How to avoid the sharp side of Thai cuisine?
The versatile Thai cuisine has a number of spicy to very sharp dishes due to the addition of red chili peppers. Not everyone likes that and there are people who are even allergic to those peppers. There are plenty of Thai dishes that are not sharp, so it is important to know how to avoid those sharp dishes.
You can start by adding to your order the very helpful phrase “mai sai prik” which means no chilli please. Also “mai ped” does not mean spicy, but experience shows that it is a bit less sharp, because the cook may still use a dash of chili “for the taste”. Mai sai prik is definitely not chili.
If you are allergic to chili and you want to emphasize that, you could say “chan pae prik, I am allergic to chili.
Menu
Forget all the dishes that contain the word "yum". It means spicy salad with the three characteristics: sour, salty and spicy (sharp). “Tom Yum” is an example of this.
Almost all Thai curries, including Masaman, green curry, Panaeng, contain (a lot of) chili. Some restaurants, which can be found in the tourist areas, also have curries that are not spicy, but it is better to stay away from them just to be on the safe side.
What's safe?
Many Thai dishes are "safe", I will name a few:
- The famous Mee Grob – crunchy vermicelli
- Gang Jued – clear soup
- Pad Phak – stir-fried vegetables
- noodle soup
- Kai Jeow – Thai omelette
- Pad Se-Ew – stir-fried noodles with soy sauce and vegetables
- Rad Naa – noodles with a gravy sauce
- Kao Mun Gai – chicken with rice
- Kao Moo Daeng – rice with grilled pork
- Gai Hor Bai Toey – fried chicken in a pandan leaf
- Gai or Moo Tod Kra Tiem – fried meat with garlic
Finally
If you ordered non-spicy dishes in the company, then the one who likes it spicy can add the necessary peppers, which are available on every table.
Enjoy!
Source: Thai Food Blog
About this blogger
-
Bert Gringhuis (1945), born and raised in Almelo in the beautiful Twente. Later lived for many years in Amsterdam and Alkmaar, working in export for various companies. I first came to Thailand in 1980 and immediately fell in love with the country. Been back many times since then and moved to Thailand after my (early) retirement as a widower. I have been living there for 22 years now with my somewhat younger Thai lady Poopae.
My first experiences in Thailand as a kind of newsletter sent to family, friends and acquaintances, which later appeared under the name Gringo on Thailandblog. Many, many articles followed those first stories and that has grown into an almost daily hobby.
In the Netherlands still an avid footballer and football referee, but the years are starting to tell and in Thailand still avid, but the pool billiards is really of inferior quality, ha ha!
Read the latest articles here
IsaanJanuary 15 2025Chaiyaphum, also Isan
Food and drinkJanuary 9 2025The pomelo in Thailand
SightsJanuary 7 2025The caves of Pang Mapha
SightsJanuary 3 2025Phetchaburi, a brilliant diamond
Tino Kuis says on November 10, 2015:
Gringo, next time consult me for the correct pronunciation! You really can't order it that way.
a mean tone; á high tone; in a low tone. â descending tone; ǎ rising tone. kh aspirated, k unaspirated:
• The famous Mee Grob – crunchy vermicelli – my kr òhp
• Gang Jued – clear soup – kaeng chuut
• Pad Phak – stir-fried vegetables – phat phak
• Noodle Soup – kǒei tǐeow
• Kai Jeow – Thai omelette – khai chieow
• Pad Se-Ew – stir-fried noodles with soy sauce and vegetables – phat sie ew
• Rad Naa – noodles with a gravy sauce – rate naa
• Kao Mun Gai – chicken with rice – khaaw man kai
• Kao Moo Daeng – rice with grilled pork – khâaw mǒe: daeng
• Gai Hor Bai Toey – fried chicken in a pandan leaf – kai hor bai teuy (-eu- = stupid –e-)
• Gai or Moo Tod Kra Tiem – fried meat with garlic – kài / mǒe: kràtie-em
Phad Phak is pronounced with two low tones. Phad Phák with a high pitch on Phak means stir-fried tranquility.
Thanks, Danzig, you're right. Two low tones. Sorry.
Well, I always shout mea pit, mea pit nit noy may pit nada and the message always comes across well, never burned my mouth………….(written phonetically as I say it and it works) really.
That spicy is not too bad I think, only somtam can sometimes be a bit sharp that everyone burns out. Then I prefer to go for the normal variant or as a snack a sweet somtam in which the peppers seem to be missing completely.
But a curry without peppers is a bit like stew without gravy. To each his own, of course, but when I'm in Thailand I just want Thai food without adjustments (leave out ingredients) and in the Netherlands my stew without adjustments.
My sweetie and I went out for dinner once. She herself didn't feel like anything spicy for whatever reason, so she passed that on with our order. When the service brought the food, I got the adjusted, non-spicy, dish and she got the regular dish. Of course we immediately exchanged the plates. The surprised look of the service was worth its weight in gold. 555
nice article but i want to add something.
“chan pae prik, i am allergic to chilli” for a female person this is ok but a man should say “phom mae chop prik” i don't like spicy/peppers
not only in this sense but a man should always say “phom” and a woman “chan”.
a man should also say “khrap” and a woman “kha”.
like "khop khun maek khrap" and "khop khun maek kha" for a woman to say "thank you".
that “khrap” and that “kha” are polite forms that the higher educated use all the time in every sentence they utter…
Phome and Chan are almost never used, people prefer the short version. So just mai chop pet
Isn't phom and chan Isaan?
Mai phet always works for me. Phet nit noi, on the other hand, does not work. Then you get a too spicy bite. More than 50% of the Thai population suffers long-term stomach problems from too spicy food. My wife too. She's addicted to it. Not recommended for people with high blood pressure, because that doesn't make it any better.
Sugar, cola and milk are good against the spicy taste
I am of Indian descent and to be honest, the food 'at home' was a lot spicier than here..
I make my own sambal with the small peppers, the rawit so to speak, the in-laws don't want to touch it...
Perhaps better to say with som tam (papaya pokpok) instead of something like “phèt nóói” exactly how many peppers you want in your dish: “Au phrík … with” (soorng, saam etc.)
Other non spicy dishes: Pad thai kung, pad thai kai, Khao pad, Khao mok kai (Biryani rice with chicken, kai yang (barbecue chicken) moo yang, kai thod (fried chicken) plaa thod (fried fish)
Avoid anything that ends with the word "Khie mao" (=drunk), as that is doubly hot and inedible if you don't like spicy!
Be careful with “Phet noi” which means “a little more spicy than spicy.” Better Sai prick with nung (1 pepper in it) and chin phet mai mai dai.
In many places there are pictures of the dishes on the menu. You can also say “no spicy”. Our Thai daughter-in-law says that the less spicy dishes are at the top of the menu. The further down the list, the spicier.
With all these tips for delicious mild Thai dishes, here comes one for the complete opposite.
At a market stall I ordered an original Thai Jungle Curry or Kaeng Pa. It was delicious and delicious but, having grown up with dishes as originally eaten on Sumatra and as a pronounced lover of spicy food, I reached my limits here. It was soooo spicy……but still soooo delicious!
It is fascinating to notice that despite the sweat-inducing pungency, all the flavor nuances of the many (fresh) spices are preserved, as long as you are not distracted too much by the hellish tortures that rush towards you.