailand. What it looks like, certified vs Muslim-run places, hidden pork in Thai food, and what to ask.
6 min readIce, drinking water and iced drinks in Thailand: choosing safely
Sealed tube ice versus scooped crushed ice, what Thai FDA testing found, how to check labels and bottle seals, and when to ask for no ice.
5 min readLarb, nam tok, grilled chicken, sticky rice and jaew: ordering Isan, cooked
Larb uses minced meat, nam tok grilled sliced meat. Eat with grilled chicken, sticky rice and jaew, and know why Thai health officials warn about raw larb.
5 min readOrdering Thai food with less salt and sugar: sodium in noodle soup, what to ask
One bowl of noodle soup holds 1,304-2,862 mg sodium per Thai Department of Health data, against WHO's 2,000 mg a day. How to ask for less sauce, sugar and broth.
5 min readThai food leftovers: storing curries and rice, the 2-hour rule, reheating
Into the fridge within 2 hours, 1 hour above 32°C. Coconut curries spoil fast, rice must cool quickly, reheat to 74°C/165°F, and how many days in the fridge.
5 min readThai markets explained: fresh, weekly, floating, night markets and food courts
What each kind of Thai market sells, the best time to go, what to eat there, and how to keep food you take back so it stays tasty and safe.
4 min readHow to order at a Thai noodle shop: noodle, broth, size and condiments
A Thai noodle shop needs four things: which noodle, which broth, what goes in, and the size. What each noodle is made of, and how to use the condiment rack.
6 min readNorthern Thai food: khao soi, nam ngiao, hang le curry, sai ua and nam prik
Six northern dishes you will meet most: what goes in, how they taste, which have coconut milk and which are hot, a meal for two, and what to ask with a food allergy.
5 min readThai one-plate meals: khao man gai, kra pao, khao kha moo, fried rice, rad na
Five one-plate dishes found on every street: what each is, what comes with it, what you can choose, the words to order (khai dao, phiset) and allergy questions.
6 min readSom tam styles: tam Thai, tam pu, tam pu pla ra, tam sua and fruit tam
Som tam is not one dish. What goes in each style, how it tastes, how to order heat by counting chillies, and how to pick pla ra and crab safely.
6 min readThai street food safety: what to look at before you order
Is it really hot, does food turn over, are raw and cooked apart, does the money hand touch food, how is ice kept, and the SAN sign that replaced Clean Food Good Taste.
6 min readHow hot? Thai phrases for spice level, hidden heat, and what helps when it burns
Mai phet, phet noi, how many chilies: the words that make a Thai kitchen understand you, where heat hides, and why milk beats water when it is too hot.
6 min readSouthern Thai curries: gaeng som, gaeng tai pla, khua kling, and why so hot
Southern curries are hot: chilli-heavy paste, often black pepper and turmeric, and often no coconut milk to soften it. Four key dishes, plus phak nao.
6 min readThai curries compared: green, red, panang, massaman, jungle and sour curry
Which Thai curries use coconut milk and which do not, how hot each runs, and what sets each paste apart. Six common curries in one table, plus shrimp paste and peanuts.
5 min readSeven Thai desserts worth knowing, from mango sticky rice to foi thong
Mango sticky rice, bua loi, thapthim krop, lot chong, khanom chan, thong yip and foi thong: what goes in them, which came from Portuguese egg sweets, what to watch.
6 min readThai fruit seasons by month, and how to pick fruit that is ready to eat
When durian, mangosteen, rambutan, longkong, longan, lychee and mango peak, East vs South, figures from Thai agriculture offices, and how to tell ripe fruit.
4 min readThe four Thai table condiments: how to use them, and a prik nam pla ratio
Sugar, fish sauce, chili vinegar and chili flakes: what each adds, which dishes they suit, how to season without oversalting, and a prik nam pla ratio.
5 min readTom yum clear or creamy, and why tom kha is not just tom yum with coconut
Clear tom yum is sharp, sour and hot; creamy adds milk for a softer taste. The herbs you leave in the bowl, prawn or seafood, how tom kha differs, and how to order.
6 min readJay, vegetarian and vegan in Thailand: what differs, and how to order safely
Jay drops meat, egg, dairy and pungent vegetables; vegetarian drops meat; vegan drops all animal products. The yellow flag, hidden fish sauce and shrimp paste, phrases.
6 min readEating Thai food with a food allergy: peanuts, shellfish and hidden seasonings
Shrimp paste in curry pastes, oyster sauce in stir-fries, peanuts in som tam, a shared mortar: where allergens hide in Thai food, and what to ask and say.
4 min readHow to order at a Thai made-to-order stall and get the plate you want
A made-to-order (tam sang) stall needs five things from you, in order, said in one go. The words to use, how to control the heat, and the mistakes that cost you.
4 min readThai food by region: how North, Isan, Central and South differ
Each region tastes different because it grows different things and has different neighbours. Main flavours, rice, key seasonings, and a meal that covers all four.
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